Evening star., 1913-12-07
Believed Scores of Others
Have Met Doom in
Raging Rivers.
DAMAGE ESTIMATED
At ABOUT $4,000, 900
Homes of Thousands Submerged.
Families Scattered. Unaware
of Each Others Fate.

BRYAN, Tex, December 6.-Fffty-
three persons are known to be dead
and scores of others are reported tc
have lost their lives in the floods which
have been sweeping the valleys OF the
Brazos and Trinity rivers in central
and south central Texas since early In
the week. Three thousand persons have
been driven 10 the upper floors Of their
homes by the rising waters or have
been compelled to seek refuge in trees
where they remained for hours. in
some cases for two days. before being
rescued Estimates of the damage gen
orally center around $4,000. .0OO.
The Brazos river flood now Is concen-
trating at Navasota at the junction of
that stream and Its tributary. the Little
BraZos. On the Allen plantation near
NavasOta. twelve negroes and one Mexi-
can are said to have been drowned to-
day. Twenty-Five negroes are reported to
have lost their lives on the John Harker
plantation on the main stream near
Welborn. Several prominent planters are
missing in this vicinity.
One of the deepest overfiows is in the
Brazos bottoms Of this section, where
boatmen reported no houses visible when
they made their final trips before dark
this evening.
The floods in both rivers tonight were
beginning to pass out into the gulf
through the last hundred miles Of their
courses. In the remaining territory there
were few important towns, but addi-
tional drOwnings in remote settlements
are feared. A number of towns which
had been isolated for two days reported
today. each telling of property loss over
wide areas. but of few drownings.
The Colorado river also, is adding to
the troubles of the Texas flood situation.
At Alleyton, small town on the lower
Colorado. the water tonight was three
feet deep over the highest elevation.
Bay City, twenty-five miles from the
mouth of the Colorado. reported the water
within eighteen inches of the top of the
protection levee. A break. it was said.
would overflow a large part of the town.
Columbia, about fifteen miles from the
BraZos mouth, was surrounded by water.
but reported that great damage was
feared.
Railroad Losses Heavy.
Railroad losses in the Trinity and
Brazos floods are heavy. President w.
B. Scott of the Sunset Central lines Of
the Southern Pacific said they were
the most serious his north and south
lines nave ndQ 10 contend With In many
years.
The most serious situation was caused
by the breaking of the levee, thirty miles
in length, on the BraZos opposite Bryan.
More than 1000 persons had refused to be-
heve it would give way and remained in
their homes. which were submerged. De-
scribing his experiences yesterday and
last night in a rescue boat in the over.
flow from this levee break, w. w. Griggs
of Houston said:
God knows how many persons were
left in the bottoms. When We left last
night we could hear cries and shouts in
the darkness. They are all huddled to-
gether in cotton gins and high places
There were $50 persons in gin house on
one plantation.
Animals Crowd Together.
THE levee is broken in three places.
On top of the safe portions of the levee
horses and mules and cows tire crowded
in great numbers
Griggs said the rescuers in his boat
found one man and woman in a treetop
where they had been for twenty-four
hours.
The Brazos bottoms, one of the richest
farm land sections of the state were
thickly populated.
The overflow scattered many families
who will not know how many of their
members were drowned until the floods
subSide.