The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-04-19
Thousands Flee From
 Their Homes.
STREAMS ARE STILL RISING
Telephone, Telegraph and Railroad
 Service is Suspended.
Trinity River Caves in and several Houses are Anchored With Cables to Prevent Them Piuns-
 jag Into Flood.

Fort Worth, Tex, April 1S.-Th rough- out North Texas the heaviest rains in many years are reported. causing tre- niendous loss to farmers and stock men, flooding low lands, and render ing country roads impossible. hundreds of bridges having been washed away.
 At Fort Worth, the Trinity River, which rose to it's highest record. is re- ced.ng tonight. but street car trafic between Fort Worth and North Fort Worth will probably not be restored before noon tomorrow. By employing every available man in the city and despatching them In special trains to the seat of trouble. Fort Worth Rail- roads today actively begun to repair the t2s0. 900 damage inflicted by Fri day. nights rain storms. While no definite figures can be ascertained from any individual line, the cumulative amount of damage will total a quarter of million dollars. This will include loss consequent upon delays to live stock in transit. loss of revenue for the time trafic is suspended and ac- tual damage to property
 Traffic ParaIyEed.
 Trafic into and out of the city was paralyzed almost all day. The decision of the Texas and Pacific Railroad late in the afternoon to permit no more trains other than their own to use the tracks between this city and Dallas, added to the confusion. for the Santa Fe, Rock Island and Missouri Kansas and Texas were depending upon this line to 6etour their trains. The Texas and Pacific gave as their reason for the action the condition of the big. dump Tn fhetvicinity of Dallas and the fear that such continual travel over 1t by so many extra trains might weaken 1t.
 The Texas and Pacific and Cotton BeIt are apparently the heaviest suf- fers from the storm. The Cotton Belt is crippled in its Fort Worth yards and the Texas and Pacific sustained, it's heaviest blow on the Rio GTaHde division on which a. dozen distinct washouts occurred.
 That the storm was the worst experi- enced in North and West Texas in half 4 century fs indicated by reports to The Record tonight. From Graysqn County on the east to Potter County, ifl tie far northwest and southwest to Tom Green County, about one-third of the entire area of the state the eoun-' try 1t literally covered with water. all modes of travel are demoiarized and business Is practically suspended. Tn every direction. railroad bridges are down, hundreds of yards of track have been washed away entirely. and other hundreds of yards so badly undermined that rebuilding will be necessary, | If GnG WGAIneE SnOuk0 CiCdE railway trafilc cannot be restored to normal conditions in less than ten days
 The storm eliminated between nlids night and o'clock today, when tho clouds opened. letting down a perfect deluge of water.
 Two Lions Escape.
 A circus. whose tents were pitched fin the western section of the city. was completely wrecked. two lions escaped and prowled about town for an hour, throwing the people into panic. One canvas sman was caught under the wreckage of the main tent and fatally injured. The loss to the circus is es- tirnated at &12.000.
 Another rise of three feet in Clear and West Forks forced thousands of persons to flee from their homes in East Fort Worth today. The rise was so rapid that people were obliged to leave their furniture and personal ef- fects. At least 5000 persons have been rendered homeless and all streams are still rising. Railroad service Is badly crippled and the Texas and Pacific Railroad reports it will not be able to send out trains west for two or. three days. The Fort Worth and Rio Grande and the Santa Fe roads are running g very few trains. Five hundred dele gates to the State Labor Convention are water bound here. Many who re- side in Abilene anu olner western Texas towns are leaving via the Den yer road and Wichita Falls. A dis hatch from Big Springs states that the entire division between that city and Fort Worth Is tied up distance of 400 miles. The section between Baird and Fort Worth suffered most large Amounts of trackage and bridges being washed out.
 Two Found Dead.
 Engineer Long and Fireman Allsup were fourd dead under their engine today. Their train left the track in washout a mile north of Cleburne. The flood sufferers have been provided with shelter. Crops over a large area have been destroyed and the estimated loss will reach over half a million dollars. Policemen are busy rescuing people from homes. So far four persons nave lost their lives in the flood. Chief of Police Maddox with squad of police men are helping the flood sufferers on the east side. All night the police fired a continual volley of shots to warn residents in the flood district