Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 19, Number 61, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1898 — A CITY ENGULFED. [ARTICLE]

A CITY ENGULFED.

Some Details of the Disaster at Shawneetown, 111., Are Obtained. The Liat of Dead Will Probably Reach Ono Hundred—Names of Sixty-Five Viotime. Gov. Tanner Issues a Proclamation Calling on Citizens of the State fer Aid. << . i A?. . i Streets of the Stricken Ot'.y Filled with Water to a Depth of from Ton to Twelve Foot. Sad Stoviee Are Told by hrrlT«r«— ReeoueM Work Hard to Save Imported Roaldaata. Shawneetown, 111., April s.—The suffering throughout Shawneetown is meet pitiable. The only direst communication is by telephone from a station first established two miles west of Shawneetown. So far St persons are known to be drowned. As yet no systematic attempt has been made to recover the dead bodies. Bight hundred people are being sheltered at the Riverside hotel. Two hundred are missing. The dead: Mrs. C. R Galloway, Mary Galloway, Dora Galloway, Mrs. Charles Clayton, Charles Clayton, Mil ton Clayton, Joeel* Clayton, Myrtle Clayton, Gertie Clayton, Brownie Clayton, Mrs. Paul Phelan and five children, Mary Phelan, Washington Calllcott, Mra Washington Callioott, Coi. John Calllcott, Mary McCallister, Ellon MoCaUleter, Noah Welch, Mrs. Noah Welch, Mrs. McLean, Tillie McLean, Frank Morrison, Ella Rlnaholt, Jennie Rtnabolt. Mrs. John Holly, Mrs. Edward Fletckand adopted daughter, John Fletck. Caroline Spaulding, Richard Fletcher, Jane Fletcher (colored), Mrs. Tany, Cora Shsrwood, Mrs. Charles Kopf and five children, Mrs. A. A. Hathaway, Miss Florence Evans, M. Salnelly and wife, Mrs. Webb, Fred Rlneholt, Mrs. Fred Rlneholt and three children, Henry King aad four children, six colored children. Two Hundred Houses Gone. The flood swept 200 houses from their foundations. Noble rescue work was done with skiffs. People were found clinging to housetops, trees and other debris. Many families are being sheltered in small houses. Seventy-five negroes have passed the last 24 hours In a small schoolhouse two miles from Shawneetown. So far J3.00C worth of provisions have been sent in from Carmi, McLeansboro, Mount Vernon and Nashville. A relief train was run over the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern and a steamboat load of provisions came from Evansville. Four hundred of the flood sufferers will be removed to Mount Vernon, Ind. Rain is coming down in torrents, adding ’ terror to the stricken town, although the relief expedition has been at work all day: Many of the citizens, especially the women and children, are suffering from exposure. Many corpses have been taken from floating homes where families were sitting around their supper tables when the flood rushed upon them without warning. The disaster is the worst that has occurred ■lnce the famous Johnstown flood. Appeal to the President. "The mayor of Shawneetown has appealed to President McKinley for aid, but It is thought assistance from the government will not be necessary. Three relief expeditions have arrived from Evansville, and the Louisville A Nashville and Baltimore A Ohio Southwestern railroads have ■ent special trains carrying provisions. The town presents an awful sight. Water stands over nearly every foot of the town, the business district being under from ten to twenty feet, and this varies to three and four feet. The entire business part of the city, It is believed, has been ruined, as In many of the stores the water reached the ceilings and is pouring Into the upper floors. Frank Robinson and Marshal Calllcott, in a skiff, rescued 87 people from floating debris and saw many drowned. Cyrus De verse rescued 13 people, among them three llttlg children floating on a house roes. The father and mother had perished. Had ffo Warning. Ridgeway, 111., April B.—J. T. Hogan, of Omaha, 111., left the scene of the flood half an hour before the dike broke. His brother-in-law, Sheriff Galloway, of Gallatin county, whose home was In Shawneetown, had the earns good fortune. The sheriff’s wife and two daughters were swept away, and their bodies have not yet been recovered. Hogan's story of the flood shows that ths townspeople had absolutely no warning of the disaster. “About five o'olook Sunday evsalng,” he said, “the levee on the north side of the town gave way at the north end es Market street, near the courthouse. An opening ten feet wide was at first made, but it quickly spread to 20 feet, and a wall of water ten or fifteen feet high poured through the main street, sweeping everything before it. About 50 small frame houses along ths line of ths levee to ths south were crushed like toys, and none of the occupants, most of whom wore poor colored folks, escaped. Those living in the more substantial houses managed to ollmb to second and third stories, where they clung for hours through the ohilly night. “Houses in the western part of the town did not st once feel the effect of the flood, and residents mads hasty steps for safety, most of them fleeing to the top of the levee on ths south side of tbs town. A large number also reached the little hills, which are a mils from the town, and from there saw their property crumble in the muddy waters. When daylight oamo the streets were full of water to the depth of ten or twelve feet. Only the most substantial buildings in the central business district remain standing. Water is everywhere and the relief work is being carried out under great difficulties.” Ridgeway, a town U miles from Shawnsstown, was made the basis of relief work. AU rail oommunioatlon being cut off for miles out, boats were constructed and a committee started to the scene. They reached Cypress Junction, half way to Btwwneetown, and found dry land extending toward the river. Following thia they arrived within two miles of the flooded town. More boats wers started and the rescuers crossed to Shawneetown. They found a sad condition existing In the Illfated town. Hundreds of those who escaped the rush of water were psrched on roofs, trees and along the top of,the levee They were taken from their dangerous positions as rapidly as possible. The Work of Rasoaa. Owing to the soarcity of boats the work was very slow, but over >OO persons, including many woman and children, wore takes to the roadway, two milss from Shawneetown, to Cypress Junction. Hert ths greater part of them are camped, wit I very little to eat and exposed to the drlv Ing rain and piercing wind. Cypress Junction la almost surrounded by water, whtah

has overflowed the banks of the Wabash and is covering the entire country. The ■overflow from the broken dike at Shawneetown has backed up twoenlles Inland, but Is slowly receding. It will be impossible to recover any bodies until the waters recede very materially., In fact, the rescuers are making very little effort in that direction, but are working to save those who escaped alive. Ths Riverside hotel and courthouse and the Ridgeway bank are Intact, and were found to have been used by the fleeing Inhabitants for shelter. The upper stories were crowded. Carmi Flooded. I The lower portion of Carmi, 111., on the Wabash river, is entirely flooded. The water reaches half way /to the second stories of the houses. Ths water is level with the floor of the Iron road bridge, but the railroad bridge is soil two Feet above at •as point on the Big Four. A mile north of Carmi the track is but one foot above water for a quarter of a mile. I A List at Missing. No attempt whatever has been made to get a list es the dead and missing. The following is a partial list that has been gathered up to midnight of those who are missing and possibly dead: Col. Calllcott, i Wash Calllcott, Mrs. Calllcott, Mrs. Galloway, Dora Galloway, Mary Galloway, Mrs. Holly, Mrs Greer, Mrs. Ed Flake, Charles Clayton, Mrs. Clayton, four Clayton children, Annie Rlneholt, Clarence Rlneholt) Mrs. Paul Phalen, three Phalen children, nephew of the Phalens, Mrs. McClain, Florence Evans, Ellen McAllister (colored), Mary McAllister (colored), R. B. Hooker, telegraph operator L. A. N. Ed Flake, whose wife was drowned, came to Cypress Junction Monday and said that there were 15 people In his house when the flood struck the building. Only himself and one other succeeded In escaping before the building toppled over. Mr. Flake was hysterical from grief and could not give the names of the 13 who wers lost. Tried to tav* Her Parents. Marsh Calllcott, the son of Wash Calllcott and wife, who perished, made an horolo effort to save his parents. He secured a rowboat and got within 40 foot of the home where his mother and father were imprisoned. The swift current prevented him from coming nearer. The parents stood In the yard In water to their armpits awaiting the arrival of the boat. Suddenly a wave swept them into the current and they were drowned before their son’s eyes. No effort has been made to recover the bodies. Every assistance Is busy providing food and shelter to the hundreds of homeless refugees. Sunday night the Catholic academy, the schoolhouse, city hall and the Riverside hotel, all situated on high ground above the water, were crowded with bomele&s people. Hundreds sleep on the river banks, under such rude shelter as th«y can construct from the floating debris. As Told by a Sarvlvor. Paduoah, Ky., April 5. When death swept down upon Shawneetown on the crest of a mighty flood there were a few who watched its progress and lived to tell the story. One of thase eyewitnesses has reached Paducah. The scenes he beheld and the sounds he heard will linger like a nightmare in his memory for many a day. Ed Walton left Shawneetown late Sunday night and reached hero Monday, .coming the latter part of his journey by rail. Possibly of all those In Shawneetown he had the clearest view of the disaster. Walton says the wall of water, 20 feet high, came without warning. The first intimation he had was when he heard a roaring behind him to the north as he lounged along the bank of the main levee. Then he saw the yellow torrent of rushing waters coming. He declares that it looked like a low hill, the spreading waters forming the sloping sides and the crest of the flood the top. Walton was near a wharfboat. Realizing what had happened, he ran for that and reached its decks as the waters , began to fill the streets and yards of the I well-kept place. Before the citizens of the ' community could realize their doom the yellow water was pouring into second-story windows. Whole families died together. Huebands went down to death with the cries of wives, and babies ringing in their ears. Children were swept from their mothers' arms into the whlrlffbol. Walton saw one man slide off a floating roof to help a child whioh clung to some floating wreckage and both perished before his eyes. A few strong swimmers saved themselves, but for the women and children and older persons there was no help. Some who gained pieces of drifting debris kept their heads above water for a little while, but most of them finally perished. Some of the folks seemed to go crazy and drowned themselves when they might have escaped. When the flood stopped there was hardly a dry foot of land anywhere. It was not long before skiffs and rafts were out picking up those on roofs and on the high ground. Out on the edge of town, where most of the survivors went, there was nothing to eat and no shelter. The women and children wore all crying and running around looking for their families. After it got dark it was worse than ever, becauee all the lights were out. Proclamation Appealing for Aid. Springfleld, 111., April s.—Gov. Tanner says the state is not in condition to take as much action as is necessary, therefore he has issued a proclamation calling upon the people of the state to come to the relief of the sufferers. It is as follows: “State of Illinois, Executive Office—To the People of the State of Illinois: It is my painful duty to announce that a terrible disaster has overtaken the citizens of Shawneetown, in this state, which, owing to the condition of the public treasury, I am powerless to relieve without the voluntary aid of the charitably disposed. “At 4:45 o’clock on the afternoon of Sunday, April 3, the levee which surrounds the city of Shawneetown broke and the city is under water and in the midst of a raging flood pouring down from the north. It is six miles to land and the current of the Ohio river is sweeping through the town. I am Informed by Mayor Carney, of Shawneetown, that approximately one-fourth of the population has been drowned, all the property destroyed and that the people are collected on the tops of the houses and upon what remains above water of the levee, exposed to the rain and without shelter and without one meal of food. "It would bo of no use to call tbs legislature together In special session to meet this emergency, because It would have no power to raise any money from whioh to pay any appropriation that might he made. I have sent the secretary of the state board of publie charities, as my official representative, to the scene of disaster, to assist In the organisation of the emergency relief work which requires to be done, with authority to*draw upon me for what funds may bo necessary, in anticipation of funds whioh will no dsubt be contributed by the public at large for this purpose. "I therefore make this urgent and Instant appeal for contributions to enable me to do what the people will no doubt wish mo to do under the existing circumstances. All contributions should be sent to Mr. W. 8. Phillips, president of the Ridgway bank, Ridgway, 111., which Is the nearest point from which the relief work can bo carried on. This disaster appears from what can be learned to be more appalling and immediate than the Johnstown flood. “Done at the executive office, Springfield, 111., this 4th day of April, A D. 18M. “(Signed) JOHN R. TANNER "Governor. “(Signed) JAMES A. ROSE. "Secretary of State.” Relief Train Starts. Springfield, 111., April 5. The special train on the Chicago & Alton railroad, bearing relief supplies for the sufferers at Shawneetown, left here at 3:30 o’clock Monday afternoon. Dr. F. H. Wines was in charge of the expedition, while Sergt. Batty had charge of the 3uo tents, blankets and other, supplies. Before the train left, word was received that there was a washout on the Baltimore A Ohio Southwestern railroad' at Cypress Junction, 12 miles north of Shawneetown, and that all supplies would have to be taken to the scene of the flood •-em Cypress Juhotloa bv wagons