New-York tribune., 1921-06-09
Pueblo's Dead
Are StreWn i'm
Miles of Mire
$4,000, 600 in Goods Lie
in Quicksands of Tnun-
dated Farms, Corresponds
ent Reports After Trip
ChouIs Torches SoleI4ight
Control of City To Be
Taken Over by National
Guard; Find More Bodies

OE<N iS1Ns SAAS @ I Dy AuS Associated
Pressl.--Crops wers almost totally de-
ssroyed over an area approximately eos
square miles in the neighborhood OF
Pueblo by the recent foods. according
to report made to-day to military
headquarters here by Captain James
G. Bennett, of the reconnaissance
group.
Ten million dollars worth Of Pueblo
goods and scores of bodies of Pueblo
citizens lie strewn in the mire and the
quicksands OF inundated farm lands for
thirty-ive miles south on both sides of
the raging Arkansas River below
Pueblo, according to q dispatch to-day
to The Denver Times.
This account was from g staff corre-
spondent, the first newspaper man to
penetrate into the district, which re-
ceived much OF the debris from the
food waters of Pueblo.
Ghouis' Torches Light Desolation
The correspondent, under date of
lsst night, wrote that ''in the vicinity
OF Vineland, Avondale, Divine, Boone,
Fowler and Manzano death holds su-
pTeme sway tonight, with only the
hS%NHS1 VI SAA1S SliO08o W up IUS
desolation."
The correspondent, who made the
trip in company with state ranger,
wrote that "by means of motorcycle,
automobile, saddle horses, cable, foot
work and swimming, we went through
mere than thirty miles of flooded ter
rain below Pueblo, penetrating further
into the dismal swamp than any human
being. has come since last Friday, dis
covering four bodies of men. millions
IN property carried down from Pueblo
and hundreds of dead horses and cat
lie, many lodged in trees.
Starting out from Pueblo. we buckeI
lakes, rivers, creeks and yellow swamps
for miles and miles through a track
less waste of mud, marked here and
there with bed springs, wrecked auto
mobiles, oil tanks, dead horses, tablets,
trunks IN wild confusion" the account
continued
Mired in Midst of Ruins
Crossing Salt Creek in 2 sea of
spray, we travelled by motorcycle to
the st. Charles River. which is roaring
high, swollen to an enormous volume.
Here single cable across the river is
the only means of crossing. With a
recruited squad of farm hands to tug
on the pulley, we went across The
farm hands had just pulled out the
body of seven-year- old girl
Hiring car, we went on down until
the muck and the debris finally raised
an insurmountable barrier. Leaving
the machine, we took two horses, and
tonight We are niired in the midst of
the ruins Of Pueblo, thirty-two miles
below that town, with 10 human life
visible.
"AboGt mile up the river torches
va liz
nave found fortune come to them on
the swollen river are at work. We
passed scores of looting parties, ali
ousying themselves in the waste lands
along the river. Sheriffs and deputies
have warned them out, but as soon as
we passed they went back to digging
IN the eternal slime"
Civilian Guards withdrawn
PUEBLO, Col, June s.-With the
arrival of 200 additional National
Guardsmen, announcement was made
here tonight that all. civilian guards
on duty in the area swept by the foods
of last week will be withdrawn imme-
diately and control of the city pass
directly into the hands of the military
until the emergency has passed. The
announcement was made by Colonel
p. j. Hamrock, Adjutant General of COL
OAdOV, III OI tue troops mere.
"A city can't be properly managed with
both civilian and military authority
in a situation like this" Colonel Ham
rock said.
In addition to the troops, forty-one
army trucks are on the way to aid in
distributing supplies and in cleaning
up.
A refugee camp that will accommo-
date two thousand persons was
ordered constructed at once. Colonel
Hamrock has directed Major j. /. Mar
tin TO organize the camp. seven
ward hospital is now ready, Colonel
Hamroek said, that will accommodate
one thousand persons in case diseases
such as smallpox and typhoid fever de-
velop into an epidemic. At present the
number of these cases is not menacing,
it was said.
The City Council issued an an
ntuncemeut establishing free en-
ployment bureau. Wages for labor
were fixed at 43 cents an hour and all
persons are prohibited by the councils
proclamation from paying more or less
than that sum until further notice
Funerals of the identified dead are
to start at once. These, officials said,
will be quiet and without ceremony, in
order that the sorrow may be put be-
hind as soon as possible