Evening star., 1937-02-07
HOMEFURN|SH|NGS.
RUINED BY FLOOD
Most of Furniture in Raw
aged Area Found Dam.
aged Irreparably.
BY ROBERT B. PHILLIPS, Jr.,

LOUISVILLE, KY, reDTudfy u
The home of O. C. Stewart in the
1000 block of Maple street, in West
Louisville, was not pretentious as
of January /, 1897. Like many adja-
cent houses, it is the width OF one
room and narrow hall, has small
yard in front and a modest back
ward It Is conveniently close to the
Axton-F Fisher tobacco plant, and a
good many Of the people In the
neighborhood are workers at that
factory.
The Stewarts, who fled to the
home of relatives when the waters
of the Ohio began coming up Maple
street a fortnight ago, hal not re-
turned to Louisville when we drove
by their house yesterday. stopped
there only because it looked like
typical working mans home, and be-
cause some people could be seen mov-
ing about inside. These turned out
to be friends of the household. Tney
had attached a hose line and were
irving to scour off the floor collec-
ton of muck, giving 1t the appear
9nce OF an ICY swamp.
These friends, a man and woman,
also had righted most OF the furnl-
ture. which had been stacked hlgh
on tables to keep dry and then tun-
bled over by waves from power boats
and currents that twisted even through
the insides of houses when the water
began to recede.
The furniture, with the possible eX-
eeption of the overstufted pieces,
seemed to be damaged 1rreparably.
When the Stewarts come home they
will find that their tables and new
sideboard they had bought on easy
terms are parped and twisted. Some
Of the surfaces have bulged ana
wrinkled until they appear to be crlno-
lated. The fireplace in the front
room and a stove in the dining room
were in working order when was
there, but the new washing machine
was clogged with mud. waking
around the floors to inspect this stun
was q more or less of an acrobatic
feat. Even rubber boots skidded and
slithered in the I'D, as our car had
done in driving through the silt-sod-
den streets.
Chair Weighs $50 Pounds.
The overstuffed pieces, as say, may
dry out some day The chairs now
weigh $50 pounds each. and the sofa
Is q Job for two men to lift. An old
colored man came to the door while
I was inside and asked if any one
wanted a water-soaked mattress that
had been thrown on the front porch.
The couple said NO and then
laughed when he tried to pick up the
mattress to carry it away. 1t was as
heavy as lead.
The water line in the SteWarts'
house was Just about at the ceiling
Of the first floor. Consequently, there
Is not an inch of wall paper in the
living room. dining room, bed room.
kitchen and hall that could be used
for anything except wadding. The
plaster may come OF, too. when an
attempt is made to do something about
the paper. The second floor was not
hurt, but the condition Of the upstairs
Is q matter Of no particular moment
to the householders, because they have
rented three rooms out as an apart
tnent.
II fire insurance company were
estimating the damage to the down.
stairs, believe 1t would be fixed at
around rs per cent.
We went on from the Stewards to
another and lars : house, the home
Of A. H. Tillmar in the 300 block of
South Forty-first street. Tillmars
son. Bud. is one of the room clerks
at the Brown Hotel, and I had been
asking him about conditions in his
home as he found them on returning
for the first time after the flood He
said the place was in the deuce of
q shape" and could go by to look for
myself If didn't think so.
He was right.
The Tillmar house is set rather high
up on a terrace, but nothing in the
West End was high enough to escape
the flood. Water stood about two feet
deep on the first floor, and here again
furniture that had been stacked fell
over when the waves from passing
rescue boats washed into the house.
Tillmar had the foresight to roll his
rugs and tie them to a ladder top
before he left the house, but the ladder
toppled. too. Since he lives downstairs
with his wife and child, while his |
father and mother have the upstairs |
apartment, it was the youni boy who |
suffered much of the loss. His cab
met radio, for example. would be worth |
about cents on the market in its
present condition.
Residents Still Stunned,
1t Is not easy to calculate accurately
the reaction Of the thousands of peo-
pie who are coming back to these
ruined homes. They do not say much.
and like most persons who have un-
oergone q long strain or a stunning
shock. they are not sure Just how they
DO feel about 1t. The edge has not
worn of the blow.
Most OF the streets are dry. Men
are out with shovels, scraping filth off
sidewalks and porches, but they can
not read the barometer of normalcy
until the lights are restored, the dank-
ness goes out of houses and a citizen
out for stroll does not pass one mo-
torboat after another, stranded high
GENC ATTANAE EHu