Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-05-17

miles of country. Again there have
been cases where men rowed across
and cut the levee on the other side,
to save the bank on their own. A
half dozen strokes Of the spade and
the damage might be done, which
none could stop. Timber thieves.
too, might find it profitable to flood
the swamps and steal the rafts there
while the owners were trying to save
other property.
Because of all this, the armed
guard shoots and shoots to kill. His
idea Of his task is to make a job
for the coroner and not for the doc
tor. 1t is enough to ask questions
afterward of the man who comes with
spade to the levee.
Besides this danger there Is an
other that the waves may begin to
overlap the top. Steamboat captains
are warned to keep away from the
shore when they are standing up or
down the river at full speed. A
guard will walk with watchful eye
along with a boat. If it threatens
the banks and comes within the pre-
scribed limit, he tries to pick of the
pilot. These are not times for shot
across the bows.
After the flood waters have been
In the river for some days, tapping
against the levee, water will begin
to seep through the earthen bank
on the land side. II the water that
comes through is clear there need be
no fear, as that indicates that it is
only the seepage. But If 1t comes
through in a muddy flow, then there
must be a quick and effective effort
to stop the leaking. A muddy flow
shows there is a break in the bank
and that the water is strong enough
to carry away material. Men and
mules and lumber and sacks Of dirt
are rushed to the spot. In the case
of a muddy flow there is only one
way to stop 1t, and that is by adding
material on the river side, to stop up
the holes at the point Of inflow.
Inc Break AZ r1oiIy ousn'
Perhaps the efforts of the men will
be successful. But sometimes ma
ture and fate are against them. AT
the Holly Bush crevasse In Arkan-
sas in 1903 thousands Of men worked
night and day to strengthen the bank,
and managed to keep it just an inch
above the flood tide. Reports from
up the river indicated higher and
higher stages-the flood crest had
not passed. On March Is the crest
passed Cairo, and the men near Holly
Bush knew that the next day would
be the crisis. The river was rising
at the rate of foot day. The next
day dawned with the weary men
fighting still to raise the bank-most
Of them had been without sleep for
forty-eight hours. But with the ear
ly day there came a high wind from
the east, and little waves began to
dash over the levee. 1t was the last
misfortune. Streams a few inches wide
began to make a small channel in
the top Of the bank in dozens OF
places. There was no hope now, and
the men abandoned their work at the
dangerous points, and waited for the
flood to sweep away in few minutes
their work Of days. and to flood all
the lowlands behind.
Then came the break. One hun
dred feet Of the embankment snap
ped with a roar and a terrific tor
rent rushed through. The break Wild
ened to 5000 feet and the swirling
yellow waters dashed through. car
rying destruction. They flooded the
town Of Marion, Ark. and inundated
two entire counties. The damage
from that break was two million Of
dollars.
The Mississippi river in flood takes
everything with it. To watch the
endless procession which the swift
current carries by Is to see all the
properties Of tragedies. The Missis-
sippi in flood is the despoiler Of homes.
Houses come floating down the
stream, outbuildings. furniture, and
myriads of smaller things, tossed by
the waves in the runs" or sailing on
serenely in the broader stretches
Great trees go by. They are evidence
that the Mississippi has asserted Its
majesty somewhere and has cut a new
channel to please itself, eating away
bank, growth and all. Carcasses of
cows and horses and dogs float down
the stream, carrying a pair Of buz-
yards, those scavengers who have so
much work to do after the floods
have receded. 1t is a terrible and
melancholy sight.
The Lowands In Flood.
For those people who dwell always
within sight Of hill or a rise of
ground, the terribleness Of the flood
waters in fat lands is hard to un-