The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-06-07
DRASTIC ACTION IS TAKEN IN PUEBLO
 ID CLEAN UP CITY
All Able Bodied Men Must Aid In Clearing Debris at Stipu- lated Pay or Under Guard ,
 Without Pay
By Associated Press

Pueblo, June 6.-Systematic and drastic action to ascertain the num- Der of dead and to clean the city of Pueblo flood-stricken for three days, was begun this afternoon. Acting under military authority, Lieut.. Col. Paul H. Newton ordered every able bodied man to apply himself to the task of removing debris from the streets, as measure to prevent dan ger from fire and pestilence. The order bars sightseers from the city, and makes work compulsory, either for the stipulated pay or under mili- tary without pay.
 The city has been divided into eight wards for a sanitary survey. and to each ward has been assigned two doc tors and four nurses The people are being instructed how to prevent and combat disease and infection. Three isolation hospitals have been estab- lshed, and Dr. John C. Cornell, of trs United States public health service at Denver, who is assisting Dr. W. l. Buck, city health officer. declared the situation is we'll in hand He said there is not now any epidemic of con- tagious diseases and that only five cases of chickenpox had been reported to the authorities since the flood. Vol unteer doctors from Colorado Springs and 16 from the public health service at Denver are aiding the Pueblo pby- sicians.
 searchers Work Slowly
 Recovery of bodies is progressfrg slowly, since searchers are impeded by ha Slntviy rnpn1inpr Wi a hv great coating of mud over every kind of debris. Careful check by The As sociated Press showed 42 bodies in morgues today. To this list were add ed 10 more known dead when a re- porter for the Pueblo Chieftain made his way from St. Charles Mesa, six miles down stream, to report the num- Der of bodies recovered there.
 Many bodies probably never will bs found as they were carried down stream below Pueblo by the terrific force of the flood Searching of the buildings is being conducted today as work men are engaged in clearing them out. Some recovery of bodies has been made. and in cases where bodies arc known to have been found, it was inn possible to learn where they had been , taken.
 No estimate can be made accurately of the number of persons missing. An effort to do this was made by the Pueblo Chieftain and this newspaper had list of approximately 25 per sons This had to be revised frequent Ely as persons were found
 With the recession of the waters from the inundated district Pueblo cit Ifzens were able to make some esti- i, mate of the damage that had been done in their city by the angry waters of the Arkansas and the Fountain rivers.
 May Reach $15.000,OOO
 Stretching in an irregular, far fluns oval, 90 blocks long and of a maximum width of 12 blocks, comprising about $50 city blocks. the damaged area aft CT the curtain of water had been with drawn presented an aspect of desols- ton that forced many obsers, IS to re- wise the early estimate of si0,000,0Oy to one nearer s15, ,000.
 A number of large and important business buildings on each side of the area were destroyed and many others were seriously damaged.
 In proclamation issued at Colorado Springs Governor Shoup said:
 "The havoc wrought by the recent floods in Colorado are appalling. Many parts of the state have been affected but the greatest damage apparently has been done in the Arkansas valley. The flood probably reaped it's largest harvest of human lives and destruction of property in and about the city or Pueblo. It is impossible at this time accurately to estimate either the loss of life or property, but the toll will be very heavy.
 Knowing that the response will De prompt and generous, l, as chief execu- tive of the state, call upon the people of Colorado to contribute to the relief of the flood sufferers Their stress is great and their needs most pressing. It will require not days but weeks anu perhaps even months to relieve the situation.
 "As governor I have, on behalf of 2 the people or the state. accepted the offer of the American Red Cross to take general charge and supervision of the relief work. It's officials arc now on the ground and actively un- dertaking the herculean task
 From d personal inspection of much of the flooded area I can state that the situation is serious. l, therefore, make this urgent appeal for prompt and generous response
 Transportation Greatest Need
 Transportation east and north from the city is just now declared to be the greatest need. Governor Oliver Fl. Shoup today telegraphed Senator Phipps and Senator Nicholson to make every effort to get an appropriation of $20, ,00O, 900 to the state of Colorado to repair and rebuild bridges on the lines entering from these directions. | - The senators TtplltQ tndt tncy uiu not feel that they could consistently make such d request for federal as- sistance until facts and conditions have been more definitely determined"
 "Whatever the death list finally reaches, not half the bodies of tie vic- tims of the flood will be recovered, R. G. Breckenridge, president of the Pueblo Rotary club, said today He based his statement on pecularities or l the river channel and the drifting ok mud over the flooded areas
 All of the recovered bodies are be- ling held in the morgue.
 It will be impossible. undertakers I say, to bury these bodies for several I days. roads to the cemeteries being {, impa ssable.
 Rain Again Falling I Rain again began falling this after noon and J. l.. Moorhead, personal rep ] resentative of the governor, made the ! paradoxical statement that 1t was blessing. Should the city dry up too rapidly before the debris and mud were l removed the result would be disagree able odors and probable menace to health
 While the list of known dead grows { slowly reports to undertakers indl- cate that other bodies have been found and will be recovered when the waters abate.
 Lieutenant Colonel Newton late this afternoon ordered out the rifle conn x panies at Brush. Fort Morgan and T f2riphton to augment the troopx all