Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-06-04
From Texas.

DALLAS TEXAS, May 26, 1908.
. Ed. RegiSter-The record break
er flood in Texas is now reced-
ing, and people T beginning to
go back to normal thinking and
living. We had very heavy rains
Saturday night and Sunday I'M
til noon. Sunday night the Trim
ity River rose rapidly, so that
when men started to work Mon
day morning they found the river
impossible. Oak Cliff is a suburb
of Dallas, separated from it by the
Trinity river. Many business
men have their homes in Oak Cliff.
The principal of our school lives
there. He was told at $3.50 A. M.
that if he intended taking his
place in school that morning he
had better cross the river immedi-
ately. Street cars were already
stopped, so he walked over the
lpartly submerged trestle.S The
river continued to rise all day. At
one time it rose ten inches in an
hour. At ten o'clock the Texas
and Pacific Railroad bridge went
down. Thousands of people were
on the banks watching. The
pumping station is under water,
the city water works are out OF
commission. There is "water, wa
ter everywhere but not a drop to
drink"-that is, hydrant water.
The city is fairly well supplied
with artesian wells, so we are not
really suffering> The electric light
plant is under water so the city is
lis in darkness. Every business
house, saloons and billiard rooms
are closed at night. Extra police
are put on the streets The water
works will be all right by to-mor-
row, the 9th, but it will be several
days before the light plant can be
in working order.
May 9th - There are many
homeless people in the city. 1t is
not known yet how many have
been drowned. Offers of help for
the sufferers have come from
Washington, D. c.; Los Angeles,
CC', and points between, but so
far the city is able to care for its
own. The Woman's Federation
Of Clubs is taking active measures
to relieve distress. The friends
who called at our home this noon
for contributions, said they had
carried several buggy loads of
clothing to the supply station and
they were so tired they could
hardly see. One merchant has
given one hundred dollars worth
of mattresses, cots and bedding.
All the merchants are liberal in
their gifts.
On June Sd we we're to have a
B%oosterfest. Did you ever hear OF
one before? | never did. 1t was
to be a big display of the resources
of the city, showing what it was
fifteen years ago and what it is
now, and what it expects to be.
1t has been widely advertised, a
grand holiday and glorifcation.
Bnt now since the flood the Boos-
t%erfest is postponed. The money
and energy to carry it through will
be used to repair the devastion of
the water. Someone says that the
flood with it's resultant suffering
has done more than a boosterfest
to reveal the resources of Dallas
and display the metal of it's citi-
zens.
Oil tanks have been washed
away and refineries flooded so the
water has been covered with oil.
AS the waters recede the banks
and grass are too slippery to stand
on. Furniture, carpets and bed
ding taken from submerged homes
are so ruined with oil that it can
not be renovated. However there
is a small gain, the,oil will prevent
the breeding of mosquitoes. The
health Office has ordered the
streets sprinklers to use their wa
CONS to sprinkle oil on the pools Of
stagnant water.
This is a hopeful age. One
man sixty-four years old who lost
everything but the clothes he had
on, says he is ready to begin over,
Gin a year from now we will for
get there has been a flood" Only
as years go by and other rises Of
the river occur, they will compare
them with this of 1908.
And Iron County has no saloons,
1t is needless to say we have
watched with great interest the
development of this question as il
appears in the REGISTER. May
the good work go on.
Kindest regards to everybody.