The Washington herald., 1921-06-08
Flood Stricken City Be
gins Clearing. Area of
Devastation.
ADEQUATE RELIEF
is NOW ASSURED
Known Dead, 81; But
Large Area Remains
To Be Searched.

PUEBLO. June 7.-Pueblo is
burying its dead.
This, the final act of the tragedy
that followed the flood which took
half a hundred lives and caused
property damage heie estimated at
more than S15.000,000 was the rea-
son for the only break in the work
of salvaging the remains of what
once was a prosperous business sec>
ton of the city.
Even the burial ceremony at
tracted for only a moment. for the
workers are digging and haulins
away debris in feverish haste to
prevent spread Of disease and added
names 70 the list of dead.
Corteges in each case consisting
Of a black hearse and one automo-
bile load of mourners. passed on
to the North Side and Odd Fellows
cemeteries regularly throughout the
afternoon and night
Working to Aid Living.
At the same time searchers for
missing friends and relatives were
passing through the morgues.
There were few tears and little
outward show of grief, for Pueblo
is now working to aid the $4,000
living persons within its limits, who
are all in some measure stricken
by the catastrophe.
Judges were on the bench in the
Pueblo courthouse, the most beau
tiful structure in this part of Colo
RADIO, when a cavalcade of refugees
entered the building. Court was
adjourned and the handsome $1,000
900 building was given over to
Mexicans, negroes and other refu-
gees who are homeless. Free beds,
food and water were given to the
homeless and smells of cooking
food filled the big building.
Death List Mt 81.
The dead in the city's morgues
now number forty. while from Ar
kansas river towns in the vicinity
reports of bodies recovered from
the still swollen stream. were:
At Boone, 3.
At yinelaad, /.
Known drowned at Baxter, bodies
unrecoyered, Z.
The complete toll of 81 dead in
the valley is likely to be increased
materially when communications
are restored and the river and the
mud give up their dead. .,
As the business men probcd
deeper>into their wrecked estab-
lishments, the estimate of property
losses in Pueblo rose tonight to
s25. 200.
Conditions are Better.
A committee of twenty was
formed to take counsel with the
city and county commissioners,
military and Red Cross officials, to
work out Pueblo's salvation. Fed
eral and state aid is still empha-
sized by the city fathers as the
only means of rebuilding the levees
along the Arkansas and staving of
enormous taxes to pay for the city's
and the county's restoration.
Living conditions in the city were
greatly alleviated by the restora-
tion of electrical, water, and tele-
phone service. although they are
not yet normal.
Curfew in Effect.
The Z o'clock "curfew law" was
still in effect in the business dis
trict, although many worked at
clearing away debris. The transfer
of ruined goods from inside of
stores to sidewalks served Temporal
rily to increase the desolation in the
flooded areas.
]. L. Fieser, manager of the south
western division of the Red Cross,
arrived from St. Louis and took
general charge of the organizations
relief activities.
An information service that will
be available to friends and rela-
tives throughout the country has
been inaugurated by the Red Cross
in connection with its relief work.
Inquiries directed to James L. Fieser,
director of Red Cross relief opera
tions at Pueblo, concerning the
safety and welfare of individuals
resident, or stopping there, will be
answered as expeditiously as condi-
tions permit. simultaneously Mr..
Fieser has been directed to assist
persons in Pueblo in sending word
of their situation to friends and
relatives in other parts of the coun-
try, through Red Cross chapters and
otherwise.