The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-09-22
CAMARGO A
CAKE OF MUD
RESULT OF FLOOD WHICH
SWEPT THE TOWN.
L. =. Consul Miller of MatamorOs,
Went on Relief Expedition -
Found Many Houses Destroyed
Much Need of Food and Clothing.

Edmar2O IS SIMPLY one tdhe u
mud varying in depth from a few
inches to over foot, said L. S.
Consul c. A. Miller, when seen yes
terday after his return from a re
lief trip to that little Mexican town.
The San Juan river climbed out of
its banks on the night OF September
, and just spread itself over the
town and surrounding country, Mr..
Miller continued Luckily, the full
current of the swollen stream was
not felt there, else Camargo would
now be little more ;nan name. The
forces of the river were divided.
Mr.. Miller reports, few miles above
the town, a branch pushing its
way across country back of Camargo
in its haste to reacn the course OF its
big brave brother. This division re
lieved the main channel very much,
but even so, the water was from
three to four feet deep all over the
town. For eighty hours, it raced
through the streets, and then dis
appeared as rapidly as it had come
Some people managed to keep the
water out of their houses, but the
vast majority were helpless against
the searching current and had to
take refuge where they could, while
the water coursed through their
house walls. covering the floors
evenly and thoroughly with q car
pet of mud All along the streets
now in front of the houses, Mr.. Mil
Ter says, may be seen tall piles of
mud that are constantly growing, as
the house cleaning continues, while
the one time pretty plaza is buried
under several inches of valuable fer
tiliZer.
The forty-five soldiers stationed
at Camargo are doing yeoman ser
vice in putting the place in order
and are highly commended by the
civic officials and residents of Ca
MARCO for the assistance rendered
during the flood
In all, 2O7 houses are said to have
been damaged or destroyed in Ca
MARCO. This includes all varieties Of
structures, from the pretcnious
brick buildings to 'dobe huts The
first class are very few In fact,
there is not two story building
in the town and, as a rule, those
built of brick were damaged but lit
tie. One that Mr.. Miller saw, evi-
IDENTITY an old meeting house, with
a date mark showing il to have
been built in 1893 had been forci-
bly, entered by a great big tree that
the water had rammed through the
front walls, the tree taking possess
sion of the entire house. 4 number
of large trees were carried down
the river from above and borne
through the town at high speed by
the flood, threatening destruction
on every block, but this was the
only one that did any damage.
MIR. Miller reports that while the
property loss at CamargO and the
outlying ranches has been consider
able, there was no loss of life there,
despite the first report that fifteen
persons had been drowned Thirty
dead bodies were taken out OF the
river on its way through town, bui
these had been brought down from
above, possibly from Monterey.
Had it not been for the prompt
assistance supplied by the people OF
nearby towns directly after the sub
sidence of the water, many at Ca
margo would doubtless have gone
hungry for a considerable period, as
of course, the railroad service was
raralyzed and has not been resumed
vet Rio Grande City, Roma and
n
She value of $500, S10G and $3.50,
respectively, while 5000 in cash was
sent from Laredo and $4,000 was
diverted from the Monterey relief
fund in answer to an appeal from
the presidents to President Diaz-
Just now, the consul found the
people are most in need OF clothing
and housing. Many of those who
have lost or been driven out of their
homes are forced to camp in the
open, as there is practically no sur
plus of unoccupied buildings there,
such as have been given over TO the
homeless in MatamOroS- Their i'm
mediate necessities in the line OF
food have been taken care of and
there are sufficient supplies on hand
I 10 last SOlut bliiAGs BuI hiOi Z WIZ ~
needed, especially as the small farm
( ers in the country about, whose
crops have been destroyed, are strag-
Cling into town seeking aid.
Mr. Miller bought $500 worth OF
corn. rice. beans, flour. coffee. lard
! etc. at Rio Grande City, which have
been sent across the river and are
being distributed by the junta com
posed OF the Dresidente, the pOstmas-
/ ter, several merchants and the Next
can consul at Rio Grande City, Al
I berto Leal, under the general direc-
/ tion OF immigration Inspector Hop
/ kins, of Rio Grande City.
The latter has promised to send
Mr.. Miller q report of the condition
of things within a few days and
he will probably make another trip
/ TO Camargo in the early part of next
week