The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1936-03-26
By Ross Decker, Our Distinguished
Guest Artist For This Week
OOnC
FLOODS

By Ross Decker, Our Distinguished
Guest Artist For This Week
FLOODS
The subject of this weeks disserta-
ton is Floods" written by one who
has spent twenty-eight or thirty years
in the Ohio Valley and who was res
cued, last Sunday, from this stricken
area by your beloved Scoop himself,
assisted by Archibaldson, his side
kick.
The scene at the outset of this story,
if you chose to regard it as such, is
Wellsville, Ohio, about three miles
from East Liverpool, and one of the
worst hit towns in the flood area, even
though you have seen but very few
of those 'awe-inspiring photos of this
town that have been flooding the dali
les for the past week.
There are about 1000 homes in Wells
vile, where some 5000 people live. At
the crest of the waters 1400 houses
were under water, some of them as
far as the second floor. All but three
of the towns main streets were mum
dated. These thoroughfares were re-
mindful of some great holiday, for
they were crowded with parked cars
and thronged with people who had
nothing else to do but wander from
one end of town to the other checking
up" on the rising waters at various
points.
The hardships here were not great,
for everyone turned their homes into
dormitories and all the churches be-
came free lunch counters. Most every
one suffered mostly from loss of sleep
because of the excitement which per-
vaded everything. No one knew how
high the water would rise or what
would happen next. Five fires were
reported in twenty-four hours, and the
electric current and gas were likely
to have been shut off at any hour. Ra-
dos were screaming nothing but flood
news from every house that was hab-
liable.
One of the strangest sights was to
be found in the burning of a large
garage. Instead of burning to the
ground the building actually burned
to the water, which was two feet up
the structure. Firemen walked around
with a hose in water up to their waist
to no avail except that bonded "cold
preventative" was passed around quite
plentifully.
A rather odd fact that all river
"billies" know is that floods recede at
the same rate they rise. Once the
river started going down it was only
a few hours until the extent of the
devastation began to show itself. A
sea of mud, lovely, Shiny, brown ankle
deep mud coated everything alike.
Over stuffed furniture, stoves, eXpen-
sive hardwood floors on which house
wives had perhaps toiled with wax and
polisher only a few hours before were
given a chocolate coating with the
same disregard small boy with a
painting complex would use. Com
pared with the other terrors of a flood
this same fertile mud lays everything
else in the shade. There is nothing
else to do but swallow the hopeless
look, roll up the sleeves, grab broom
and garden hose and begin washing
down the wall paper. If you happen
to have a grand piano that cost a
little fortune just squirt all the water
you want on it too.
***
Wheeling island, out in the middle
of the Ohio river, is one of the finest
places to live but it is difficult for peo-
pie who live away from the river to
understand why others stay in such
places at times like these. Ask the
same question why people live in earth
quake ridden Japan, or wind swept
Florida and you will have the answer.
The earth quakes don't happen every
day or every year and there are many
others to keep you company when the
hurricanes come along so you take the
chance with the rest of them.
At Wellsville the flood of 1884 was
the grandaddy of them all until the
1886 infant came along. None be-
lieved the flood would ever break the
tale of wreckage and huge volumes of
water as described by eminent gray
haired gentlemen. But you can believe
history was made when the water
struck the old marks to which these
same folk narrators had pointed and
kept right on coming for five feet
more. Photographers did a rushing
business as proud mothers lined uI
their youngsters beside the rising
waters for evidence to be used in the
future when the subject of who went
thro11oh the birpect Aond iS hroachad