BYBEE-MALOTT : THE FLOOD OF 1913 



157 



of land of which one hundred and forty acres are tillable. Where 

 the river leaves the bluff at the upper part of the loop, a levee be- 

 gins and extends parallel with the river for nearly one-quarter 

 of a mile. This levee was almost completely washed out and ad- 

 jacent to it some four acres of land were cut from one to four feet 

 in depth. Below this badly cut area there were some fifty acres 

 badly denuded, while forty acres were silted towards the western 

 edge of the loop. This levee heretofore had done good service 

 for Mr. Dunn. As long as the water did not get over it, not only 

 was his land in the loop protected, but the water was directed in 

 such a manner as to rob his neighbor across the river and add a 

 corresponding amount to the inside of the bend. Mr. Dunn has 

 declared his intention of rebuilding the levee. 



Greene County. In Greene County the river gets wider, 

 and below Worthington it is much wider. This is due to the out- 

 cropping of the soft and easily eroded coal measures and to the 

 efTects of the Illinois glacial sheet. In pre-gkcial times the river 

 ran as much as four or five miles to the west of its present 

 course. It probably ran through the gap that is now occupied by 

 Switz City, thence southward by the present site of Lyons. It 

 seems to have been pushed over to its present position by the great 

 ice invasions of the glacial times. The entire area from Switz 

 Cit}'' and Lyons eastward to the river is not Vv'holly valley land; it has 

 several great tracts of hill land in it, which are set in the midst of 

 the great alluvial area. The vast stretch of valley land from Switz 

 City and Lyons, southward and eastward to the river was not all 

 under water, but the most of it was near the danger line. Few 

 levees were noticed near the river, but railways and public road 

 embankments offered interesting situations in reference to the 

 flood waters. 



In Sections 13 and 14, three and one-half miles east and a 

 mile north of Worthington, a group of levees occurs that demands 

 consideration. They are in a great loop to the south, about which 

 the river runs, coming back northward for a considerable distance. 

 The loop has in it about three -hundred acres of farm land. Where 

 the river enters Section 13, a levee was built a jTar before the flood 

 by Mr. U. G. Clark, who owns the land. The levee which ex- 

 tended along the right side of the river for over a quarter of a mile 

 was washed entirely away. A hole from one to four feet deep was 

 in its former position. The current which left the river here and 

 washed the levee away spread out over and denuded perhaps a 



