Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-03
PREDICTED |
FOR LONG PERIOD.
Professor Sherier Declares Water VIII
Be Slow in Falling After Crest
Is Creached.
HEAVY RAINS MAY ADD DANGERS
Meteorological of Local Weather Bu.
reau Says Situation Is Grave
Owing TO Season of Year.

That there will be high water at
Rock Island for long period was the
forecast made today by Professor ],
M. Sherier, meteorologist Of the local
government weather bureau.
The Mississippi river is at a stage
of Isl feet here today" Mr.. Sherier
said. AT Dubuque it is 1913 feet
rise of one-tenth of = foot since yes
terday. This shows that the water
is at a stand there.
AT Clinton it is IFS feet. We pre-
dict a stage of Is feet there by Fri
day The river is III feet at LIE Claire
We are predicting shade over u feet
there by Saturday. At Mrscatine i;
will be IS feet by Sunday. Today it
is 1853 feet.
After the crest of the stage is
reached the fall will be very slow,
tenth or a fifth of foot a day. We
are in for quite period of high wa
ter. The danger lies also in heavy
rains. This is a season when violent
downpours are not infrequent Any
such heavy rains would aggravate
conditions severely. Our forecast OF
16-foot stage is based on the assump-
ton that there will be no heavy
rains"
Rise of Half Foot.
The rise in the Mississippi at Rock
Island since yesterday is one-half foot
Ample warning having been given,
people in this city who had property
exposed took immediate steps early il
the week to protect their holdings.
Many families living at points near the
river have abandoned their homes.
DR.. c. T. Foster, city health physi-
clan, today was forced to wade in wa
ter up to his knees to reach the mu-
niCipal detention hospital on Mill
street, The pest house, it is figured,
is safe providing the water does not
rise over the crest predicted
Although the United States boat
Coal Bluff had prepared to make a
trip to Muscatine yesterday to assist
in the work of reinforcing levees at
that place, the journey was postponed
later in the day Major G. NJ. Hoff-
man inspected the levees and fOun
that residents Of the city had taken
means to plug muskrat holes ami
small breaks in the bikes.
Farmers on the Illinois side of the
river are busy reinforcing levees il
the Drury, Bay Island and Union
drainage districts.
Railroad service north was not sus-
pended today. Water is covering the
tracks in some points on the Iowa side
but it is not sufficiently deep to cause
the roads to stop traffic.
Island is Flooded.
Clinton, Iowa, May Beaver is
land, portion of the city of Clinton,
separated from the mainland by 2
slough and inhabited by number of
families, now is partially inundated
by the flood waters in the Mississippi
rivers. Homes on the island are on
piling foundations and are high
enough to escape damage unless the
water should rise three more fet. The
stage of water this morning was 17.f
feet above low water mark rise of
fve-tenths of foot in the preceding
"a hours A rise of three more inches,
it was said, will necessitate the
suspension of steam railroad service
between Clinton and Davenport, the
water now covering the ties and il
some places the rails. The roadbed
of the interurban line operating be
tween Clinton and Muscatine via Dav-
export, however, is sufficiently high tG
escape the water