The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-04-14
ay Associated Press.

Natchez. Miss, April 13.-Through
two crevasses in the Mississippi river,
and another in it's equally rampant
tributary. the Arkansas. great volumes
of muddy water are tooay rushing out
over the lowlands on the west side OF
the big stream and cestined TO cover
a, large section Of northeast Louisiana
and a portion of the extreme south
eastern part of Arkansas. For the
next eight or ten days the raging wa
ters will move southwark through the
Texas river. and louisiana. and finally
return to the Mississippi at the inter
section of Red River, 16o miles by land
from the upper crevasse and nearly
1aC miles from the lower breach in
the levees.
r Millions of acres cf land win be in
undated. for the most part in untitled
swamps. No lives have been lost, ac-
cording 10 reports tonight from two
score towns in the paht of the flooded
district The property loss Will be
heavy. Many thousand head of cattle
have been drowned.
Destructive breaks et Panther
Forest, Ark, and Roosevelt, La, will
nave little effect upon tne crest OF the
flood.
Eighteen lives In perm At Roosevelt.
rocned on house tops IN Madison par
ish. La: a steamboat unable to stop
near the crevasses at salem, La, to
do rescue work. because, according to
the owner. 1T would have meant mur-
der to the passengers Tnese are, the
earliest advices today of conditions
south OF here as the result of yes
terday's collapse Of the west bank OF
the levees of tha Mississippi.
A y,rlrn &e.s7- s rocrr,e. yrarff as
set forth from vieksburg, Greenville
and other points. Others were made
tr as quickly as, boats could be put in
commission and supplies shipped and
these LETT one after another during the
forenoon. Appeals TOR aid to save lives
came by telephone, by courier ard by
beat. None has been drowned SO far
as Is known here One rescue party,
tie largest, left aboard the steamer
Miller with slxiffs and a barge Ad-
vices from the steamer Falls City later
,n the day were that the Miller had
been forced to tie up at their bank
twenty miles south or the Salem
breach
The Falls City, which arrived here
today, passed the Salem Gap early last
night Thomas Morrissey, the owner,
said:
''I wanted to stop ana see what we
cQulQ 90. EuL II WOOlu nave uACcul
murder to the passengers on board my
boat to attempt 1t. The roar of the
crevasse could be heard for miles.
The suction almost took my boat. al
though we were hugging the east bank
OF the river. The water has fallen
two feet at Fitless Landing, on the op-
posite side of the river. The gap is
taking the water with a terrific rush
inland.
Viewed from the deck, Madison
parish looks like a pasture around a
broken pond dam, SO fast is the river
ra ging into north Louisiana and the
| flood already covers section visi-
| BILE for twenty miles south of the
break, as far as TallabIna.T
URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP.
Urgent appeals were received from
Roosevelt, La. by telephone A store
stands three miles south of the Ievee
| break. Eighteen persons are IN that
| little store building, which was the
nearest and last available means OF
| escape. The water was twelve inchees
| deep on the floor of the store this
morning and was rising slowl.
| Telephone messages from different
portions of Madison parish, La, con-
firm the belief expressed by Captain
Morrissey that it is almost totally
flooded. People are on house. tops
1 ara OLneT plaC6S LllGy SCulQ seek WQen
the vast wall of water swept the coun-
| try.
| Many have taken refuge on trees. on
parts Of barns torn away by the wa
ter and on RATS.
Rumors of loss Of life were watch
ed closely by the Associated Press
correspondent and traced to their
source, but up to noon none of these
| reports had been verified.
| A herd of fine Herford cattle own
ed by Lee Shields, postmaster al
Roosevelt, was swept away bodily to-
gether. Scores Of fine liye stock own
Ell by E. ]. Davis, a yen-knovr
| planter, were drowned. f