The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-15
FLOOD WILL REACH HIGH MARK TODAY Widespread Damage Reported
 Cvar the State
MANY PLANTS CRIPPLED
The Alabama River Is Expected To Reach Highest Stage. About 55
 Y, at Noon Today at Mont Er gomery.

s< htgomery, March 14.-The river is ; ly rising tonight but no further 'S9 nage was done in Montgomery today. 2 ie stream is several miles wide here , nd thousands of Sunday idlers watched the murky waters from the banks. At ' o'clock tonight the stage at Montgom- cry Is 5l feet and rising at the rate of 8 an hour. The high water record here is 5s feet, which was reached in 1886 The weather bureau predicts not less than 53 feet by noon tomorrow and Director Chaffee thinks the river may go to 55 feet. This would mean a serious condition in Montgomery. The 54-foot stage will overflow the gas works and suspend newspapers and other plants. Stages of S1. feet in the Coosa at Rome and 29' feet around Gadsden are reported by the government bureau. Fifty-seven feet at Selma is predicted for tomor- row
 Lowlands of middle Alabama are sub merged for many miles and while no loss of human life is reported a great many head of live stock are believed to have been drowned
 The Tallapoosa river. which empties into the Alabama river nine miles north of Montgomery is a raging torrent. This river sweeps around the fine convid farm. The inmates were brought to Montgomery today for safekeeping in the county jail All of the small stock at the farm has been housed in the second stories of the barns.
 South of the city five miles is the coun- ty farm conducted by W. A. Henderson. Here there are 40 prisoners. MT. Hen derson said tonight that water was creep ing on the place, but he did not deem it necessary to move the prisoners until tomorrow.
 Montgomery has been protected some-' what from the swift current of the river by the Irwin cutoff. two miles north of the city The city is in the shank of horseshoe made by the river An old canal was once undertaken north of the city to cut off the river. The work was stopped by order of the state govern meut. With the flood stage the current sweeps through this cutoff and the city is saved from the danger of a roaring stream. The most serious effect of the high river here is the back waters which have submerged the negro section and are encroaching on the manufacturing district
 A report reached the city tonight that the big overhead road bridge at Catoma creek. six miles south of the city had been swept away.
 Specials to the Advertiser tonight from the cities of Alabama tell of serious damage to important industries by flood stages in the rivers and submerged plan tations throughout the middle and north ern parts of the state In Selma the plant of the Standard Oil company has been abandoned and If the predictions are yer flied water will be pouring into the power plant of the Selma Light company before nightfall tomorrow.
 In Gadsden the big lumber plant of the Kyle Lumber company is submerged and the damage will be considerable
 The Coosa river has receded at River side and the Lathrop Lumber company plant although heavily damaged, will be able to resume operations in a few days
 The Dillingham; street bridge in Colum- bus, Ga, has been saved and 1t is be- lieved that danger has been passed, as the Chattahoochee river is receding
 The street railway will resume opera tions in Anniston tomorrow. Water stood in the basements of churches in Anniston today and Sunday school classes were put to bailing 1t out.
 From Selma tonight comes report that the home of a negro family in Kings Bend, south of that city, was swept away during Saturday night and the husband, his wife and one child were drowned. The names are not known.