150 
Froop oF Marcu, 19138. 
The appointment of this commission was the direct result of the flood 
of March, 1915, in which 467 lives were lost and over $160,000,000.00 of 
property destroyed in the United States. The memory of this catastrophe 
is still fresh in the minds of the people of Indiana, in which State thirty- 
nine lives were lost, and over $18,000,000 of property destroyed. 
The total loss in the flood of March, 1913, can never be known. The 
interruption of transportation and of business, the destruction to farm 
lands by cutting of banks of rivers and covering of bottom lands with 
gravel, the loss of productive capacity of manufacturing plants, and the 
sickness following exposure, are not susceptible of exact computation. 
Professor Beede of Indiana University reports a total damage of ap- 
proximately one-half million dollars in seven counties in the lower White 
River basin, in which also nearly eight thousand acres of agricultural 
land were denuded of soil and some sixteen thousand acres of river bot- 
toms were covered with soil and silt. He estimates the loss to agricultural 
land in this region as nearly $250,000.00. 
The loss reported by county auditors to county roads and bridges 
alone, was over $3,000,000.00. Other tangible losses that have been deter- 
mined are shown in Table 1. It is probable that the loss during the flood 
of March, 1913, in Indiana, may be estimated at over $25,000,000.00. 
Indeed the catastrophe was so general over the Ohio Valley that it 
excited the sympathy and support of the entire nation. The Governor 
of the State of Indiana received $———— in subscriptions for the relief 
of flood sufferers in this State. 
PART OF DAMAGES SUSTAINED IN THE FLOOD oF MArRcH, 1913. 
LE BOoun tye miele ays +ANG DRIGSESa. 2 ant ctes ee oe coment crete $2,825,240 00 
Pe emeEVAT ORCS SUGHII 1... tere woe a. c:051 t's: diate Whats eraberenemereiel Oren automate 5,299,810 00 
eB LOCEELG SELLA VS x18 lade even. ¥ can crate riaia ests ee sien ae actome 788,000 OO . 
foe BUN GiINneS And personal Propervys uw... 2. toe te eee ee 8,104,250 00 
DELLE PHNOM GAN GAvelEPT AN), see cicie aeeiieres oie arosctorskerattes oletemme aie 17,510 OO 
GARRY ORO care tei er ein rene as xiictiss nies Sie epar ever blay e's ayers orerecene eWeLabetier een cals 735,700 OO 
Thea | Ores Sh (0 6) cha? ene ere ee ee nas eS a yk Se ad 149,580 00 
Spee MANTUA CLS ee art tare, wate eee Neher senate alcatel ors S-thsh stares Sue eye e ales sme 264,700 00 
OA SUSPENSLOM Ob HWUSIUCSS =, sialeve-. coher Witla sie one teecane Gee ake ethene 582,000 00 
. 
Pal ee fee AE 5A RA ae, Fo er 
