The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-14
 SELMA FEELS FLOODS TOUCH Waters May Close the
 Industries. Record of 1sss May Bs Passed and Farmers are Now Fleeing from
 Their Homes In
 Low1ands.
 

Selma, March 13.-tSpecial. )-The river at this point has been rising steadily for the past three days. and Is now several feet above the Govern ment danger gauge. The Weather Bureau ~predicts that the flood stage of 1888 will be paralleled within the next thirty hours. Many negro fami- liesv have moved from homes in low lands.
 The Cahaba River, ten miles west of Selma. Is out of its banks. and at points Is said to be a mile and half wide. A rise of few more inches by the Cahaba River may cause the Southern Railway to abandon the op- eration of all trains west of here.
 The waters of the Alabama are creeping into the eastern, part of Selma A two-foot rise will cause closing down of several industries and flood the shops of the Southern Railway power house. No casualties have been reported in this section. ,t
 The territory south of Selma Is be- ing rapidly inundated by the fast-ris- ing waters. The river opposite Selma went out of its southern bank this morning. and 1t Is expected that by Sunday morning the road which leads to the approach of the county bridge will be impossible.
 The river has been rising fast all during today and last night. and a considerable amount of land across the river from the city has already been submerged The waters of the river backed up into little brook across the river from the city last night. and this morning the old baseball park opposite the city was a sheet of swift running water.
 Kings Bend Negroes Move.
 At Kings Bend, nine miles down from Selma the river went out of Its south bank yesterday morning and during the day several hundred acres of land were covered and the river at that point is several miles wide. The negroes who live in that neighborhood are moving from their homes and have driven their stock to higher land
 The negroes who is'-
 Der on~ the c,
 close to Selma
 in great numb
 are cafnped up
 they could find
 to stay until af
 Tn some instar
 negroes left the
 Ing anything aY ..s majority of them hauled their household effects away and drove their live stock to higher ground.
 A local traveling man who. during the past week has been working thc river trade for many miles south of Selma, returned here this morning. He succeeded in getting across the coun- ty to a railroad with great difficulty and upon arriving here reported that the river was spreading over great area of land in the south.
 At Bells Landing, some miles south of Selma. he reported that when he left there Friday about noon the river was seven miles wide, and that con- siderable stock had been drowned.
 The two creeks on the east and west side of Selma are slowly overfiowtng into to lowlands on both sides of the river. The rapid rise of Beach Creek in the eastern part of the city. will cause a great deal more damage than will Valley Creek, in the western part of the city. The waters of Beach Creek are now overfiowing into the city, and where there lives hundreds of white families and negro families If the rise continues by Sunday night a large portion of the eastern part of the city will be flooded and Hundreds of families will have to move from their homes. and will suffer great loss.
 Industries Threatened. The overflow of the eastern part o1 the city will do a great deal of dam age to the majority of the manufac- turing industries of the city. A rise of few feet more of the Alabama river and Beach creek will flood the shops of the Southern Railway as il would all of the several other indus tries which are located in that part of the city. It would also put but o1 commission the plant of the Selma Lighting Company, which furnishes gas and electricity to the city and leave the city in darkness.
 The western part of the city through which flows Valley creek, is much higher than the eastern part of the oity and the overflow of this creek is spreading rapidly to the west to meetNthe overflow from the Ca haba river. which Is coming eastwards
 The Cahaba river, nine miles west of Selma, has been rising rapidly dur Ing the past few days and is now out of its banks overfiowing the low lands towards Selma. At several points this morning 1t was reported that the Ca haba was about two miles wide and that great area of land in the west. ern part of the county was under water.
 The trains of the Southern Railway " and the Louisville & Nashville Rail.
 (Continued on Page Eleven.)