The Ferris Wheel, Volume 4, Number 31, Saturday, April 17, 1897 Page: 3 of 8
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Big Break at Flower Lake.
Another disastrous break in the iMsslissippi
levee occurred Sunday morning
at 8 o'clock at Flower Lake, six
maples below Tunica, Miss. The crevasse,
while not yet of great width, is
fully fifteen feet deep and the water
is poulu~ng through the opening with
fearful velocity. This will probably
be the most destructive break that has
occurred in the delta. The most fertile
farm lands of Mlsslsslpp.1, lying in Coahoma,
La Flore, Quitman and Tallahatchie
Counties, in the northern paxt
of the state are inundated, and the
newly planted corn crops will be laid
in waste
No loss of life is reported, the inhabitants
of this stricken section havlng
made preparations for just such a
cata'-rophe as exists there. The conditlol
of the poorer classes throughout
the flooded area is indeed critical.
Thousands of refugees are huddled on
levees and spots of land waiting for relief.
The towns of Rosedale and Tunica
report that everything possible is
being done for these poor people, but
that funds and provisions are fast beeoming
exhausted. In the little mity of
Rosedale alone 1,200 refugees are being
cared for by the citizens.
Half a hundred towns stand in six
feet of water and the yellow stream is
creeping up slowly but surely.
Levee at Helena, Ark., Gives Way.
Advices received tell of a break mi
the levee two miles south (of Helena,
Ark. This is the levee for which the
people of Southeastern Arkansas have
made such a desperate fight. The wa*1enough to sadden the hearts of those
far away who are now eagerly waiting
for news and hoping against hope.
Reporter Gathering News.
The Post-Dispatch correspondent
went by skiff from here to all points
possible by water in a radius of fifteen
miles in every direction from this city,
says a telegram from Greenville, Miss.
It was a common sight to see rabbits
or domestic fowls floating on driftwood,
deer on little islands here and
there above the water, and the starving
creatures do not now fear the approach
of man. In one instance a negress
was calmly smoking a pipe on
the roof of a log cabin, while a stream
of water was running through the
doors of her hut nearly up to the eaves
of the roof.Terrible Suffering at MIany Points.
The floods of the Mississippi valley
and its tributaries continues to grow
apace. Mllions of dollars worth of
property have been destroyed and millions
more must be swept away before
the waters recede. Hundreds of lives
~ave been sacrificed and at least three
hundred thousand people have been
rendered homeless. The governors of
Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri,
Kansas, the Dakotas, Nebraska and
Minnesota are receiving funds for the
unfortunates in distress
Secretary of War Alger has forwarded
all the available tents in the department
to the flooded districts, but
these will be inadequate. He has also
ordered the expenditure of $50,000 cash
to relieve the sufferings of homeless
citizens and their families This is the
first time that the war department has
-ever felt called upon to spend cash to
relieve want outside of the regular army
*
Greenville, Miiss., Being Swept Away.
One-third of Greenville, Miss, is a
dsese't of water, a scene of desolation
impossible to describe The water is
in nearly 200 houses and is kept out
of the stores in the heart of the town
only by the protection so timely
thrown up by the citizens to stop its
des tiuctive progress. Mail goes and
comes in skiffs, doctors visit their
patients in skiffs, social visits are made
in skiffs, and skiffs are property equal
almost in value to what the mule was
a few days ago The water is deepest
in the extreme northern limits, where
it has reached a-depth of about seven
feet Frommhis p'eint it shows a gradual
dech. '~
'> .
^ Town, Miss ,\ a very thickly
built district, peopled almost entirely
by negroes, is under water, the depth
ranging from a few inches to five feet
The Belle Air, which contains many
pretty homes and was beautiful with
green lawns and blooming shrubs, is
a Venice, and the only means the people
have of leaving or returning to
their homes is by boats, which are
numerous and various. The water is
not as high as in 1890, but will soon
reach and pass that mark. Greenville
itself is a city of refugees of from 15,000
to 20,000 souls. Relief boats from
the interior ale bringing in nearly every
hour loads of destitute flood sufferers
suddenly caught by the waters and
driven from their homes Hundreds
and thousands of head of stock are
bell driven in from every direction
The. back water from four crevices is
pouring in fearful floods every hour,
and the situation is growing rapidly
worse. At Helena, Miss, the river is
still rising at St. Louis, Miss, it is
rising, and the Arkansas is threatening
to rise in a few days. Business men
are blue, but try to keep cheerful. The
worst has not yet reached the YazooMississippi
Delta, and the half of its
tale of woe has not been told As soon
as the different towns and cities already
submerged are reached by boat
parties from Greenville and as soon
as the remote districts and plantations
can be heard from, there will beI
A STREET SCENE AT ANOKA, MINNESOTA.
Yazoo-Mlssissippi levee district, states
that he does not expect the waters to
abate before May 15.
On the Upper Miisissippi.
The upper Mississippi continues to
boom, the gauge showing eighteen feet
above low water mark. It has been
raining constantly for twelve hours.busy extending succor to the suffering.,
The number of people who have been,
forced to leave their homes is about
1,200. The water east of State street has
become so deep that several houses
have floated from their foundations
Logs to the value of about $60,000 floated
down the river Sunday.
Floods in Minnesota.
Ortonville, Minn., has been completely
cut off from communication with the
outside world. A train cannot go 20
miles from this city in any direction.
Lac Qul Parle lake, Minnesota river,
Big Stone lake and Lake Traverse
form one vast sea. The lake and river
are merged into one, rising at the
rate of half an inch an hour. A heavy
northwest gale is driving the ice,which
is yet a compact and solid mass, out
of Big Stone lake into the overflowed
bottoms of the Minnesota river, where
iL is likely to do great damage Bridges
are gone in many places and boats are
in demand in the vicinity of the depot
and the railroad yards. Rain has been
falling steadily for a week, making
country roads impassable and keeping
farmers off their fields.
Every record since that of 1849 has
been broken by the Mississippi at
Anoka, Minn. Fireman's grove is
filled with water and the Rum river
lam is expected to go out. Millions of
eet of logs are floating down the river.
forth of Anoka millions of acres of
arms are under from two to six feet
f water and there are grave doubts
s to whether or not it can be seeded
his spring River men tonight say
hat there will be a further rise here
f at least six feet.
The ,Jim River (verhowI. '
The Jim river is creating general
avoc with railroads in the valley east
f Yankton, S D. The water is a foot
igher and threatens to take out
ridges and tracks, as the approaches
t both ends of the bridges are euting
badly. Three miles and over of
rack of the Great Northern, Milwauee
and Northwestern railroads is now
ompletely disabled,thus cutting YankDn
off from the outside world. Farmrs
in the bottoms are moving out
rlth boats. Word was received askig
for immediate assistance, and men
nd boats are departing for the flooded
district. The water still continues to
se at Yankton. The ice is broken at
rand Forks, N. D., and trouble is exacted
from that source Basements
i Third street stores are cleared of
1 goods. Above Grand Forks the ice
still solid Between there and Fisha
long trestle on the Great Northern i
ent out Sunday. It will require at
eek after the water has gone down
repair this line.*^
LEAVING THE
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I"What are you doing there, aunty9"
we halloed
"Ise watered in," came the response.
"Would you like us to take you in9"
we offered.
"No, sah, I'll be skiffed out terect
ly'
Plaintive howhnlngs of dogs. cackling
of poultry and squealing of pigs
keep the woods alive, and graphic
scenes and incidents crowd upon the
sight at every turn. Thelie are dead
carcasses floating in the water, fragments
of houses and articles of household
furniture of every kind
P. S-A later dispatch says that
Greenville has been swept away.A
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Ezzell, Frank. The Ferris Wheel, Volume 4, Number 31, Saturday, April 17, 1897, newspaper, April 17, 1897; Ferris, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth18845/m1/3/?q=%221897~%22&rotate=270: accessed July 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ferris Public Library.