The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1912-05-09

ty-fve to two hundred head of stock
principally sheep and hogs. In many
places the small grain is washed out
Of the ground and this loss will likely
reach quite a good figure. The flood
moved a good many barns and other
outbulldings from their foundations
and in some cases carried them away.
On one farm near Aurora the water
o a granary, 4SX30, to pieces and
carried it off. Sheriff Halverson tells
us that the waters moved the big barn
on his farm twelve feet off of its foun-
dalton, and many other instances are
told OF the fury of the flood. Thos.
Maher, who lives along the railroad
track between this city and Aurora
was directly in the path of the flood
and sustained a considerable loss. He
had thirty-five head of lambs and forty
young pigs swept away and saved a
large number of others by throwing
them into the hay NOV. Messrs.
Falk, Davis, Puhr and Fearholm. in
the vicinity of Bushnell, lost consider
able stock, Messrs. Falk and Davis
each having two hundred head of
sheep drowned. Farther down the val
ley the flood swept away stock belong
ing to Chas. Wilson, r. E. Shelp,
Arthur Nesson, Thos. Morris, Frank
Simmons and Frank Telcamp. Mr..
Telcamp is reported to have lost n
hundred head of hogs and Mr.. Sim
mons eighty head Of cattle. In Alton
and other townships east of here a
large number Of bridges and culverts
were washed out. Part Of the Rock
Island track above White was carried
away.
The flood put the North Western
temporarily out of business, large sec
tons of track being washed out be-
tween here and Elkton. The biggest
gap was made between here and
Aurora, where the track was torn
away from the roadbed for nearly a
mile, it being swept thirty feet out Of
line. and the force of the waters
washed away the high grade. Be
tween Aurora and Elkton one bridge
and a small amount of track vas car
ried away. This necessitated sending
all trains on the main line around by
WatertoWn and the Junction west Of
this city. and all trains were from four
to six hours late. An engine and
coach carried passengers and mail be-
tween this city and the Junction. The
North Western put several hundred
men at work and the track was finally
repaired SO that traffic was resumed
Monday afternoon. The loss to the
railroad was estimated to be 10000.
West of the city the damage from
the flood was not as heavy as east of
here, but the lowlands between Brook
ings and the Junction were covered
with from five to ten feet of water,
most of which had come down from
the city and the higher lands on the
east and north. The farmers in this
section lost some stock and the grow
inng crops were considerably dam
aged. The land from the fair grounds
in the western part of the city to the
Junction and north and south az far
as the eye could see was inundated
and this vast lake was moving south
under a swift current and at one time
threatened to carry away the rail-
road bridges and culverts between
between here and the Junction. 1T
flowed into the Sioux river to the
south, throwing that stream out of its
banks and doing considerable damage
to adjacent farm land. Near Flan-
dreau the overflow of the river from
the flood waters was sixteen miles in
width and it carried away a consider
able stretch of track on the MilWau-
kee road. 1t also o~verfiowed near
Sioux Falls, but no serious damage
was done, the greatest injury being
the flooding of corn lands, which may
not dry u in time to put in a crop.
The water west of the city washed
over the model road built last summer
carrying out the big culvert near the
railroad track, but the road itself was
hardly injured by the fury of the
flood and will be as good as new when
it dries out. Reports were sent out
to the dailies that this road had been
destroyed by the food, greatly to the
regret of members of the CONNER
cial club and good road advocates I'M
der whose direction it was built. The
road stands as a model in road build
ing for the rest Of the state, and it is
embarrassing to say the least, to have
the impression go out that it was
swept away.
The wet weather did not abate with