The Flood in the Ohio Valley
PERIL IN THE OHIO VALLEY—DISTRESS AT WHEELING—PARKERSBURG UNDER WATER—KENTUCKY TOWNS SUBMERGED—IMPERILED TOWNS IN INDIANA—SHAWNEETOWN SUBMERGED—CAIRO FACING CRISIS—SITUATION HOURLY WORSE.
While Dayton, Columbus and other cities of the Middle West were passing through the worst floods in their history, the Ohio River was preparing new perils. All along its course it carried destruction.
DISTRESS AT WHEELING
At Wheeling, as early as March 26th, several persons were drowned and many narrowly escaped death when a freshet swept down Wheeling Creek through Barton, Ohio.
Two days later, with the crest of the flood past, Wheeling turned to take up in earnest the task of caring for her thousands of destitute and homeless.
Although the loss in money ran into millions, few of those able to aid seemed to think of anything but the alleviation of want and suffering. Before noon Mayor Kirk had raised more than $6,000 for the relief fund, and most of the wealthy men and women of Wheeling had contributed. Churches, schools, clubs, auditorium, public halls and hundreds of private residences were thrown open to those driven from the lower quarters.
PARKERSBURG UNDER WATER
More than half the business district of Parkersburg and part of the residence section were under water on March 28th, with the Ohio River still rising. The gas, electric and water plants went out of commission soon after noon, and street cars stopped operations. All the newspaper plants were flooded out except that of the Parkersburg Sentinel, whose editorial force was taken to the building in boats, and worked on the second story while water was flowing through the rooms below them. A single page, printed on a proof press and containing the flood news of the Associated Press report, was delivered to newsboys in boats, who sold each copy at a fancy price, as the printing of the edition was limited to two a minute.
KENTUCKY TOWNS SUBMERGED
The crest of the Ohio river flood reached Louisville April 1st, with a stage of about forty-five feet.
The railroad situation in Louisville became acute. The Louisville, Henderson and St. Louis suspended traffic entirely. The Louisville and Nashville from Cincinnati could reach the city only by detouring through Jeffersonville, Indiana, crossing the swollen Ohio on the Big Four bridge and returning via the Pennsylvania bridge to reach the Louisville and Nashville station, which was used also by the Pennsylvania trains.
Copyright by American Press Association. Scene showing a section of Omaha entirely wrecked. On the left is all that remains of Idlewild Hall. At this spot a large number of people were killed
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Copyright by the International News Service. A typical scene at one of the relief stations. Here men, who a few hours before had been millionaires, stood in line with their fellow citizens, quite as much dependent on these relief stations for sustenance as paupers. Orville Wright, the famous aviator, was one of the men in the bread line
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Western Kentucky points continued to report rising water. Owensboro, Henderson and Wickliffe were centers of refuge for inhabitants of the lowlands, who fled before the flood. There were more than four thousand refugees at Wickliffe.
At Paducah on April 3d the flood situation was rendered doubly grave by the fact that smallpox had broken out in the camp of colored refugees on Gregory Heights. Five hundred on the hill had been quarantined.
IMPERILED TOWNS IN INDIANA
The government relief boat "Scioto," in command of Lieutenant Hight, U. S. A., towed a barge load of provisions into Lawrenceburg, Indiana, on March 31st, to find but forty of the five thousand homes there not under water. When the boat proceeded to Aurora conditions were found almost as bad, with but five hundred homes free from the reach of the all-engulfing waters.
The south levee at Lawrenceburg broke at 2.50 P. M. on March 29th. A wall of water poured through the opening and went raging through the center of the town, tearing up all before it. Houses were crushed like eggshells and the wreckage was carried four miles along the Miami to the fill on the main line of the Big Four. The break came when it was least expected, but the residents were warned to leave town, and no lives were lost. Water stood six feet deep in the streets.
JEFFERSONVILLE AND EVANSVILLE FLOODED
At Jeffersonville two hundred convicts from the Indiana Reformatory worked for nearly two days on the levee during the flood week, and through their work it was possible to save the town from the Ohio River.
A committee of citizens of Jeffersonville perfected arrangements for a banquet to be given in honor of the gray-garbed men who saved their homes. The entertainment was planned for April 13th, at a cost of $1,000.
Evansville citizens were alarmed at the continued rise of the Ohio, and all movables were carried to places of certain safety. On April 1st, the Government took charge of the flood situation. Captain W. K. Naylor hastened to commandeer steamboats and patrol the river to pick up flood sufferers. Mayor Charles Heilman left for Mount Vernon to take charge of rescue work in that section.
Thirty thousand persons within a radius of ninety miles around Mount Vernon were calling for help on April 4th.
The Howell levee, protecting two hundred families in Ingleside, between Evansville and Howell, gave way and the Ingleside district was inundated with depths of from six to ten feet. Minutemen had been posted all long the dangerous dike, and when the water began to pour over the top an alarm was sounded and all escaped.
SHAWNEETOWN SUBMERGED
Shawneetown, Illinois, was entirely cut off from the outside world. On the night of April 1st, the water in the streets was twelve feet deep. After another twenty-four hours, all that was left of Shawneetown were the few substantial brick and stone buildings behind the main levee, and they were considered unsafe. Less than one hundred persons remained in the former town of three thousand, and they were perched in the second and third stories of Main Street buildings, structures on the highest street in the town. A strong wind completed the destruction begun by the opening of the levee.
CAIRO FACING CRISIS
As usual, Cairo feared the worst from the on-sweeping flood of the Ohio River. The Cairo executive flood committee late on March 30th sent an appeal to President Wilson asking for aid for Cairo and towns nearby:
"The worst flood ever known in the Ohio Valley and the Mississippi is now expected. All previous records at Cairo and south may be broken in a few days. We are making every effort in our power to take care of local situation, but the river communities near us should have assistance. Boats, sacks, food and other supplies are needed. May we not have the help of your great office for this district?"
The Big Four levee, which protected the "drainage district," went out on April 1st. It was about five miles north of the city. Accordingly, as workmen were able to battle no longer with the levee situation in the drainage district, they were brought into Cairo and set to work along the river front. The state troops were sent in squads of five, each accompanied by a policeman, to visit the rendezvous of men who were unwilling to or had refused to work.
All places of business which did not handle goods needed for the comfort and necessities of the people were closed in order to give opportunity to get out the strongest working force possible. Employees of closed concerns responded willingly for duty and reinforced to a great extent the work along the river front.
The Rev. M. M. Love, of the Methodist Church, who has had charge of relief work in former years, was again at the head of the relief committee. He was given about twenty assistants and a temporary hospital, which was arranged on a large wharf boat in the river.
The Seventh Regiment, which had headquarters in St. Mary's Park, moved its equipment into another large wharf boat. This placed all the quarters of troops on boats. About one half of the population had left the city. They were chiefly women and children.
SITUATION HOURLY WORSE
On the evening of April 2d, the city was in a state of anxiety never before experienced. The river gauge at 6.30 o'clock stood at 54.4, a stage three-tenths of an inch higher than any previous record.
The inundation of the drainage district north of Cairo was complete. The flood waters were on a level with those in the Ohio River, and were prevented from flooding into the Mississippi only by the Mobile and Ohio levee. There were from 7,000 to 9,000 acres from seven to twenty feet under water. The greater number of industrial plants in the section were submerged up to the second-story windows, and many houses were completely under water. For more than a mile beyond the Illinois Central tracks and for several miles to the north from the big levee surrounding the district from Cairo there was nothing which was not touched by the vast field of water.
Offers of relief, which were made by the Chicago Association of Commerce and the city of Peoria to Cairo, on April 5th, were accepted. The Chicago organization offered eight boats and sixty men to man them. From Peoria came word that a steamboat equipped for life-saving purposes was waiting for a call to Cairo.