The Washington times., 1937-02-02
YOUTH SAVES 7
BY SWIM AT
PADUCAH
Army Engineers Chief
Reiterates Belief
bikes Will Hold
Continued from Page II

walled.in Cairo from which the
population has fled in fear the
60-foot dixie will break.
The Ohio River, receding eX-
cept at its mouth, stood at 595
feet at Cairo, and appeared to
waver uncertainty between rising
and falling as the 1000 dixie work
ers who remained behind patched
minor leaks. 1t was thought it
would rise another foot by tomor-
row. but engineers admitted they
were puzzled by the rivers be-
havior.
A catastrophe of major proper
tions will be precipitated if the
sea wall fails at Cairo. normally
a city of $4,000. as much of the
city lies 20 feet below the present
water level.
10000 Work On Levees
Farther down the Mississippi,
destruction and death lurked in
the swollen Mississippi as 100000
men, under United States Army
direction, toiled both to
strengthen and heighten the
Sorely taxed levees.
The confidence Of Maj. Gen.
Edward Markham that the Gov
ernment leveeS will hold only par
TALLY relieved the situation. He
voided his own prediction in the
event of unexpected flood heights.
Some of the levees are local rather
than Government, and thousands
more acres will be flooded even If
no dikes break.
A 50-mile strip of Arkansas, from
the rivers normal basin to the
rugged, low-lying humps OF land,
known as Crowley's Ridge, to
which thousands have fled, ap-
peared certain to be flooded If the
river reaches the predicted 53-foot
stage, even should no levees break.
This huge tract has been mostly
evacuated.
Tributaries Flooded
So powerful has the Mississippi
become that tributaries are unable
to pour even normal flows Of
water into it, and are backed up to
flood stage. The st. Francis River
thus backed up flooded thousands
of acres through which Harry Hop
kins and President RooSevelt'S
flood committee passed on their
first inspection of Memphis yeSter-
day.
Except for the levee workers.
Cairo is evacuated. Upstream,
Paducah has been evacuated ex-
cept for handful Of men guarding
the flood-swept city from looters.
The Ohio took a final fling at
southern Indiana and Illinois yes
terday, and today the flood waters
began to recede and the terrific
task of rehabilitation began.
Evacuation Continues
Below Cairo the evacuation OF
thousands of lowland dwellers.
protected by secondary levees, con-
tinued.
The 20O-mile stretch between
Cairo and Memphis was consld-
cred the most critical today.
Pounding flood waters threat
ened to rush the levee at HIGH
man, KY, inundating the lower
town and releasing the 1mpounded
water to flow over miles of flats
to Tiptonville, Tenn. already sur
rounded by water on three sides.
General Markham declared:
1--WE expect to beat the river
at ali important points from
Cairo to New Orleans.
Only local levees have broken
so far.
Local Dixie Breaks
Most serious of the local
breaks was the cave-in OF sec
ondary sandbag dixie at Bessie
above Tiptonville, Tenn, Sunday:
Engineers reported today waves OF
the windswept river are widening
the breach, but that Tiptonvllle,
surrounded by water on three
sides, is not endangered. More
serious, engineers said, would be
a break at Hickman, KY, where
the river has risen within inches
of the top of the seawa4 protect
ing LQ6 GOWl. 4A1C AO"CA Uo"1A'
already partially under water, is
threatened, and break would
send the river Splashing over IL
miles of flat cotton country to
Tiptonville.
Three Danger Spots
Other critical points were New
Madrid. Mo-, the already broken
secondary sandbag levee at Bessie,
Tenn, and the dixie at MellWood'
Ark.
Elsewhere the levee workers
sought to strengthen secondary
levees on tributary streams men
aced by the Mississippi's back
waters. An army of 1,500 men
swarmed over the dixie along the
Nonconnah River, just outside the