The Sentinel=record., 1912-04-03
FLOOD ALARM
 IS GENERAL
INHABITANTS OF MANY RIVER TOWNS AND ADJACENT coUN-
 TRY FEAR iNuNDATioN.
Conditions Near Memphis Cause Alarm for White River Levee and the Big St. Francis District
 as Whole.


 Memphis, Tenn, April 2.-With the greatest volume of water in history racing down the Mississippi river, Ahe main banks of the great water way remajaed intact tonight. but pri- Vate leWes are breaking and wheth- ap. CT the main re'-etments, ra 3oaked MEsn withstanda N1e two feet or more
 aater predicted is problematical
 it engineers have confi-
 Tlheir work and assert the
 in better shape than dur Previous flo, - at it is point N f8 experienct.s flyer men the H " i'll be greater than ever be.
 " they are less optimistic than 5vernment men.
 the vicinity of Cairo, H., two 8 eoide leyees broke today, one in # ktt county, near Commerce, and T s5ther back of Birds Point. Mo lese outlets have relieved, to some 8 Tent, the strain at Cairo, and has hfyen those fighting to held the wa hr within bounds at that city fresh #A0pe. At Birds Point a negro was drowned, the first fatality of the flood. At Point Pleasant, Mo. where the river went through several days ago, mile of levee isS gone. The low lands are flooded to a depth of four to five feet and the water is pouring into the St. Francis river basin. This is all the immediate rise the basin of that river can stand.
 Linda, Mo, is threatened. At that point the bank has caved to q point of danger, and every available man is at work building a short loop around the danger zone. If ttis is completed before the evee gees out 1t is believed the water will be held. The Memphis district on the White river front is giving the greatest Gycern. This levee is below the ard size in mans places now the water Is near the crest of the embansment and before the highest stage is reached, t is Irob. able the levee will be topped. Mo- doc. Ark. 90 miles south, sent in an alarming report of sloughing banks and aid is being hurried to that point. If this levee should break the great CT part of Phillips county, Arkansas would be inundated.
  county, which protects Reelfoot lake from the flood water, is already be- ing topped and sandbags are belne stacked on the levee crown in an et- fort to hold back the flood. A large force of men are at work at this point and the government engineer in charge telegraphs tonight that he IS confident he can control the situa- ton.
 south of Memphis the levees are holding. but many thousands of acres outside the main embankments are N under water and the inhabitants have sought safety on the hills. Directly ,ross the river from Memphis,
 kk spot has developed but so far
 y, causing alarm.
 Memphis proper is facing q serious situation. In North Memphis, back water from Wolf river, a tributary of the Mississippi. has overflowed Bayou Gayoso. Several hundred fam flies have been driven from their homes and a score or more industrial nlants have been forced to suspend op- erations. Along Wolf river only two of the numerous saw mills are in op- eration. The city's gas plant is sur rounded by water and pumps are be ing worked continuously to remove the seepage, Should the pumps fail, 1t is stated that within an hour the nlant would be out of commission. The reserve supply of gas in the res, ervoirs would supply Memphis for not more than 16 hours The sewer pumps of the North Memphis station were rendered us4less this after noon.
 Train service into Memphis is de moralized The Illinois Central rail- road is sending it's northbound trains through several feet of water and along the Louisville and Nashville track the water is gradually cover ing the tracks. Arrangements have heen made to detour the trains about 2 the flooded district.
 The most serious break so far re- ported was at Hickman, ks, where inc outer or railroad ievee Collapsed last night. Latest advices from Hiek- man report the water pouring through the crevasse and flooding the low lands. The main levee, however, IS holding. At Columbus, Ky, the low lands are flooded and the govern rent steamer Minnetonka was start ed for that city from Memphis this afternoon, with material and men to assist in the fight.
 Farmers Flee the Floods.
 Cape Girardeau, Mo, April 2- I,evees on both sides of the river have protected this vicinity, but one point zl... ...1 +s.