Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1908-07-02
DRIVEN OUT OF
HOMES BY FLOOD
Many Families in St. Paul Are
Rescued From Flooded
Houses by Officers.
RAILROADS BADLY CRIPPLED

st. Paul, July 1. - A score of aban-
doned houses, water-soakea and for
Torn, standing waist deep in the shift
ing eddies of the backWater along the
lower flats; dozens of boats manned
by the police plying back and forth
from the flooded homes to the main
land, bearing with them men, women
and children, household effects, live
stock. and the Mississippi river sew
anteen feet above the low-water mark,
with the water still rising. Such were
the conditions yesterday, recording
the high-water mark for the year and
the first actual danger of the flood pc
Rod.
The first signal of distress went up
yesterday morning, when word was
received at the Ducas street police
station that several families were
Gagged in the second stories of their
homes by the rising water, with every
communication from the mainland
shut Off
Are Rescued in Boats.
BY 9 o'clock a relay of boats were
busily plying between the shore and
the flooded quarter, family after fami-
Iy being carried ashore, whit all avail
able belongings that could be taken.
By noon the isolated households
had been taken ashore, but the police
were unable to find accommodations
for all of them, and the Relief society
was called upon to care for the flood
sufferers temporarily.
All over the West side district adj
jacent to the lower backwater the
river is causing alarm. Cellars by the
dozen have been flooded, the water
creeping into the Easements of the
manufacturing plants along the river
edge and keeping a crew of men at
work night and day pumping.
Railroad Tracks Under Water.
The Rock Island tracks from Inver
Grove to the freight house are now
under water, and the trains are run
in over the St Paul lines. On the
city side the water is beginning to
menace the railroad tracks running
along the river bank.
The packing plants at South ST.
Paul are still safe, and a heavy rise
of two or three feet will be necessary
to hamper them seriously.
Along the upper flats many Of the
inhabitants are moving out, and a
general note OF alarm has been sound
ed. For the time being, at least, the
rapid rise of the water has been
checked, and the weather bureau
yesterday afternoon was of the opin-
ion that the crest of the flood would
be reached last night.
Railroads Are Crippled.
The railroads running into St. Paul
from the south are having a hard
time to keep things moving on ac-
count of the high water The Chicago
Great Western and the st. Paul river
division have both been tied up
On the Chicago Great Western be-
tween GOOdhue and Red Wing and
between Cannon Falls and Red Wing
traffic has been suspended for forty
eight hours, but will be resumed to-
day
The greatest damage to any of the
roads is reported by the ST. Paul on
its line between Wabasha and Yum
brOta.
Ask Help for Sufferers.
Des Moines, Iowa, July /. Gov.
A. B. Cummins yesterday issued a
proclamation calling the attention of
the people of Iowa to the worthiness
Iowa for the flood and storm suffer,
ers. The proclamation is in answer
to a strong petition forwarded to the
governor yesterday from the citizens
of McGregor and vicinity