Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-06-12
CAUGHT WHILE SLEEPING.
At 2 O'clock This Morning Resi-
dents Were Driven from
Their Beds.
Relief Methods Bring Suffering to Pco-
pie Living on West Side-May
Take Matters to Court.

AEdl0 mas lily G1tth oNt1lpMtu itS
banks and, as in past years which
should have taught the city council
what action is and for a long time has
been necessary, the property owned by
residents of west North Temple street
is flooded and the temporary methods
OF relief in use by Jake Raleigh's ag-
gregation of shovel men makes the suf-
ferng of the people all but unbearable.
The street car tracks are inundated
and this morning it looked as if traffic
would be stopped entirely, though 1t
was not interrupted for any consider
able length OF time. The continuation
for warm weather can spell only mis-
cry for the west side people.
1t is not only the flood of water that
has brought again much suffering 30
the people of the west side today. To
bank the turbulent stream Jake RAJ
leigh's gangs are using foul manure
tons OF 1t have been placed there to-
day. This is piled up in some cases
three feet high and in widths varying
from three to five feet With the excess
of winter soaking into this and the sun
beating down ON 1t, the air In the vicin-
ity is made heavy with a malodorous
scent that makes life only miserable
In the district in North Temple streets
between Fifth West and Tenth West
streets. This morning a visit to the
section showed that every window and
door in the district was closed tightly
and no woman nor child could be seen
abroad.
FLOOD COMES AT NIGHT.
Al o'clock this morning people ON
the west side We're awakened by rush
OF water into their cellars The first
to discover the condition soon alarmed
their peighbors and by o'clock 50 men
and boys were at work with shoyels
and teams banking the stream. Women
and children We're terror-stricken I'M
III they saw that the water was being
controlled.
The men continued work until dawn
and later were reinforced by others.
At noon there was no prospect of fur
Their floods during the day In the
night however, when more surplus
water is turned into the creek floods
are expected and uneasness prevailes
among the unfortunate residents of
that section.
WOMAN TELLS OF MISERY.
After considerable knocking on the
front door of one home in the west
side today. News" reporter was
greeted by woman's voice from with
In the house. with an invitation to seek
admttance at the back door. Not
knowing, al the time, why this mode
of reception prevailed in the west side,
but being DESTROYS of talking with the
woman, he compiled and found her
waiting for him when he reached the
back door.
Il hope you will pardon me for ask
ing you to come to this door" she
said most graciously. but my little
girl is quite sick, and is sleeping in
the front room on a couch, and /
didn't want to open the front door TO
let in that bad air from the creek"
When the woman learned that the
purpose of the visit OF the News
man was to ask concerning the atti-
tude of the west side people with re-
gard to the conditions obtaining this
morning. the manner in which she
talked was sufficiently convincing. She
denounced everybody connected with
the city misgovernment for permitting
such condition to exist after atten-
ton had repeatedly been drawn to 1t.
PEOPLE ARE POOR.
I'VE people down here are mostly
poor and unable To bear the expense
OF fixing the creek like 1t ought to be-
she said, but we have asked so many
times Tor the council to do something
for us that we are almost tired of 1t.
All our requests for consideration
have been lost sight Of. and nothing
mas come or them once or twice
some councilmen have come down to
look at the creek, and they have
promised to do so much for us. You
can see that they haven't done
single thing.
when we saw how long the rain
Kept coming down this spring, we were
afraid we would have to move out.
because we knew that as soon as warm
weather set In, the food would come,
This morning about 3 o'clock, the wa
ter started to overflow right into our
homes and front yards, and over the
car tracks II only lasted little
while or we certainly would have been
flooded out OF our homes or penned In
and unable TO get out. Soon there
was big lot of men with teams here
with wagon loads of that stuff and
they began to pile It up ON both sides
OF the creek. The smell was so bad
that we all had to lock our doors and
are up town to escape the misery, but
had 10 stay with nay little girl.
MAY TAKE LEGAL STEPS.
II asked my husband yesterday what
or earth we would do II the water came
In on Us. We had been out TO the creek
TO look at Il and saw II was higher
than the day before, and we wore
AFRAID then. He said that he was go
ing to see u lawyer and have him
come To see the place. Last year sew
eral OF the people down here got to-
gether and went to a lawyer and he
advised us TO petition the city council
foi help. We did 80. but you can see
now much good Il did. My husband
said he was going TO go all over this
part or town tonight TO see II the people
VIII get together TO hire lawyer and
30 INTO court and try 10 compel the
Guy 10 protect us against the creek.
~ doesn't seem 10 us that II would
cost the city any more In the long run
70 NIX the creek so II would't run over
'han u does 10 have 20 or 80 men work
several days every year hauling nlth TO
inc street and dumping II In front OF