Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-07
Loss Of LIFE HAS
BEGUN TO FIGURE
IN FLOOD TRAGEDY
First Reports Come That
Large Number of People
Have Undoubtedly PeriShed
Along Mississippi
~ Assoeiated Preaa. } !.

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steady arrival here OF refugees from
the country inundated by the erevasse
in the Mississippi levee at Torras, many
stories of loss OF life are being told.
That a large number have persisted is
believed 70 be certain. but it is impossi-
bic to confirm all these reports owing
to the remoteness and inaccessibility of
the country from which they have come.
Some Of the sufferers reaching here to-
day told OF a score or more Of persons
drowned in localities from which they
themselves had been rescued after
thrilling experiences. The property dam
age will run high into the millions of
dollars.
TRAGIC. APPEALS.
Appeals for Immediate assistance
reached here late last night from the
little town Of LettswOrth. directly in the
path of the Torras torrent. Half hun
bred persons were reported TO be IN inn
minent danger of being drowned. The
house in which they had taken shelter
had been dislodged from it's foundation
and was being tossed about in the cur
rent There are at least one thousand
people who remain to be rescued from
the inundated country wet of Lettsworth
and Bachelor. Some of them are re-
] DoTLeA 10 De dUtNN NA AeA@NAS
constructed RATS.
STATIONS FLOODED.
Every station on the Texas and Pacific.
railroad between Ennis and Morganza, a
distance OF Is miles. Is flooded. and TO.
the west OF here the water is rapidly
spreading.
/ The last of the special trains which
have been engaged in bringing refugees
out Of the country around Bachelor ar
AZ,
lief trains were about ready to leave
there. word was received that there was
grave danger of them teing cut off by
threatened washout in the tracks sew
eral miles east of that place. When the
first train arrived at the point of trouble
the water was flowing over the tracks
for a distance of FIVE miles. The first
/ train passed over in safety. BY the time
the second section arrived the water was
rushing over the embankment about 6wo
I feet deep An attempt was made to
reach this side. but when about nalf
way across the track gave way, and the
ca boose and three cars were toppled over.
OCCUPANTS of the derailed cars were
thrown into the water. but escaped with
out injury. They were transferred TO
other cars and brought on TO New Roads.
When the first section of the relief spe-
cial sped through. the crevasse water
Z WAS running QNCE inc AAdNFNH JAHN AAcAN@ -
l Morganza. scores Of people were seen
standing waist-deep in water near the
railroad signalling the train to stop. The
water was rising so rapidly that those
4 In charge of the train decided that
/ II would imperil the lives of all those
1 on board to delay and they were left be-
/ hind
i In some instances force has 10 be en-
ployed in getting people out of the dan
-efusf fr1 y
I OF man. wife and 12-year-old boy. re-
/ fused to leave their cabin which was
7 fast becoming uninhabitable. They were
picked ND bodily and carried TO the
/ train After being placed aboard the
/ train the boy became so frightened he
I tumped through an open window. He was
APPEALS FOR BOATS.
Urgent appeals for boats to be used in
rescue work have been sent TO Gov
I ernor Sanders and the relief committee
At New Orleans. The steamer City of
Y Shreveport and a shipment of a dozen
sxifTs are due to arrive in Bachelor
4 this morning
4 The levee at Innis has shown con-
I siderable signs OF weakness. A large
quantity of material has been rushed
there and it is believed that break
can be prevented.
The gap at the Torras break is re-
ported this morning to be Loo fee'-
wide.
\ The Louisiana Railway and Naviga-
! ton transfer steamer William Edenborn,
which was sunk by being dashed into
I the bridge across Old river near Torras
yesterday, Is a total wreck and viii be
I a menace to navigation after the river
4 recedes. The boat was valued at 100000.
I II had been engaged in transferring
trains between Angola and Naples.
DANGER AT BATON ROUGE.
with a rising river and heavy rains
\ last night and today the fight to save
7 the Mississippi river levee in front IF
Baton Rouze became more serious %
I day. The river gauge registered as
/ feet this mornig, rise of two-ten.hs
since yesterday morning. The fight &c
hold the front levee, however. at least
I until the oPntchartrain protection leyee
can be completed across the lower edge
OF the city, continued today in the ram
and whites and negroes, rain-soaked,
showed no disposition to give up the
battle.
An additional train load of refugees
from the territory flooded by the wa
tiers from the Torras crevasse reached
there this morning.
I RAIN AT NEW ORLEANS.
In a steady downpour Of rain sew
F eral hundred laDOrerS continued AuS
tight today 20 strengthen the levees in
the third district of New Orleans. ex-
tending from Flood street, 55 blocks
below Canal to a point near the big
plant Of the American Sugar Refining
company. New revetments are being
constructed in front Of the levees at
some Of the weak places and near
Jackson barracks a second line of
new revetments are being put in. Be
I tween the levee and this new revet-
ment dirt is being filled in. but this
process OF widening the embankment
J is veryslow.
The weak stretches in the third dis
trict extends along almost a mile of
the leyee front. The water lacks three
to. four feet of reaching the top of the
levee, but the protection Of the en-
bankments are not standard grade de-
I wees In places they are only four or
( fave feet across at the top and ex-
tend less than 80 feet from the wa
I ter's edge on the land side.