The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-05-17
FLOOD DANGERS
| LESSEN|NG NOW
River is Going Down and Normal
Conditions Will be Restored
/ Before Long, It is
Thought.
TRAINS ARE RUNNING
Slow Orders in Flooded Places Inlay
Them Somewhat-some Stories
From Points South
Of Here.
TRAINS ARE RUNNING

The disturbed waters of the Miss
issippi show signs of calming them
selves, and conditions which have
been created by this May flood will
revert once more to normal. Trains
are running but are delayed, owing to
SLOW orders over the places where the
track is under water.
The stage of the river here today
showed 1872 feet, fall of seven
tenths of a foot since yesterday. The
river bulletin forecasts a fall OF from
five to six tenths per day for the re-
mainder of the week.
| The lowest temperature last night
was Al. This was degree warmer
than the night previous. Continued
entity for tomorrow. sA
The Flood in South.
The following from the Quincy
Herald gives some idea of the extent
of the flood south of Keokuk:
The train crews on the K line north
and south from Quincy have had their
hands more than full during the last
thirty-six hours battling with the
flood. The result has been that all
trains entering Quincy from the west
have been from one to three hours
late. There is an ocean of water over
the bottoms west of Quincy and in
many places the tracks are covered
with from one to two feet of water.
On Monday the train due out of
Quincy for Burlington at 1888 p. m.
did not leave till after l o'clock and
didn't arrive at La Grange, ten miles
north until $50 For most OF this dis
lance as far as the eye could reach
there was water, water everywhere
and in many places for miles in a
stretch there was nothing that looked
like a railroad except the telegraph
poles and only about half their length
was in evidence.
Wind Threatens Tracks.
A two-story frame house standing
near the bank of the river about
three miles north of West Quincy
and known in steamboat parlance as
! Prairie Castle, appeared over the
waste of water as a mid-ocean light
house or a life saving station. The
land near this place has been known
to produce ninety bushels of corn to
the acre but now it looks like 1t
might be a paradise for buffalo fish.
Within a mile or two of this place
the train moved at a snaiIs pace with
man on the cow-catcher whose bust
| ness it was to push logs and brush
and other debris off the track as the
train approached them. At this point
stiff wind from the west brought in
waves sufficiently high to threaten
the fire box of the engine. On a
FLOATING accumulation of debris a
travelling man discovered a mouse
that had evidently adopted the safe
ty first" slogan and was experiencing
all the novelties OF "a life on the
ocean wave.' Not another domestic
animal of any sort was in sight. They
had probably been moved to higher
ground.
There was no sign of life between
West Quincy and La Grange except
two men in a skiff. They cut in be-
hind the train. and rowed across thu
right-of-way Just as though there
was no railroad in existence.
/ The water is not nearly so high
as it was in 1881, not to mention the
record flood of 1852, but there is
enough to satisfy the most fastidious
ami any increase at all will put all
trains on the K line out of commits
eli