The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-03-29
MANY DEAD IN FLOODS.
RAGING WATERS SWEEP RIVER
VALLEYS IN FOUR STATES.
Death and Destruction Following
tioous May be Appalling-Dcad
May Reach Hundreds and Property
Loss beyond S2O, 200, ,OOO-0O Dead
at Dayton-Many Places which
suffered.


most unprecedented in area follow
ing the tornadoes and rains of the last
three days, today swept four States
OF the Mississippi valley causing a
loss OF lie that may reach into the
s nuhureds ana damage to property
amounting TO many millions of dol
Iars. ohio and Indiana and in q lesser
ueSree Illinois and Missouri felt the
Drunt or the disaster. At Dayton more
thah oO persons are reported drown
ed Following the breaking of the
MAMA river levee and the Laramie
reservoir, 90 miles above the city
When the Associated Press CORES
ponuents wired, on reaching the city,
anxiety caused by exaggerated re-
ports of loss Of life was set at rest.
although there was great difficulty i'm
obtaining details. Marooned in office
buildings in the centre of the town,
hundreds OF persons were awaiting
rescue. Streets heretofore considered
miles from the danger line are under
elsht feet OF water, the torrential
force OF which precludes rescue in
boats.
Millions of dollars in property dam
age mas already been incurred and the
hood Is still on the increase.
From indianapolis came reports of
IOV'OOO homeless througout Indiana
nous figure of 100000 900 in cities.
towns and villages alone. This does
not include the losses to farmers The
loss or life, while not so great as in
Ohio, has not yet been estimated.
The climax of the flood in Ohio was
reached at Dayton. where tonight IL
was reported that the water il from
20 To 40 feet deep in many Streets:
that bodies were floating past the win
dows OF office buildings and that the
catastrophe assumed the proportions
OF tidal wave.
AT Delaware scores are reported
dead and many missing. B. ". Leas.
mayor OF that city, reported drowned,
mas been saved He estimated the
death list at from 20 to *.
otto, q hamlet OF 100 persons, was
said to be destroyed. and the fate of
the inhabitants was unknown. The
ueatn list In many cities and towns,
including Fort Wayne, Lafayette,
Richmond, Marion. Muncie, Kokomo,
Sonnersville and Logansport, totaled
AZ Lafayette the loss extends to
millions.
Richmond Is in darkness and 20
bridges In Wayne county were de-
5troyed
At Rushville half a million dollars
oil damage was done In the business
At kokomo the property loss was
estimated at S1,000.00O and 500 per-
sons are living In the second stories
OF their buildings.
Similar conditions were reported
from Anderson, Marion, Upton, Peru
and Noblesville.
Reports concerning the appalling
nature OF the floods. which In most in
stances IL was impossible to verify.
were received tonight from widely
scattered sources. The most serious
OF these were:
An unconflrmed report from Spring
Held. Ohio, that 5000 lives had been
lost at Dayton and 500 at Piqua.
"A report apparently more fully au-
thenticated from Indianapolis that
from zoo TO 500 had been drowned at
Peru, Ind.
"A message received at Phoneton.
Ohlo, that the reservoir at Hamilton
mad broken and that 1000 persons
had been drowned. Continued efforts
Tor vertification were futile.
An uhconhrmed b" persistent ru-
NOR from Marion, Inu., that the Grand
reservoir at Celina, Ohio. had gone
out, causing an unprecedented flood
I'm the Wabash valley.
Later reports from Delaware
Ohio, said that rs to 100 were dead
More conservative figures cut this re-
port In half. In few cases was IL pos
sioie to trace these reports to any
definite source.
Onic Indiana and parts OF Illinois
and Mt3souri suffered most severely
Terre Haute, indianapolis and La
Fayette, in Indiana, and Delaware,
Dayton, Columbus and Youngstow n
In ohio, present particularly pitiful
spectlcles. In all OF these cities there
was some loss OF life, according to
rGDOFtS nd -,
property loss was heavy.
In Delaware, Ohio, 10 persons are
known to have lost their lives, and
so To 90 others are missing. Terre
Haute. swept by a disastrous tornado
last sunday, today was partly inun-
dated, interfering with the removal
OF stricken families. The death list
still remained ct 20. while the list of
injured aggregates $50.
NJ Dayton, Ohio, where three rivers
the Miami, saltwater and Mad, and
another stream, known as Wolf creek,
eonJoin, there was loss OF life, ac-
cOrding TO some reports, and destruc-
tion OF property. For the most part
the city lies on a level fiat, with the
tour streams meeting almost in the
heart OF the city. The streams are
protected by levees 20 feet high The
leVee protecting the Miami river
broke about 3 o'clock this morning.
N"N ipou WAS augmented Dy the
rapidly rising waters Of other streams
The situation was made worse by the
breaking OF the Laramie reservoir,
90 miles above Dayton
Ihe telephone company reported no
lives had been lost. but conflicting re-
ports were persistent. Information
from Cincinnati was that 60 lives had
been lost. Practically the entire city
was under water and the residents had
been forced to flee for their lives
Many OF the more intrepid sought
rcluge on the house tops. At -. IN.
n young woman telephone operator at
Dayton was In dircC' communication
with Gov. Cox at Columbus. She said
she was the last person remaining I'm
the exchange building and that there
WAS seven feet OF water I'm the main
street As shc was talking she said
the Leonard building, across the
street collapsed. Many persons were
believed To have been In the building
at the time.
Columbus also suffered enormous