New-York tribune., 1912-04-07
Mississippi River Tears Gaps in
Dikes Along Eastern Arkansas
and Floods Great Basins
Cairo Still Fighting.
PERIL IS GROWING HOURLY
Torrent Surges Over Vast Areas
and Workers Battle to Stem
Disaster-Wood Tells
Taft 10000 Are
Homeless.

Of the ever increasing volume of water.
The worst of these breaks was at st.
Claire. Ark. which let the water into
the st. Francis basin. The other was
at Wyanoke Landing. Ark. The former
Is nine miles northwest OF Memphis and
the latter seven miles south.
Water from both these breaks ulti-
matciy will flow into the st. Francis
River and back into the Mississippi near
Helena Ark. but doubtless will do great
damage and cause much suffering be-
fore il has finished it's course in the St.
Francis basin. The 81. Claire break al
ready has inundated twenty square miles
near Marion. Water from the NNanoke
break is sweeping over a large srarsely
settled area.
The big levee al Golden Lake, Ark,
several miles above the st. Claire break.
is expected to go any minute. For two
days ever available man has been help
ing IN the hard fight against the break.
but it seemed they had lost when to-
night hurry call for forty thousand
bags of sand was received here Trans
portation conditions preclude arrival Of
the sand there soon.
As in the RcelfOot break. there prob
ably will be little or no loss Of life. The
ST. Claire levee simply crumbled away.
and. as the break was expected, the in
habitants We're prepared for the flood.
The Wyanoke break was more sudden,
and last night the breach was a mile
wide
The situation at Reelfoot could he
much worse. The greatest loss has been
to livestock. which could not be rapidly
moved when the lowland dwellers were
warned the levee had gone out. II is
reported that two children were drowned
in the onr1Ish of water. but this could
not be confirmed.
The situation at Hickman was greatly
improved yesterday. The Mississippi fell
eight inches in twenty-four hours. Refu-
gees are still arriving there from other
places. but provisions also are going In
regularly and there Is little suffering
Including aid authorized by the govern
ment. the food fund for Hickman alone
amounts TO $1,000. No distress Is re-
ported from other places seriously af-
fected earlier in the week.
Aside from the unconfirmed report Of
the drowning of two children at Reel
foot. no other loss Of life was reported
Yesterday. and the list doubtless stands
at eighteen dead. Developments yester-
day made any estimate OF property loss
at this time mere guesswork.
Though showing little abatement in the
district which has suffered for several
days the flooded area rapidly is being
extended southwark. An unimportant
levee broke I'm Louisiana yesterday.
floodin:. 4 swampy section OF the Atch-
afalaNa basin The damage was not
great. as few persons inhabit the mum
dated land. Strenuous efforts are being
made all along the lower Mississippi to
urotect the dlkes from the rush OF water
that Is sure 10 come.
Memphis, Tenn. April 1.-TWO leveos
in the vicinity of this city have been
smashed by the raging waters Of the
Mississippi River
The United States Engineer Office
here announced at o'clock this after
noon that the main government levee at
ST. Clair. Ark, nine miles north OF Mem
phis. had broken. This means that the
great st. Francis Basin, covering
large section of Eastern Arkansas, prob
ably will be flooded.
The levee at Wyanoke Landing, Ark,
seven miles south OF Memphis broke
late to-day. Water is rushing through
the crevasse at terrific rate and by to-
morrow II Is anticipated that the gap
will be a mile in width. The territory
over which the water will spread Is
sparsely settled.
The situation along the river is re.
garded as desperate. but the workers at
the various points are making valiant
fight. and II the weather continues
favorable they hope to prevent further
breaks Each hour however. the situa-
ton grows more critical.
Dispatches from Hickman, Ky, tell OF
the widening OF the breach In the Reel
foot levee, FIVE miles west Of that city.
To-day the gap was two hundred yards
in width. A mighty wall of water IS
sweeping all before 1t in its mad race
through Fulton County, In Kentucky.
and Lake County. Tenn. Reelfoot Lake.
into which the food is pouring. Is goiny
over its banks into Obion County, and
I'm turn The Obion River is taking up the
overflow and carrying II back to the
Mississippi. While the break will re-
lieve the situation north OF Hickman to
some extent, II will not have an appre-
ciable effect to the south.
Cairo H., April 6.-The Ohio River.
which, with the Mississippi, surrounds
Cairo, showed fifty-four feet on the gov
ernment gauge tonight and 1t had a
rising tendency. The conditions here,
however. are believed to be more favor
able than they have been since the
rivers went above the danger mark.
The breaking Of the levees south OF
here has caused a feeling in this city
that the river will soon begin to fall. Re-
ports from New Madrid, Mo. said the
water fell three inches there to-day.
The force of levee workers around the
city was doubled tonight, and one hun
dred thousand sand bags were distrib-
utcd around the levees at convenient
Continued ON third paEe nth column.