Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 11, Number 72, Decatur, Adams County, 25 March 1913 — Page 1

Volume XI. Number 72.

I DECATUR AN ISLE IN VAST SEA OF WATER

STRAIN SERVICE IS IMPOSSIBLE _

Bill 1 ravel to and From the City Suspended Because of Many Washouts . i

THE ERIE’S BATTLE Fifty Men Are Trying to I Save Railroad Bridge from Going Down. WORK AGAINST ODDS G. R. & I. Bridges Out at Geneva and Other Places I —lnterurban Blocked. #************s ♦ ERIE BRIDGE SLIPPING. * * ♦ At 3 o’clock this afternoon En- * ♦ gineer Welsh telephoned this of- * ♦ flee that the east end of the * ♦ bridge had moved three-quarters ♦ of an Inch, and may let go at * ♦ any time. It cannot withstand * ♦ the strain much longer. ■Never in the history of the citv | -.jerhaps, has the railroad traffic been so demoralized. The Fort Wayne & Springfield Railis perhaps the greatest sufferer, Jlnasmuch as the power house, which BgfcPi’lies power to all the cars along K-the line, is completely submerged. water stands in the main car HSarns, about four feet deep, and in the Br engine room, which is higher, about I two and one-half feet. The power I * "house is completely isolated from ths pjtnain land, and travel to and fro is made in boats. | Beginning at the Acker Cement Works, the river covers the interur- . ban track and the main wagon road, .to a point beyond the north bridge, a I distance of a half or three-quarters of a mile. The regular runs of the interurban ; cars were made last night, and the I four cars returned to the car barns at the power house for the night.[ There was no apprehension of danger from the rising water. If such had been apprehended, the cars would have been run to this city, safe and, dry above the water. A* it is, all four cars are at the car barns, where the water is rapidly rising. A force of men Is at work there, raising the cars to try to keep them above the water, which would do a great amount of damage to the motors and transformers. At noon the motors were under about eighteen inches of water, and all efforts were being made to keep the water from rising to the transformers. The force of workmen were busy all morning, and at noon, Edwin Fledder- 1 johann made the trip to mainland by boat, to get warm dinners to take to | the hungry force. —» For about a half-mile at this place from the A-ker Cement Works to the ■river bridge, the Interuurban tracks Vare washed away. Tfie greatest danger is to the Inter■■k urban bridge. The old wooden, | bridge that spans the St. Mary's river ■ j north of the city-ls In great danger of | being swept away. If this goes, it would undoubtedly carry the Interur-1 ban bridge which parallels It at the west side. There are great fears of this. The G. R. & I. Washout. Nearly every bridge along the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad is gL washed out today. The early morning train that is due here about 2 o’clock did not arrive at all. It is not known whether It got out of Richmond, and was then headed off by the floods ■ near Portland. The passenger train which Is made up nt Fort Wayne and scheduled to arrive in this city at 7:8 arrived on time and started on Its trip. It got as far as Berne, when the crew received orders not to go any farther, Trut to back up to Decatur as the bridges at Geneva were

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT

washed out, and they could not pass. 1 It therefor started on Its excursion back to Decatur and arrived at 10:10.1 Here the crew received new orders ■ to wait until further Information | could be received about the condition of the bridges along the north portion[ of the line. A local freight train was forced to stop at Hoagland as the G - R. & I. bridge north of the city | was nearly under water. The water [ was up to th© rails at 10 o'clock this morning. There has not been a train in this city all day on the G. R. & I. from the south. The latest reports from the ticket agent at the depot was that there would be no trains running either north or south during the rest of the day and maybe not tomorrow, if the bridges and tracks could not be repaired. j Effort to Save Erie Bridge. The Erie railroad- track between Decatur and Chicago is experiencing little danger If any and the only damage being done at present between i these two places is the washing down and undermining of the double track work which in some places is washed away to the depth of three and half ,to four feet. In an interview with Engineer Welsh this morning he stated that the damage to the works during the last three days rain would prolong the work from two to three 1 months and that the end of the damage was not in sight yet. The big iron bridge east of the station is the most dangerous obstacle they have to contend with at present. The water is pouring against the large steel girders with an immense force and volumn throwing a heavy back current. At 11 o'clock the structure was beginning to slightly weave and with a few more inches raise it will be unable to stand the terrific strain placed upon I it. Should the big iron structure go down it will have an exceedingly detrimental effect upon the new Monroe I street bridge. _ The levees on both ■sides of the bridge are weakening and the water is forcing its way I through. A car load of screenings 1 was taken to the bridge and a gang of 1 fifty workmen were busy bagging it 'and reinforcing the banks. The track is completely covered a mile east of I town and the smaller streams are forming a back-water pressure, mak-' 'ing the smaller bridges exceedingly dangerous. It is alone due to the fact [that the new concrete abutments for the new bridge have already been I placed on the south side of the old structure and thus partially breaking the current that the bridge has withstood the pressurue this long. All 'telegraph communication has been destroyed and It Is impossible to locate a train. At Hepburn, Ohio, near Marion, it was necessary for the company to blow up several buildings near the large bridge in order to protect it. The passenger train* due here at 4:27 from the west, pulled out at 9:00, and then it was with much hesitation that they decided to cross the bridge. Clover Leaf Has Trouble*. The last train to pull throuugh on the Clover Leaf was a freight bound west and which came through at 2:12 this morning. A washout at Dull, 0., a little station just this side of Ohio City, blocks the traffic from the east, ' while the bridge at Vermont, Ind., just this side of Kokomo has blocked j the traffic from the west. At this place five trains are being held up on the east end while six trains are held up on the other side. The tracks and bridge at Willshire are flooded but no danger Is thought to be iminent. The section of the track through Decatur and the vicinity is not harmed in any way. All telegraph communication is done on one wire, all the others being out of commission. The Wabash bridge at Bluffton is being held in place and balanced by a freight train being stationed upon It and is in great danger of going town. . _ — " —— ■ Mrs. James Ratilaff returned to her home in Bluffton after spending several days as the guest of her son, * Howard Burdge, and family.

AT THE POSTOFFICE Mails Came in from Only One Road—G. R. & I. from the North. —— OTHERS SHUT OFF Trains Are Held Up at Points East and West and South. I Decatur and vicinity were taken back again into the early days when the residents were shut oft from the outer world and mails came only at intervals of great length. j The only postal communications re- , ceived at the local postofflee were over the G. R. & I. railroad from the north. The railroads from the north seems to be clear all through, but traffic Is clear only to Ceylon at the south. Advices received at the postoffice were that the trains on the Clover Leaf were held up at Delphos, at , the east, and Kokomo at the west; on thf Erie the mail trains were held up at Rochester on the west and Marlon, Ohio, on the east. The Clover Leaf wires were also down and no communications between these points could be received by wire. Carriers Take Vacation. The local postal force is certainly having a rest after the busy periods of this season. Only one rural carrier, Mr. Engle, had not returned to the i office by 10 o’clock this morning. The ; greater number of the others were un- : able to go farther than the outskirts < of the town. Henry Fuhrman, rural carrier, got only as far as the Schurg- 1 er home, where he was stopped by the swollen creek; Earl Butler got on- < ly a little distance; Elmer Archer got J as far as the Lutz home, south; and 1 carriers whose routes take them east, across the St. Mary’s river bridge, or north across the bridge, did not at- i tempt to cover their routes. In all directions they were cut off by swollen streams. Engle was the only carrier who got out of the city any distance, making the trip as far as Peterson. o READY TO MOVE Is Hugh Miller Family In Muncie—Goods Stored In Second Story OF THE HOME Water Within Eight Inches of First Floor— Frank Mann Family Moved Out Fearing that her sister, Mrs. Hugh Miller, residing In Muncie, on Riverside, near the treacherous White river might be In danger from the general floods, Miss Anna Wlnnes this morning at ten o'clock decided to telephone to the family. She learned that the water is within eight Inches of the first floor of the Hugh Miller home. Frank Mann, formerly of this city, resides next door, on sloping ground a little lower, his family was forced to move out last night. The Miller family has all its goods stored on the second floor, in readiness for fleeing to higher parts of the city should the water come up into the house. The Miller house is about three blocks from White river, and Is on a hill to which the ground from the bankless White river slopes gradually. Several years ago the waters were high, but at their highest were twelve feet lower than at present.

“DECATUR CAN AND WILL”

Decatur, Indiana. Tuesday Evening, March 25, 1913.

*¥**¥* £ <■ £ t * RECORDS BROKEN. # * * * According to figures of Gov- * ernment Inspector Kintz, the * present high waters exceed all * those of which any record has s>« * been kept. The old high water * mark is now obscured by three * feet. Mr. Kintz believes that the * nearest approach to the present mark was In 1876, of which, how- s’: * ever, there is now no record. :i< sis The water at the Monroe street * bridge measured 22 feet at noon, * four feet higher than last night s': * The water raised three inches an * * hour all night. At noon the wa- * * ter was still rising, but at a less $ * rate. ARE TAKEN FROM HOMES Famlies of Dick Roop and S. E. Brown Rescued from Island Houses AT AN EARLY HOUR This Morning—Taken Out on Hayracks—Homes are Abandoned. At an early hour this morning the families of Dick Roop and S. E. Brown, residing east of the city, just north of the Studebaker homestead and across the road, west of Steele’s park, were given a spectacular rescue from their island homes which were completely surrounded by water. The residences are on the road just east of the St. Mary’s river, and the waters of the swollen stream slowly crept up into the fields back of their homes and then into their yards. evening the Dick Roop home, which is the lowest, began to fill, and Mrs. Roop and the two children, a boy aged three and Ralph, aged twelve, went up to the S. E. Brown home, north, which Is on higher ground. Both Mr. Roop and Mr. Brown, as well as Miss Cleo Roop, who attends school here, were in this city, and were unable to get home last evening on account of the river which covered the road east of this city, shutting off travel there. Hence the women of the two families, with their children, were at home alone. The Browns reside in the creamery building which has been divided off into apartments. The building is built on an eighteen-inch foundation, and the family's apartments were high and dry above the ground. Parts of the creamery, however, were under water and the water came up to the door of the residence part. This morning Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Roop began to get uneasy at the rapid rise and feared that the water would soon come up Into the living apartments, which would render their case serious with no means of escape. Mrs. Brown, therefore, telephoned to Policeman Melchi at 5 o'clock this morning, asking him to look up Mr. Brown and get him to summon aid for them. The officials here telephoned to the Gunder family, residing on the Bellview farm. Mr. Gunder and George Cramer then hitched to a hay wagon and drove to the Brown home to get the family. The road over the bridge just south of the Bell farm was covered with water and the wagon went In up to the floor of the hay ladders. The women and children, which Included Mrs. Roop and two children, and Mrs. (Continued on Page 2) sk s|s sjs sjs -K sj? if. »|» sj. s|c * THE WEATHER. * * * * According to the predictions of * the government weather bureau, * * no relief from the floods is In »> * sight. Rain or snow for tonight $ * and tomorrow Is the news that * * was flashed across water-soaked * * Indiana today, adding to the anx- * * lety of the hundreds who are In * * danger. *

RIVERS AND CREEKS SWOLLEN

BEET SEED IS SAFE, Seven Car Loads Stored in Pulp Wareroom Escape the High Floods FROM THE RIVER Beet Sugar Plant Filled With Water to Depth of Six Feet or More. i All of the buildings of the Decatur branch of the Holland-St. Louis sugar plant, which lie in the lowlands at the junction of the St. Mary’s river • and the G. R. & I. railroad north of the city, are surrounded with water. The main building in which the machinery is stored, is filled to a depth of five or six feet on the first I floor, and it is expected that the wa-' ter will go much higher during the day. In other buildings, some of [ which are built on higher ground, the i water stands four feet. Fortunately the seven car loads of | beet seed, which are stored in the I pulp ware room, which is at the south 1 end of the main building, on higher ground, will remain safe and dry. Precautions were taken to store it high ' and out of reach of the creeping floods and there will be no loss to the farmers from this source. Except for the gumming and coating of machinery, which will necessitate a painstaking cleansing, it is , thought the damage to the plant will , be very little. All the products of last fall’s operation have been shipped away, and there will be very little loss from this source. The company had about SI,OOO worth of lumber on the grounds and this has nearly all been washed away ' and will probably be a total loss. The sugar plant was securely closed and though boats were used this morning by the company to get to the building, there was no way of getting inside. The water has risen to within a very few inches of the tops of the | doors, and even if they were open, 1 there would not be enough space to get into the building. The windows (Continued on Page 2) FATHER’S DEATH Calls Loren and Del Lake to Adrian, Mich.—David Lake Succumbs STROKE OF PARALYSIS I Formerly Lived Here—Had Been Ailing a Year— Burial at Marion, O. i i Loren and Del Lake left last night , for Adrian, Mich., where they were called by the death of their father, 1 David W. Lake, aged seventy-six. His death occurred Monday after nearly a J year's illness from paralysis. He had | been making his home with his son, I Ira Lake, who is now superintendent < of a heading plant at Adrian. The deceased was formerly a resi- ( dent of this city, where he resided ] about twenty years, and is well known < here. His wife died in this city about i eight years ago, and he has since i lived with his son, Ira Ij&ke. i Besides the three sons named before he Is survived by another, Rev. John Lake, of Elkhart. o THE CENSUS REPORT. A fine baby girl was born yesterday to Mr. and Mrs. Jerry C. Evans of North Second street.

Levy East of Town Will Likely Be Ruin-ed-Test For the New Bridge i ~~

WALKS OFF THE LEVEE One of the near fatalities attending the high waters of the swollen streams that have spread over the county’s lowlands, occurred Monday evening at 5 o’clock on the road leading past the sugar plant northwest of the city, when the team driven by Martin Kiefer, a prominent Preble township farmer, made a mis-step in the flooded road and stepped off the eightfoot levee leading to the bridge over the creek near the fertilizer plant, a mile and a half northwest of the city. Team, wagon and occupants, which included Mr. Kiefer and his ten-yea*--old son, were drawn over the embankment into the swollen and swiftly running stream. Fortunately all escaped without injury. Mr. Kiefer and ten-year-old son had I been to this city and were driving When they neared the bridge, (which Is over the stream, which a | short distance east feeds the swollen Ist. Mary’s river, they noticed that the [creek had risen and was about a [foot’s depth over the road. They called to Mr. Suman, owner of the ferti- . llzer plant, who lives nearby, and inquired whether he considered It safe enough for passage. Mr. Suman expressed doubt and stated that the utmost care and precaution would be necessary to make a safe passage. The current was very swift and all trace of the road was lost In the water that covered it the depth of a foot at this part of the road. Wishing to get home as soon as possible, Mr. Kiefer decided to cross, and with the Suman family anxiously watching his venture, he proceeded ’ to drive for the bridge. The team mis-stepped and in the twinkling of an I eye, the horses and all vere drawn (over the eight-foot embankment into the water. Very fortunately the wagon bed came loose from the wagon and floated as a boat on top of the raging torrent, with the occupants sitting therein. In the excitement the little boy fell out of the wagon bed into the water and his father sprang in after him, getting into water up to [ his neck. He grabbed the boy and held him fast and both would undoubtedly have drowned but for timely asIsistance in the way of ropes thrown out to them. The Suman family, watching, was terrified to see the danger into which the man and boy were plunged, and hastened to the rescue, summoning neighbors and ropes and other necessaries. Mr. Kiefer and son were soon gotten out. The horses, however, had gone down under the water and It was some time before they were gotten out. They were uninjured, fortunately, and little the worse for their terrible experience. The wagon was left in Its watery bed until later. Mr. Kiefer and son were taken into the Suman home until fully recovered from the shock and cold. They consider themselves quite lucky In their close escape from what might have meant a watery grave. Mr. Kiefer resides about five miles northwest of the city. Mr. Kiefer and son were given the best of care at the Suman home, where they were obliged to remain all night. Their wet clothing was changed and the little boy wrapped In blankets and well cared for as hY suffered chills after his exposure. They came to this city this morning to try to find some way to get to their home, as roads are submerged and bridges out in all directions and they are at loss as to how to get home. The wagon was filled with about sf>o worth of supplies which were lost. This included galvanized roofing, flour and chicken feed. What became of the wagon bed is unknown, as It was not to be found this morning. Mr. Kiefer stated that but for Mr. Suman they would probably have drowned. In trying to reach to grab his son in the wagon, Mr. Kiefer fell against the wagon bed In such away that his side w # as Injured and he came here for medical treatment.

Price, Two Cert

; DANGER IS GREAT 1 Property All Along the River and in the Lowlands is Flooded. WATER IS RISING ■ Hundreds of People Crowd the Banks of the Wild St. Mary’s River. The new Monroe street bridge was the scene which attracted hundreds of people today and on every lip was the , question, “Will the new $30,000 structure hold against the terrible weight of water that is now hurling [against it, or will it give away?’’ The levy just beyond the bridge will probably suffer to the extent of many hundred of dollars, as it is submerged many feet. The water is up against the main part of the bridge, and at I the rate it is rising now, will be over the floor by morning. The general opinion of experts is that the bridge will stand the strain unless something unforeseen happens. The water is up in the Breiner feed yards and I the other buildings or East Monroe street and the cellars fu.«her up town are now filling up. Flooding North Second Street. One of the most spectacular sights is in the north part of the city where in one place the river is overflowing North Second street. Beginning at Marshall street the river has spread into the little bay at the west side of the John Bowers residence, the Bowers lot forming a little promontory of its own. The river has risen until half of the lots on North Second street, from Marshall street to the Mersman building, are [covered. The W. R. Dorwin, Curley Rademacker, Harry Fritzinger and Dr. C. S. Clark and adjoining lots are half covered, and the several buildings at the rear are half submerged. For a space of a block or so, where the land rises higher, the river is forced back again, but at the William Zwlck home, it again approaches nearer the street. Many of the barns and buildings at the rear of the houses here are inundated. At the old stone quarry along Second street and opposite the Anton Krumenaker and Clark homes, where the west bank of the river is low, it has swept entirely up to the curb along Second street. Here the river threatens to break over the curb and across the street Into the ravine, south of the Anton Krumenaker home and at the rear of the residences on the west side of Second street. The water flows across Second street for a distance of thirty feet or more, like a swiftly running rapids, and running Into the ravine, has submerged the barns and rear outbuildings of the Clark, Lase Baker and other nearby homes. But half of the outbuildings are above the water, which is rabidly rising. At the dark home, south of the Krumenaker home, the water stands within a foot of the first floor. The Krumenaker and Rice homes rise clear of the overflow from the river. Many of the cellars are filled with water and the furnace In the Will Zwlck home and others were put out by the rising water. Alex Bell’* Poetical Effort. A. R. Bell, who owns the Bell View farm, east of town, heard this morn--1 ing of the high water over in that direction and started over in a very businesslike manner to see what could be done. He got as far as the Monroe street bridge, where he was met by a wild and turbulent St Mary’s river and a crowd of friends who began to “josh” him. Not in the