The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1915-02-01
JACKSON IS SWEPT
BY HEAVY FLOOD
FIFTY NEGRO HOUSES INUNDAT
ED, AND ENTIRE CITY Is
ALARMED.

Jackson, Miss, Feb. Fed by wa
tiers that descended in torrents yester-
| day afternoon, Town creek last night
rapidly rose out OF it's banks and flood
ed half a dozen city blocks, inundating
about fifty negro cabins between Far
ish and Mill streets, and slightly flood
ing a number of stores in Parish
street.
The waters of the creek began to
rise rapidly about o'clock and by :
o'clock water was standing two inches
in Parish street, gradually creeping
towards West Capitol, and into the
stores on the north side. At 8 o'clock
the water began to recede, and grad
ually fell until the stream again was
in its banks.
The rainfall in Jackson was more
than two inches, and telephone mes
sages from rural sections west of the
city warned authorities here that
pected to reach here early in the night
Merchants having stores in Mill, Far
ish, and East Capitol street were noti-
fed, and fearing a repetition of the
food of last March, which did more
than $4,000 worth of damage, they
hastily engaged laborers to throw up
bikes of earth, boards, sand, etc, in
fornt of the entrances. However the
yellow flood did not reach nearer than
two feet to the food stage of last
year, and only few stores in Parish
street were flooded to a depth of one
or two inches In these stocks had
been moved from the floor to the
shelves.
Rumors that a flood was coming
down Town creek brought an enorm-
Gus crowd to the down town district,
and hundreds of people lined the
streets and sidewalks to observe the
muddy waters as they swept under the
concrete bridge that spans the creek
on Capitol, Parish and Mill streets.
Negroes residing in the low ground
/ between Parish and Mill streets made
! hasty preparations for leaving their
: homes, taking with them what few
/ household effects they could gather
5 up in their hurry to reach higher
| ground.
: The flood inundated half a dozen
. blocks north of Capitol street. II
Z crept around the new freight depot
of the Illinois Central railroad unit
water was two feet deep on the ives
side, and within one foot of the wes
side entrances. The side tracks OF
that side were under water, ant
> freight cars were movedover the
u freight cars were moved over the
it in place.
/ Officers frequently inspected this
e concrete bridges over the creek or
Mill and Parish streets, and the bulg
q ing up of the paving blocks caused
S some uneasiness. To be on the SAT-
/. side street car traffic over the bridge
l. on Mill street was ordered suspended
and no wagons were allowed to eros
while the flood was at its height.
Every member of the police and fir,
;. departments were sent to the seem
to assist in warning the crowds o
possible points of danger and in NOV
e ing merchandise to places OF safety
f. Mayor S. J. Taylor was on hand early
r giving general directions. Chief Cum
l. mings, of the fire department, wa
o busy in Parish street, and Chief Nur
y merry, of the police department, wa
q. constantly giving instructions to hi
If men.
1t was with distinct feeling c
relief that watching officers finall
announced that the waters were recet
r ing. The merchants who had suffe
ed so heavily from the 1914 food, an
who at first believed they were in fo
r further losses, were also relieved
s However, as a matter of precautio
b. most Of the merchants left the impr,
s vised bikes and dams in front of the
ID stores. as they were not convince
e, that there was no danger later on {
TT another flood coming down the STREAM
le No loss of life occurred, and no on
&c was injured The property damag
will be small.