Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-02-10
CREAs7 OF FLOOD i
 IN MISSISSIPPI
 PASSES MEMPHIS
tContinued from Page l.,
One Convict Drowned.

HC III Al htRliHftN btthioN of the flood was increased to 17 yes terday, when reports were received of the drowning of negro convict named Walter Thomas,s who sought to escape from the convict farm near Cummins, by swimming from the camp across the flood waters to a place of safety and freedom.
 Two other negroes tried the same method, with Thomas. but they were rescued by wardens and trusties. who chased them, in boats. Thomas sank and failed to come 10 the surface.
 Convict farm officials have opera tions we'll in hand again, and al- though they are having difficulty be- cause of the flood waters still GOV ering everything on the farm, they are making trips to Warner with an improvised barge, carrying feedstuffs to the livestock which was sent to Warner when the break in the lcvee was impending. e&5.~ +
 Arrangements havee been completed for the beginning of repair work on the state convict farm as soon as the water subsidies, and it has al ready been arranged to have the necessary material on hand at the earliest possible moment
 Conditions Reassurng.
 Except from the eastern eXtremi- ties of Desfa and Ghicot counties. all reports yesterday were of conditions being mpre satisfactory and reas- surfing.
 Along the Iron Mountain south of Pine Bluff, all points reported the water receding rapidly. Between the river and the railroad, the water is still high enough to cause consd- erable trouble. Some sections will be under water until the Mississippi recedes enough to carry off the flood waters farther east, but within the next day or two it is expected the greater portion of the trouble in that section will be past
 Clarendon also sent out more fav- orable reports last night. The water is falling there, and the worst ap- pears to be over. The property dam age will reach large figures, but there has been no loss of life. The town is well-nigh depopulated, most of the people having left for higher and more comfortable quarters. .Claren- don also is expecting to be clear of water as soon as the Mississippi begins falling. st
 Railroads Working Hard.
 The Iron Mountain operated trains as far as Warner yesterday, and ex- poets by this evening to resume oper- ations over the entire line. A 15- %el, Dumas is still causing trouble, but q big force of workmen is enga ged, under direct supervision of General Superintendent J. w.. Dean, making repairs as fast as the Water recedes, and MT. Dean is hopeful that by to- night the entire Iron Mountain sys- tenn will be open, from one end to the other. ~, -s- .ss
 The Cotton Belt is active also, in handling it's troubles in the Claren- don section. As fast as the water recedes, the workmen are advancing their operations, and it is expected that within "A hours after the water gets below the tops of the rails. trains will be running through again. This expectation is based 0n the hope that there have been no actual wash. outs of consequence, and that all that will be necessary vii lbe the rein forcement and strengthening of the weakened, water-soaked roadbed
 Louisiana Not Injured.
 Reports from Monroe, La. are to the effect that little flood water ap- pears to be flowing through Bayou Bartholomew, at points in Louisiana. It has never been reported that a very considerable quantity of flood water from the Cummins and Doug las breaks had reached tho Bartholo- new. Some water did extend that far westward from the Iron Mountain right of way, but the roadbed held most of the water in check, while the break at Pendleton, believed to be responsible for the rather sudden fall in the river level. spread the water out over level country farther east and south. and thus kept it from flooding the Bartholomew section.