Putnam patriot., 1913-04-11
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Letter from George B. ehampIin

The following letter has been receiv- ed from George E. Chanplin who has teen in the flood district Of Ohio. He was penned in in Springfield for nine days. This letter was preceded by an- other from Columbus in which he says be reached that city after perilous ourney;
 W heeling, West Virginia,
 Friday, 10 ?. m-
 My Dear People,
 l know how very anxious you are to know where l am. Well-I left Go~ iumbus at about 10 this a. ID. and af- rived here at 9.20 tonight. Under or dinary conditions l should have aT- rived in and l2 hours, but on &C., count Of bridges being washed away, snd being obliged to walk in transfer ring 1t consumed nearly twelve hours, and sthear me" l am mighty glad to be nearly away from this fearful scene, and fearful IS a very mild way Of ex- pressing It. l can't, not in very small way, make yoI realize the horror Of 1t all. Nothing in this county aside from the war Of ls5l, com pares with it. The JOhnstown flood, Cali fofnia earthquake, Galveston food and The Titanic disaster pale before the fearful time southern Ohio has had and Is still having The papers can not even begin to exaggerst1 or des- cribe the conditions, no one can begin 10 make you, you simply have to see 1t. The whole city Of Zanessiile is the most pitiful sigAt have ever seen or ever want to see again. IL Is just one tumble Of houses wrecked, piled high with freight cars, engine trolley cars, business blocks, bridges, barns, and everything imaginable. The same as If you had piled high lot of toy blocks and then tumbled them over. streets washed away, in one place 200 pianos completely disappeared and no signs Of them remain, business blocks washed of the face of the map, won derful bridges entirely disappeared, heavy steel freight cars washed miles away and in many instances disap- peared, freight yards just jumbled- up-mess of houses, cars, engines, turni- lure, lumber and everything under the sun 1 could write on and on about this dreadful time. In one case a fam. fly was driven to the third story. Their home was not in the path of the swift current, but was flooded They had hens and had time to take them t0 the third story with them, and for thfe days-help could not reach them-the hens lad ten eggs a day, and with bread comprised their food. In an. other cnse a COW was rescued and talk. ea to the second floor and supplied milk for those present. In one tree thirteen people stayed for two days and were rescued. Whole blocks of houses in West Columbus have been entirely swept away and nothing but cellars remain. No trace can be found Of the many fine homes that have dis. appeared in this manner. In some in. stances homes are found, badly wreck ed, four miles away; dead bodies are being found ten miles away, and of course many will never be found at all. think that told you that I have se- cured several views, and can tell you about them when l am at home.
 l have not received one word of mail from any one since two weeks ago to- morrow night. At that time 1 reeeiv- ed mothers letter at Dayton, also Easter cards. 1 shall go to Pittshurg tomorrow night and from there on should make good time, so that by two weeks from Tuesday l ought to be with yon. This Is the city where 1 set my watch ahead one hour, so that am lon the same time that you are which Is reminder that am nearing Gods country again.