The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1914-01-29
TOWNS ISOLATED q.
BY BIG FLOOD
Santa Barbara, Ventura and
0xnard, CAL, Cut OFF.
HEAVY RAINS CAUSE LOSS
Southern California Suffers From
Worst Storm In Years-Many Per.
sons Are Believed to Have
Perished.

Los Angeles. Cal. Jan. 27.-Santa
barbara, Ventura and Oxnard have
been cut off from the rest of the world
for "a hours, the Southern Pacific has
lost its coast line and its valley branch
south OF Mojava and suburban electric
traffic around Los Angeles has been
crippled. This is the fourth day of
the worst storm southern California
has seen In years. Almost continuous
rainfall Saturday night, with lifting
Of the clouds during the day on Sun
day, followed by even heavier down
pour most of the time, brought the
seasons precipitation six inches and
more above normal.
Santa Barbara when last heard from
reported the water was two feet deep
around the Southern Pacific sta
ton.
Oxnard and Ventura were heard
from, and they, too, had foods and
railroad washouts to report. The
bridge across the Sospe river at Fill
more, a $4,000 structure, went out.
The rainfall for the storm measured
44,4 inches, but the weather bureau
expected more during the ensuing "a
hours. The storm brought the sea-
sons total Of rain up to 1876 inches,
which was 6.25 inches above normal;
record equaled only twice in the
history of the local weather bureau.
River 10 Rising Fast.
From the mouth Of the Feather riv-
er to Red Bluff the Sacramento river
ia bankful and rising fast Warm rains
have melted vast quantities of snow in
the mountains and hundreds of small
streams are rushing with their bur-
den into the valleys. Conditions along
the lower stretches of the San Joaquin
are described as serious. At points
on the Tuolumne the water rose more
than IA feet.
So far little damage has been done
except at Oroyille and neighboring
towns, where several dwellings and
barns were demolished by the high
wind.
Flood water from the Pajaro has in
vaded low lying towns in its valleys.
At jacksonville several families have
been forced to move out Of their par
TALLY submerged residences.
The Fresno division of the Southern
Pacific has been interrupted by wash.
outs and service Of the San Jose divi-
sion has been impeded. The Western
Pacific has been having difficulty In
operating its trains.
xTtna ~ thaa
First National bank and former presi
dent of the Chamber Of Commerce of
Santa Barbara, and his wife, are among
the victims who met death in the
storm.
chicasoan 10 Drowned.
Hugh S. Ravens, wealthy Chica-
goan, was drowned in mountain
stream near Monrovia. Mr.. Ravens
was trying to ford the stream, which
had been swollen by the rainstorm.
His body was recovered.
Santa Fe Train Lost.
San Francisco, Jan. 27.-The Santa
Fee No. 10 Chicago mail is lost in the
flood stricken valley of San Gabriel
near Santa Barbara, according to ad-
vices received here today. The mail
train carried more than 100 passen-
gers and was last reported near
Monrovia in the center of the flood
district. The wires then went down
and nothing has been heard of the
train since. Though but four per-
sons are known to have lost their
lives through the food, it is probable
that this will be increased by five
others. The Kern river near Bak-
ersfield is still rising.
San Francisco, Jan. 27.-A revised
list of the known dead are:
Louis Jones, vice-president of the
First National Bank of Santa Barbara
and his WIFE,
Hugh Ravens, capitalist, of Los An.
geles.
w. F. Epmsham, engineer, of Los
Angeles.
Vern Clark, boy, of Los Angeles.
Rico Rodrigues, Mexican laborer.
Frank Rice, of Santa Ana.
An unidentified woman of Fresno.
1t is probable that the list will still
be increased when the complete re-
ports are received. All the fatalities
were caused by attempts to ford the
swollen streams. Communication with
many parts of the state Is interrupted.
The property loss will amount to
many millions of dollars. The Shasta
Limited from Portland Is the only
train outside of California which has
reached San Francisco in "a hourse.