Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-01-21

lowing an all n1RnC QOWQpOuT. Inc
north end of the east side of the city
"a foreign residential section, is I'M
der water. Several thousand persons
live in the district. The river rose
eight feet during the night and is still
ris;>g. Sewers could not carry the wa
ter off As miles Of paved streets and
thousands of cellars were flooded by
waters which backed up in drain pipes.
Water Supply Nearly Gone.
At 11:15 o'clock warning of a prob
able food which was liable to
sweep away thousands of homes and
buildings and cripple water supplies
of cities along the Fox river was
flashed by telephone and telegraph
through the Fox river valley to people
living anywhere near the rivers edge.
Already six Of the seven artesian
wells which supply Aurora with its
water supply have been cut off by the
river which is running over it's banks.
One small we'll which is now in opera
ton but which may go out any min
hours more. The main pumping sta
ton Of the Aurora water department is
just north Of the city and is on the
river bank. The river has poured into
the five artesian wells at this station
and has put out of business a big air
compressor which pumps these wells.
A we'll in South Aurora has been flood
ed and the fires of boilers put out
There is practically no water pres
sure in case of fire.
Orphanage Threatened.
At Mooseheart, national headquarters
of the Loyal Order of Moose and seat
of its industrial school and home for
orphans, Easements of many buildings
have been flooded An artificial lake
north of the school is pouring over a
dam north of the schol and there is
but an intervening ravine protecting
the institution. Hundreds of men are
working frantically to direct the wa
ter of the lake toward the river
through the ravine and a small creek
Warnings that dams at North Au-
rora and st. Charles, ILL.,, may go out
have been bulletined. Dams at Gen
eva and Batavia are being watched and
strengthened. The river was up eight
and one-half feet at II rs and still ris-
ing.
Northern Part of State Flooded.
Chicago, Jan. 21.-Rivers through
out northern Illinois, swollen by rain
which fell almost continuously
through the night, today overlooked
their banks and inundated a score of
cities and villages. No loss of life
was reported but the property damage
was estimated at several thousand
dollars. All through the valley of the
Des PLANES the water spread far over
the lowlands, reaching its height in
the neighbOrhood of Joliet, where a
large section of the city was inun-
dated and several villages flooded with
five feet Of water. Aurora and Elgin
on the Fox river and intermediate
towns of st. Charles, Batavia and
GENEVA reported high water and much
damage.
The rain swept over the two north
ern tiers of Illinois counties from Chi
cago to Davenport
Southeastern Iowa and the extreme
northern and western parts of Mis-
souri, were also in the rain belt which
came up from Texas.
| The government weather forecaster
predicts severe cold tomorrow night in
the northwest with probability that
the cold wave would extend to Iowa
and Illinois.
Five Feet i'm Joliet.
Joliet, ILL.,, Jan. 21-The worst flood
since 1902 engulfed Joliet today. Wa
ter ran five feet deep in the streets.
Easements were flooded and nearly a
thousand persons living in the lower
parts of the city were driven from
their homes.
Blockade, a manufacturing town
southeast of the city, reported six feet
Of water on the level and business
suspended.
The whole valley of the Des PLANES
river is inundated.