The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado Part 24

FLOOD VICTIMS HELPLESS

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were reported necessary to relieve suffering among the flood refugees in Indianapolis, according to the report of the General Relief Committee, made on Wednesday, April 2d, at a meeting in Mayor Shank's office.

Plans for raising a vast sum of money, to be made available immediately to the sufferers, were discussed and it was decided to start popular subscriptions and designate places for contributions.

Joseph C. Schaf, one of the investigators for the committee, said:

"The flood victims are helpless. They need money and need it immediately. The men are trying to hold their jobs and let the women clean up the homes, and it is a disheartening task for which many are not physically able. Give them money immediately so they can pile their water-soaked mattresses and other furniture in the street and touch a match to it. That will give them new heart."

Mr. Schaf increased his donation by $1,000, and several other members of the committee did likewise.

CHAPTER XV

THE ROARING TORRENT OF THE WABASH

A BITTER TALE OF DESTRUCTION--MANY PEOPLE DRIVEN FROM HOMES--ALARMING CONDITIONS--THE PLIGHT OF KOKOMO--THE HOMELESS IN WABASH--DISTRESS OF LOGANSPORT--MILITARY CADETS AID IN RELIEF--NEW DISASTER AT LAFAYETTE--A SECOND HORROR IN TERRE HAUTE--THE RECEDING WATERS.

Bitter was the tale of destruction in the valley of the Wabash River and its tributaries. A traveler journeying over the Wabash Railroad on Easter Sunday would have seen only the usual quiet little towns of the Middle West; three days later, if he could have looked down over the same territory he would have seen nothing but a raging torrent sweeping through the region like some fiendish monster devouring and destroying as it pursued its mad course. He would have found the entire Wabash Valley, including Logansport, Wabash, Lafayette and Peru, a desolate scene, its scores of prosperous cities absolutely paralyzed and cut off from the outer world. Telephone and telegraph wires were down everywhere; trains were not running and roads were obliterated.

MANY PEOPLE DRIVEN FROM HOMES

As early as Monday, March 24th, northern Indiana had suffered severe loss, due to the heavy rains of the previous twenty-four hours, which had carried away bridges, stopped railroad and interurban traffic, flooded store bas.e.m.e.nts, driven people from their homes along the river banks, and washed away houses. At Hartford City there were seven feet of water in the paper mills and the merchants had lost heavily from flooded bas.e.m.e.nts.

At Portland water was standing three feet deep in the center of the city and the loss to merchants from damage to goods reached $100,000.

The wind, which followed heavy rain, cut a path several hundred feet wide.

At Kokomo the light, heat, power, gas and water plants were out of commission and the river was still rising. The city was without fire protection; South Kokomo, with 6,000 inhabitants, was cut off from the main city.

It was declared to be the worst flood known in Wabash since 1883; and rain was still falling. Hundreds of residents of the lowlands abandoned their homes. Interurban traffic was paralyzed.

ALARMING CONDITIONS

Reports on the following day were still more alarming. The worst conditions prevailed in Kokomo, Wabash, Peru, Logansport, Lafayette and Terra Haute. Thousands of people all along the Wabash were crying for food and shelter. Wabash, Kokomo, Peru, Logansport and Lafayette were entirely cut off from communication with the outside world. A big snowstorm on the heels of a drop in temperature added to the suffering.

Rescue work was carried on by volunteers, police, firemen and the state militia, and every place where there was a dry home was thrown open to the flood refugees.

From many places frantic appeals for aid were received by the state officials, but lack of all means of transportation and crippled telephone and telegraph service forced the submerged towns to rely entirely upon their own resources.

THE PLIGHT OF KOKOMO

At Kokomo the water in some of the streets was eight feet deep and rus.h.i.+ng like a mountain torrent. Schools and business were suspended and state troops patrolled the town as far as they were able. The homes of a thousand persons were submerged. No lives were lost, but there were many narrow escapes. Several persons were rescued from second story windows by the few boats available. Rafts could not be used because of the swiftness of the current.

THE HOMELESS IN WABASH

Seven hundred and fifty persons in Wabash were rendered homeless as the result of the high flood in the river. The city was without gas, water or lighting facilities.

The mayor on Thursday, March 27th, issued a proclamation ordering that all saloons and business houses close at six o'clock. He instructed the police to keep people off the streets.

There was no loss of life, but the property loss was estimated at $350,000.

There was no communication with the outside world from Monday until Thursday afternoon.

DISTRESS OF LOGANSPORT

The business district and the south and west sides of Logansport were under water on Tuesday. The bridge at the country club had been washed away. Other bridges over the Wabash had been flooded. The moving vans were unable to handle all the persons trying to move out of the danger zone and the firemen of the city gave aid. The electric light and water plants were endangered. There was great suffering among the poorer people. Logansport was also cut off from telephone and telegraph communication. Two deaths by drowning were reported (later corrected to one) and ten houses were washed down stream.

MILITARY CADETS AID IN RELIEF

On Wednesday the flood waters of the Wabash were sixteen feet deep on the floors of the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, and cadets from the Culver Military Academy were rushed to the city to aid in the rescue and relief of scores of people marooned in the business districts.

The Third Street bridge had been swept away. The bridge at Sixth Street was being washed out. The people were fleeing to the hills, where they were housed in school houses and churches.

By indirect telephone routes on Thursday, Governor Ralston received an urgent call from Logansport for troops to aid in rescue work and to patrol the city. The city had been cut off from reliable communication with the outside world since Tuesday evening. The continuance of the high waters added hourly to the heavy property losses, and the snowstorm and bitter cold caused intense suffering.

NEW DISASTER AT LAFAYETTE

At 2 P. M. on Tuesday, March 25th, two spans of the bridge over the Wabash River at Lafayette went out, carrying a number of people with it.

Boats below the bridge succeeded in rescuing all but one man.

At 3.15 P. M. West Lafayette, where Purdue University is located, was cut off from Lafayette by the breaking of one of the levees and the submerging of the other. The river was two miles wide and business houses were preparing to move their wares, antic.i.p.ating a three-foot rise during the night. No interurban lines were being operated and steam lines were making little effort to maintain train service.

The business district and the south and west sides of Logansport were under water. The bridge at the Country Club had been washed away.

A SECOND HORROR IN TERRA HAUTE

All down the length of the Wabash the torrent raged. Hardly recovering from the daze of the Easter tornado, treated in another chapter, Terra Haute inside of forty-eight hours faced its second disaster, when the waters of the Wabash left the banks, flooding part of the residence section.

The river was then rising at the rate of five inches an hour. Railroad traffic was suspended and interurban traction service had been abandoned. Residents of Taylorville, Robertsville and West Terre Haute deserted their homes, fleeing before the approaching waters. Five hundred homes were under water and the coal mines near the city were flooded.

For two days the situation seemed to grow hourly more desperate. On Thursday the river had reached a stage of thirty-one feet six inches and was steadily rising. Four thousand persons were homeless, and those whose homes were on higher ground were without gas or electricity.

Traffic was at a standstill.

THE RECEDING WATERS