Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 July 1908 — SWEPT BY A DELUGE [ARTICLE]

SWEPT BY A DELUGE

Flood of Rain Sends a Wall of Water Down a Kansas Ravine—Five Persona Dead. Wellington, Kan. June 30.—A rain torrent just before midnight caused th edeath of five persons and destruction of $75,000 worth of property. The dead are: Mrs. Shirley Sherman, Mrs. Ed West, Albert Hughes (four years old), and Mrs. George Jackson (colored) and Vene Brothers. Men who were on the streets shortly before the occurrence declare that a wall of water six feet high swept down a ravine in the bottoms and carried everything before it. Twenty houses were swept from their foundations and carried two to four blocks by the rush of the water. It is supposed that the deluge was caused by a torrent of rain at Cicero, six miles north of Wellington. The houses that were swept away were all occupied. The occupants in all eases were compelled to seek the roofs for safety.