Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-08-03

der water and the crops OF small gar
den truck planted upon them Is gone.
The bridges are still holding there
and travel across is unimpaired. Chip
pewa creek which flows into the river
there Is out of its banks.
keosauqua High Mark.
The highest mark of the river this
season was touched at Keosauqua Sun.
day afternoon and evening when the
guage showed sixteen feet and five
inches All of the lowland farm and
truck patches are under water and the
crops swept away. None Of the houses
along the river there though are touch
ed yet and the families have not left
! them.
Falls At Eddyville.
Reports from Eddyville this after
noon were that the river has fallen
eighteen inches there since Sunday
evening and was still falling. At that
time 1t reached the high mark Of June
g. sixteen feet and eight inches. The
bridge has been closed for traffic but
is still holding up we'll under its strain.
Water has now reached most of the
cellars in the town and goods are being
moved from Easements to higher floors
for safety from damage.
From the Market street bridge east
the water Sunday and today has been
very swift and full of drift wood. 1t
| has backed far inland having reach
ed the foot Of Madison avenue on the
south side Starting at Church street
the water has backed into Myrtle
street where it was deep enough for
the boats to pass over the fences.
The stone quarry just east of the
Vine street bridge has been converted
into an island and the only way to
reach the house there is by boat. The
water is very swift both at the Wab-
ash railroad bridge and the Vine street
bridge and hits the piers with such
force that the spray is hurled onto the
floor of the bridge.
The water backed into the grounds
of the Dain plant Sunday and before
the river reached it's height had
reached within a few inches Of the
floor of a portion Of the plant. The
loading track of the company was
submerged to the depth of car floor
and shipping there will be delayed for
two or three days, but the work in the
shops will not be hindered unless an
other rise greater than the present
should take place This, however, Is
not feared as the stream has been
falling steadily since midnight. por-
ton of Vine street in front Of the Dain
plant was washed out Sunday morn
ing but men and teams from the big
manufacturing plant soon had the hole
plugged and the street saved to traf'
fic.
Some people living in close vicinity
to the Dain plant were forced to leave
their homes because Of the water. The
baseball park is miniature lake and
a considerable depth of water fills the
ground and can be seen from the Wab-
ash railroad bridge. Myrtle street
and the lower places in that vicinity
have been under water since Satur.
day.
The isolation hospital is entirely
surrounded and people in boats rowed
around it Sunday afternoon. A small
house south of there has several feet
/ of water in it and the owner has Gag
! ed his chickens and set the cages up.
on high posts At the end Of the Wab'
ash railroad bridge, which is near
South Vine street the water is several
/ feet deep and the boys were swimming
there Sunday afternoon.
Flood Central Addition.
A view of the Des Moines river in
the west end shows nothing but
dreary waste of water flowing swiftly
past the shores, which bound it In
some cases and in others does not.
The faces of people as they stood
along the railroad tracks Sunday after
noon, with grave concern written over
them, showed that they realized the
seriousness of the situation. Families
! in Central addition have been moving
out and in some cases, the water
stands several inches deep in the
homes of the unfortunate jewellers OF
the lowlands, back Of the tracks. Boats
are being used to communicate with
other houses, and bedding and furni-
ture were being piled high, prepara-
tory to moving to a safer spot.
Shoot Dam in Canoes.
The river at the boat house is back
ed up to the levee on whichDthe Bur
lington tracks are built, and the
boats are rocking around like egg
shells, in the eddies which swirl
/ -,