NEWS AND NOTES 



,11 



High Water in the Missouri Valley 



For ten days and more following July 4, res- 

 idents in the Missouri River vallej^ experi- 

 enced floods. The following are comparative 

 river stages and high-water records : 



THE RIVER STAGES 



Feet 



Missouri River, 8 a. m., July 13 27.0 



Kaw. River, 9 a. m., July 13 23.9 



PAST HIGH WATER RECORDS AT KANSAS CITY 



Missouri Kaw 



Feet Feet 



In 1903, May 31 and June i.. 35.0 37.6 



In 1904, July 8 27.5 27.S 



In 1908, June 15 29.5 29.5 



The floods are attributed to snow melting 

 in the mountains, followed by rains. 



Following are dispatches published by the 

 Kansas City Star of July 14: 



One thousand persons were driven from 

 their homes, and many thousands of dollars' 

 damage done Saturday morning by a flood 

 in Perry Creek, a small stream which sepa- 

 rates the east and west sides of Sioux City, 

 Iowa. A cloudburst north of Sioux City is 

 believed to have been the cause. 



Five years ago Ottawa, Kans., had its 

 greatest flood, and confidently set the mark 

 high above any possibility of future flood 

 conditions. At noon last Thursday the town 

 gazed upon a flood more than a foot beyond 

 the previous record. The Marais des Cygnes 

 River stood at thirty-seven feet at the Main 

 Street gauge. Of the bridge itself, only the 

 upper framework was visible. 



Communication between North and South 

 Ottawa was cut off by a channel half a mile 

 wide, through which sweeps a millrace which 

 even a skilled boatman could scarcely cross. 



Estimates on the number of homeless fami- 

 lies were necessarily guesswork. Sections 

 never before reached by floods were tenant- 

 less now, swept by wastes of muddy water. 

 Schoolhouses and churches were filled with 

 refugees. A swift current four feet in depth 

 sweeps through the Santa Fe Union Station. 

 The Missouri Pacific Station is in the center 

 of a sea. Railroad traffic is abandoned, and 

 only extensive repairs to tracks and yards can 

 reestablish it. Freight and baggage have 

 been removed to high ground. 



Thirty persons, including guests, were in 

 the upper floors of the Marsh Hotel, through 

 which a deep current flowed. Food supplies 

 reached them by boat service. 



Osawatomie, the scene of John Brown's 

 exploits, was almost an island. 



Rescued by boats across more than a mile 

 wide expanse of swift flood waters of the 

 Marais des Cygnes River, 300 passengers on 

 the Santa _Fe train No. 5, westbound from 

 Kansas City, experienced late Wednesday 

 afternoon all the thrills of a rescue from a 

 wreck at sea. 



Water was running three feet deep in the 

 center of ATarion, Kans., Tuesday afternoon. 



due to a four-inch rain above the town on 

 the Cottonwood River. 



At Pattonsburg, Mo., Big Creek and Grand 

 River came together. Heavy rains caused 

 the two streams to become lakes without 

 banks or channel. Tuesday night, July 6, 

 the water rose so rapidly that almost before 

 the people were aware water was coming 

 through the doors of their homes. Few per- 

 sons thought of the possibility of a flood 

 and few made preparations in the way of 

 food supplies. 



Wednesday morning found Pattonsburg 

 surrounded by three miles of water, which 

 rose steadily until it reached the second 

 floors of stores and dwellings, driving many 

 people to the roofs. Rain added to the suf- 

 ferings of the people exposed. Three hun- 

 dred men, women and children found shel- 

 ter on the second floor and in the attic of the 

 school building. 



At its height the water was from five to 

 eight feet deep in the streets of Pattonsburg. 



George Palmer, a harness maker, who had 

 set out on foot to visit neighboring towns, 

 was drowned. His body has been recovered. 



Several hundred persons rendered home- 

 less and property loss estimated at three- 

 fourths of a million dollars are the result of 

 a flood which swept through the heart of 

 Springfield late Wednesdav night, July 7. 



The Missouri River Valley was a vast 

 lake, and the loss to crops was great. 



The Chicago and Alton, the Missouri, Kan- 

 sas and Texas, and the river route of the 

 Missouri Pacific to Jefferson City were en- 

 tirely out of commission. The Chicago and 

 Alton and Katy tracks were under fourteen 

 incbcs to five feet of water in the valley to 

 Jefferson City. 



At Rich Hill, Mo., the river Marais de 

 Cygnes was five miles wide. 



The Grand River at Chillicothe, Mo., was 

 more than twelve miles wide on July 8. 



Trenton, Mo., on July 7, was on an island 

 and entirely cut off from all railroad or other 

 communication. Early Wednesday morning 

 there came down Grand River and tributaries 

 the greatest flood in the history of that 

 stream, covering all the lowlands and doing 

 property damage estimated at half a million 

 dollars. A water-spout sent the rise down 

 the stream like a tidal wave, and few of 

 those in lowlands were able to escape. Men 

 were busy with boats all day, rescuing ref- 

 ugees from treetops. No lives were lost. 



^ «? U? 



America's Greatness 



Ambassador Jusserand, of France, said re- 

 cently: 



"The farther west I travel the more as- 

 tonishment I have over the greatness of the 

 United States. If the people of France had 

 such rivers as are in the West they would 

 dam them all and allow none of the water 

 to go to waste. Irrigation is a great thing, 

 especially for the western part of America." 



