The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1912-04-11
HICKMAN LEVEE OUT
ONE HUNDRED FIFTY SQUARE
MILES OF FARM LAND
SUBMERGED.
A LIST REACHES Is.
Property Loss Estimated at $1,5oo,ooo
Floor Area In Mississippi
Valley Lenehtens and
Wldens.

Hickman, Ky-With q roar that
could be heard for miles the Missis.
sippi river flood burst through the
government levee five miles west of
Hickman, racing Over the Reelfoot
lake district. One hundred and fifty
square miles of farming lands are
an inland sea. Grave apprehension
Is felt for the safety of farmers in
remote sections Of squarsely settled
country. The water when it came
through tore a gap of 60 feet wide
n the levee, and the swirling current
Is fast eating away the earth and
widening the breach.
When the collapse came the work
ers Were compelled to run for their
lives, a number making their way to
hickman afoot, while others, maroon
ed beyond the break, we're rescued in
gasoline launches.
The Reelfoot basin is made up of
small farming communities. A mum.
Der of the residents already had aban.
doned their homes, but others re-
NAMED on their lands. When the
crash came efforts were made to COM
municate with the scattered villages
by telephone, but with little success.
The property damage will be large.
Cairo Surrounded. But Dry.
Cairo, Ill.-Cairo, surrounded for
two days by water, remains dry and
1t is believed to be secure from the
Hood. The levees stood firm and the
men patrolling them reported that
there was no sign of any weakening.
The river again reached the stage
of 53.9 feet and it is expected to re-
main at this stage for several days.
The breaking of the government levee
at Hickman, KY, will relieve the
strain on the levees at Cairo and 9th.
er points north of Hickman.
The scene at the drainage district,
Immediately north of Cairo, is appall.
Ing. Houses which were partly SUBJ
merged by the breaking of the drain.
age district levees were torn from
their foundations and are on their
sides or upside down. A big church
building is on it's side. The factories
were submerged to their roofs and In
some places the flood has covered the
buildings. Not n pile of lumber in
the great mill section is standing.
Families, driven from Urbandale and
Factory City, have remained the
greater part of the time on top of the
levees protecting Cairo.
The city is cut off from railroad
connection. Many people went on
tugs to Mound City and from there
took a railroad train north. Long dis.
lance telephone service t. the north
has been discontinued and but one
telegraph company is working direct
ly to Cairo.
Death List 10; Property Loss 81, SOC, 900
Memphis, Tenn.-Flood area in the
Mississippi valley was widened and
heightened. Much suffering and prop
erty damage seems certain.
In its onward rush the Mississippi
reached a flood stage almost to Nat,
chez, Miss, and hundreds of men are
at work on the levees in the newly
menaced territory. stopping small
breaks and strengthening the spots
weakened by the terrific strain. AS
the river still is rising at Cairo and
the Ohio is slowly mounting higher
as far up as Louisville with smaller
streams all down the line pouring un-
precedented volumes of water into the
Mississippi, the lower river district
faces a crisis.
Six hundred and thirty-eight miles
of the Mississippi is seriously affect.
ed, and being the distance be-
tween Columbus, KY, and vicksburg,
Miss. The greatest strain, where the
levee is liable to break any time, ex-
tends from Columbus, KY, to Helena,
Ark, a distance of 318 miles.
The flood death list was brought
to Is. The property loss was conser-
vatively estimated at 5 1.500, 900.
Water in Wisconsin Recedina.
La Crosse.-Water in the Black and
Mississippi rivers which had been at
flood stage for the past two days, is
receding. Damage in this vicinity is
confined to the low lands where thou.
sands of acres of farm lands are food.
ed, damaging hay and other crops
etored In harms