Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 29 January 1937 — Page 6

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FRIDAY, JAN. 29, 1037+

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES 3

ARMY BELIEVE RAIN HOLDS KEY ON MISSISSIPPI

Levees Are Safe, Engineers Say, if Weather Stays Good.

BY United Press MEMPHIS, Tenn, Jan. 29.—Barring heavy rains, the United States Army believed today that it could win its fight against the Mississippi River and hold the levees along a 1200-mile line from the Ohio to the Gulf. Water brimmed dangerously close to the tops of the flood walls in two places, however, and 100,000 weary, hungry men continued to pile sandbags and timber on top of the levees. “The weather will decide it,” the | engineers said. “If it doesn’t rain, we've got the river licked.” Two Danger Sectors

There were two “danger sectors.” One was around Cairo, Ill. The other was in the vicinity of Mellwood, | Ark., where National Guardsmen | went through the lowlands driving out at the points of bayonets, the farmers whose stubborn courage made them want to cling to their homes, Dynamite roared near New Madrid where Army engineers blasted in an attempt to get flood water back into the Mississippi's channel and save the town. \ At Hickman, Ky. the water surged against the levee at a height level with second floor windows in the town. All night men hoisted sandbags to the top of the levee and built it higher,

Refugees Jam Roads Out of the lowlands of eastern Arkansas and Missouri came a nevs

By United Press CAIRO, Ill, Jan. 20.—Thousands

do its worst.

| crest of the flood which has swept

thousands of homes to destruction.

banks at 60 feet.

Emergency Bulkhead at Cairo Is Completed and City Awaits Flood Crest

Government Engineers Believe Breastworks Will Keep Ohio River Within Banks; Women and Children Moved Out of City.

of men toiling to save their homes | from inundation tossed the last shovelfuls of cinders and dirt into an emergency bulkhead today and waited for the flooded Ohio River to |

The emergency breastworks will be completed by sundown, enneers said. After that there will be nothing to do but wait for the hundreds of persons to death and |

The city has a giant seawall capable of holding the Ohio within its The emergency bulkhead winds along the top of this, three feet high, a cage of timbers filled with dirt and cinders.

works as the Ohio inched its way up the outside wall were confident it would thrust back the worst the Ohio has to offer. But their wives and children have been taken out of the city at orders of Mayor August Bode. And Government barges stood by to rescue the workers if the flood crashes through or over the breastworks. Government engineers who supervised the work said the Ohio River would rise to a peak of 59 to 59'4 Wednesday before pouring into the nearby Mississippi. W. E. Barron, Government meteorologist, predicted a crest of 60 to 61 feet. The homes of 14,000 were at stake. Near-military discipline prevailed. | Shop-keepers moved their stock to upper floors. Telegraph companies put their wires on third story levels. Hospitals marshaled emergency lighting and heating equipment.

Calls Situation ‘Satisfactory’

Maj. W. D. Burdick, in charge of | flood protection operations, said: { “The situation is very satisfactory. The work of raising the seawall is nearing completion. The bulkheads have been completed and reinforeing them with sandbags now is in

er-ending line of refugees, on the | march toward higher ground. Mov- | ing vans, trucks, automobiles and | mule-drawn wagons carried some of | them. Roads were choked to the| point where automobiles could make only 15 miles an hour. A dozen southern Illinois towns have been inundated. Harrisburg, population 14,000, was 80 per cent under water with approximately 10,000 of its residents still in the | town. Golconda was reported al- | most wiped out. Equality, Metropolis, New Haven, | Eldorado, Elizabethtown, Brookport, | Rosiclaire, Maunie and Cauche were in bad shape. | From that section south past Memphis the picture was brighter, and it was not until the river got us far south as Helena, Ark. that danger appeared again. Helena is below the water level, and is protected by a 68-foot seawall. The gauge at Helena read 54.2 feet, but at crest time it probably will go to 66 feet. That will give | the city a safety margin of only 24 | inches.

Situation Grave at Mellwood

At Mellwood, 45 miles suoth of Helena, the situation was grave. For | several years the levee there has

been sinking and now is beginning | to crumble. The water rose to within two feet of the levee top, and volunteers aided Army engineers in building a “mud-box”—a wooden trough filled with soil—on top of the wall. The water pounded at the levee’s weakest spots and threatened to break through and fnundate 100,000 acres. Memphis, sitting high on bluffs, appeared to be in no danger ex-

of the eity.

progress.” He said operation of the Birds point-New Madrid floodway, 50 miles south of Cairo, was reducing the river height and delaying arrival of the crest. Cairo itself is virtually an island. On one side is the Ohio River, on the other the Mississippi. The only outlet is over Highway 150 at the north end of the city. If the Ohio overtops the levee, floodgates on this highway will be closed, cutting off the industrial and drainage sections

The northern edge of the city is protected from backwaters by a dirt levee 55 feet high and 300 feet wide, and by the Illinois Centrail Railroad embankment,

11 Known Dead in Illinois The dirt levee is known as “Big | Four.” On it, approximately 1000 | men have been building their bulkheads. They are virtually cut off from the city and are being supplied by boats. As the situation neared a crisis here, flood-waters continued to

cept for sections in the extreme North and South ends of the city. The Harahan bridge, across the | Mississippi to Arkansas, was jammed with refugees headed for the camp established at the Fair Grounds. The refugees did not know it, but they were marching into what may become an epidemic. There are 500 influenza cases among the 10,000 at the Fair Grounds. Pneumonia victims were hurried out of the camp into Memphis hospitals. At the Tennessee side of the river the refugees were routed to City Hall where they were inoculated for typhoid and smallpox. Then they

The men who built the breast-®

went to the camp.

take their toll of life and property in the rest of Southern Illinois. Eleven were known dead, including five Negroes who drowned when their rescue boat capsized at Mound City. At least 50,000 were homeless.

The Illinois National Guard estimated that all but 150 to 200 residents of Mound City had been evacuated. They refused to leave their homes but were not in any immediate danger because the buildings were of brick and the marooned residents stayed on second and third floors.

Sanitation Problem Arises

At Mounds, the water stood above the first stories of buildings. Fifty persons were in the city, apparently safe. Harrisburg was 80 per cent under water. Thousands were marooned and Coast Guard boats encountered difficulty reaching them because of ice floes. Looting was reported and sanitation was becoming an acute

| problem.

Gas service was cut off. Gov. Henry Horner ordered more Natione al Guardsmen there to ratio water supplies after the municipal supply failed. Water was to be shipped there in tank cars. In Metropolis, residents were reported stranded in three large schoolhouses and that a food short age was imminent,

WATER MAINS FOR SCHOOL 68 ASSURED

Extension of mains to provide water for School 68 when it is completed at Riley Ave. and 21st St. has been assured A. B. Good, school business manager, by the Indianapolis Water Co. Its site, which now is outside the city limits, is to be annexed by the city and sewer facilities provided. Mr. Good said officials expect to have the school ready for occupancy by Sept. 1.

FLOOD SURVEY IS AUTHORIZED BY ROOSEVELT

Four-Man Committee to Check From Memphis

Through Ohio Valley.

By United Press WASHINGTON, Jan. 20.—Presi- | dent Roosevelt today appointed a four-man committee of Government | relief and reconstruction experts to | make a personal survey of the Mid« western flood area from Memphis { north through the Ohio River Val- | ley. The President's action came as the Weather Bureau predicted rains throughout the flood area tomor=row, giving rise to fears that suffering from high waters might be prolonged. Maj. Gen. Stanley H. Ford, Seventh Corps Area commander, meanwhile reported to the War Depart ment that his plans are complete for evacuating refugees in Arkansas and Missouri if need arises. Maj. Gen. George Van Horn Moseley already had reported plans complete for the Fourth Corps Area with headquarters at Atlanta. Maj. Gen. Herbert J. Brees, Eighth Corps Area commander at San Antonio, has not reported.

The President announced the ine spection group will leave here Sunday, arrive at Memphis Monday, and travel up the swollen Mississippi and Ohio by boat.

They will stop at all large river cities and make detailed plans for a clean-up, sanitation and rehabilitation program in co-operation with state and local officials. Committee members will be: WPA Administrator Harry L. Hopkins, who will use the full force of work-relief labor in the area “mopping up” after the disaster. Surgeon General Thomas Parran Jr, who will advise on sanitation and medical problems. Maj. Gen. Edward M. Markham of the Army Engineering Corps, who will map a program of reconstruce tion for the whole area. Col. F. C. Harrington, Army engineer assigned to the Works Progress Administration. -

WAR CORRESPONDENT DIES By United Press LONDON, Jan. 29.—Sir Percival Phillips, famous American-born war correspondent, died today.

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