204 



IXDIAXA UNRTRSITY STUDIES 



{Special to the Indianapolis Journal.) 



Shoals, Ixd., August 9, 1875. — White River at this place has been higher 

 at this time than at any other rise. The back water has entirely surrounded 

 Shoals, as previously reported, attaining a depth of seven to thirty feet. Yes- 

 terday the river began falling. The prospect is not very cheerful, as the smell 

 of rank vegetation is very perceptible. It is feared that sickness to an un- 

 usual extent will prevail. Two hundred families were compelled to move 

 from their homes, situated for the most part in the valley east of town, and 

 partly in the furnace village of IrontowTi, a mile up the railroad. 



{Indianapolis Journal, Saturday, July SI, 1875.) 



The Floods of 1828 and 1847.— The flood of 1828, which old settlers 

 considered the highest ever known, washed a region wholly destitute of popu- 

 lation and production, and the injury was comparatively light, although 

 serious enough, we believe, to induce the legislature to remit the taxr-s or 

 to extend payment on the inundated lands. The flood of 1847, it will b*- re- 

 membered by the older class of citizens, came nearly up to the flood of 1828, 

 but not quite. But even at the later period, White River Valley did not 

 contain more than one-fifth of the population that it does now, and only a 

 little more than one-fifth of the wealth, as is showm in the comparative tables 

 of the census, and the recent estimates of the Board of Equalization. The 

 inundation, therefore, though larger than the present one by two or three 

 feet, could not have done more than a small proportion of the harm done by 

 the recent flood. 



{Special to the Indianapolis Journal.) 



WoRTHixGTOx, IxD., August 5,, 1875. — As the flood is the only thing talked 

 about in this localit}^, I have concluded to furnish you a few items in regard 

 to it. It was the highest and the most disastrous freshet ever witnessed by 

 the oldest inhabitants. It was twelve inches higher than it was during the 

 memorable flood of January, 1847, on White River and Eel River. Our town 

 has been situated on an island for four days, the water being from six to sixty 

 feet in depth in all directions. Work is suspended. All corn and wheat on 

 White River bottom, in Greene County, for a distance of twenty-five miles 

 have been swept away and nothing has been saved. In addition to all of this, 

 all of the fencing has gone down the river with the products of the soil. The 

 crop on the prairies is a total failure, due to the wet weather. It has been 

 estimated that the damage in this county alone to the crops, and by the loss 

 of fencing, lumber, etc., will amount to $300,000. 



