The Cairo bulletin., 1913-04-17
Flood Waters New Reoeding After
Attaining Depth Of From u
to 80 Feet In Places.
REHABILITATION = DOU1TTuL
For Some Time Wfeckagc and
Debris Cover Streets Dis
ease Epidemic Feared.

I; According to members Of the Al
ton Naval Reserves, who were I'M
Cairo last evening en- route from
Shawn,l town to their home the lit
tie food beseiged up-rlver city pre-
sents sorrowfui plight, as the
waters of the Ohio recede. There
is desolation and ruin In the erst-I
while peaceful village Of three weeks
! ago. Rehabilitation seems a matter
OF the far off future.
The water after standing from rs,
to 30 feet In depth in various parts
OF the city Is falling rapidly and
many of the streets are again dry
A mass of debris is noating about in
some places and again strewn about
lin every direction on the few spots
That are out OF water.
The major portion of the brick
structures remained intact In their
loriginal positions. but were greatly
damaged by the inundation. Frame
lstrnctnres including TWO story
houses were dashed from their foun-
Cations to lodge against some more
substantial building or to float
down the river.
Dondi<lons xesdinr - nenace tile|
lheNlth of the community present
themselves III the water disappears
The sewage system OF shawnestownH
has been seriously damaged and IL
| is feared that without the utmost
precaution the city will suffer from
an epidemic OF diseases. State offi-
cials are giving the problem consid-
Grafton In an effort to prevent such
a calamity.
The refugees are cncamped on
1.-THE hills back of town In tents. They
are being fed with rations furnished
by the state, most of which were
brought by General Dickson Of the
steamer Illinois from Cairo. The
sanitary conditions are being looked
after in the temporary habitations
of the high water victims, and there
are at present on'y few cases Of
sickness.
Most of the people who remained
after the place became submerged
were placed in three different build
Lings ,one OF these being r1l
house and the other the Riverside
lhotel. A crew OF the Naval Reserves
iwere stationed in the latter and
rendered much valuable aid to the
Inhabitants marooned In buildings
Tor carrying food out to the refugee
camps from the river front.
The water was only 3 inches from
the top OF the levees when dyna-
mite was used by citizens to eject
a gap that the water might be ad-
Imitted into the south portion Of the
town first. TA a higher stage
lpredicted, they knew the levees in
the north part would not ho'd out
and rather than to repeat the ex-
perience of 1898 when ~ people
were drowned and the property dam
Iage was enormous, an opening was
blown in the earthen revetments at
the other end.
| ThGwater came into the city with
a roar that could be heard for miles
and the tumultuous pace swept
everything before IL.
When the announcement was
made that the levee was to be
blown, the Naval Reserves hauled
their life boats into the town.
Iperched them on scaffolds and wait
ed for the water to come into float
the crafts. Several times they had
frying experiences in pulling
through the heavy current of the
rushing waters.
II The highest point in the town
proper was the residence property
Iof Father Wa ters, a Catholic priest.
lGovernment engineers estimated
THAT the second fyoor of the priests
thouse would not be submerged and
many residents. acting upon such
authority stored their pianos in the
: building. They were treated to q
disappointment. however. for taer
the water came in It talmost covered
the instruments and much damage