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Local News
OLDEST PAPER IN WESTERN KENTUCKY
THE HieKMAN COURIER.
Volume 52
HICKMAN, KENTUCKY, THURSDAY, -APRIL 11, 1912
Number 40'
Over Two Thousand Refugees Now in Hickman
GOV. LEVEE BRCAKS.
VI 4.4G Friday afternoon the big
..eminent leveo, protecUng tbous-
la of norm of farm landa batow
Huknian, broko nt a iolnt about five
i. it Ix-low town going Uiroush Jartsl
idraon'A place, britiRltiR to naught
of tho hnrdcttt flghta vur wnsed
.liMt tlio truachorou watera of Um
i uslppl. Ton days provlous totttd
t; n thoimaml iiion worknl Htghl
d Jay lit an uffort to hokt Ut Mr
i ml the embankment T worst
..rt of It wan that men worked mark
ill tiiiio-in a il ran riling rain, wad
k mud nnI slush, wring without
l or wet for almoitt a k. ami.
.. uiix-H. doing wkfctmt food for is
lira At A UtTHlflJl
V small bronk ftnit occurml a
ioiu of muddy wntr apoHtlHir up
'in konosUi tiitt bags of sand Ia-
r i.eorso'a ontw of iiukhkm vera on
iwcUon which Rnrw nt) and
r OKI coniiiiHtnlnliln work Itaxa or
-nd wnro d lulled Into the break Kh
n idrful rapidity, but Un Riwd)
m1 long illadi noon At tta way
) n Into tho letoo. and xatiirittff
- r wHaOery lah of anta.- toon
- uk a raging torrent through tb
t arthen chain All the whik tb
' i hful negrooa continual to nmh
iy aacki up Uio slipping embank
1 1 wadlnj; wnter nlMoat watat ! i
a UriBK a current which lit-rln
- K Uitr fcol from Mixta- th-in a'
m Hut tho fight wm Km In
- time Uian It lake to toll It Dip
'. r rovorcd Uio aurroundtntr ground
aiid bod torn away, rm though It had
! n n mound of straw, the lete to
a idlb of lb or 20 feet Seeing llu
' r hoiHdmanrM of lb tak. work
abandoned and warning sent ov
wlr of Uio 1ovh letephone !
n which bad boon ttntabMahd tto
(i tho lotoo workra In much with
it other Bhoiiff Johnaon Mood ii
i r oter hl knetm whan be aeni
ii Iam UMwiOKti. Th frail effort
' man nKainut Uio slant wntwway
r. unevenly nmlnbol Wind and
wea wero really the "straw that ,
Irukt tlio cnmoI'M back." Th water
.i ImIiir held In man- plae w1Ui
mtil bona whnro It wna hlKber than
h I' we by eovoral Inofwm.
Tbf breach of courw wklaMMl,
- plDR truea. IiotweA. f. te .
k linff In n w1nda unUI now It
'Jl'arda of a mllo In wtd(h The
tiioutiuid men engaged In the ork
hurriedly nought placea of tfty, ami
io to wore lost. Three nefirova ar
aid to havo bocomo excited whn
h' break occurred and ran bahlml Uie
ms InatcAd of utajInK on It. and
-re forwd to climb treea. where
tVy woro found threo daya Inter.
nUc!pftUng Uio wont, atoainbonU.
launches and sklffa woro held In rea
dinnan for tho oroorKonci Thao were
'iiirrledly dlspateiii'd iroui Hlekmau
hkI picked up Ukwo cut off from re
1 oat Cnpt, A. A. Parte brought In
-oo peoplo on Uio Str May Stowart
M''.irdny morning, after an nll-nlght
"arch Many of Ueo woro taken
from roofa nnd tree top. Somo wore
singing and praying, othem cumlng.
but alnnor nnd wtlnt nllko woro
brought to enfoty. Throughout Uie
dy Saturday, refugees conUnuod t"
pour Into llickuinn wldltij: to tho pop
'Ut'on of our tontod city and filling
je brend lluca.
Aa yet, no dctitha havo boon reinirt
Working on
Portion of the City Levee, showing thousands of sandbags used
to repair one of the bad " boils." Vork train on crest. It
was held until the water got a foot above the top.
Government Levee Broke Friday Afternoon Rendering Many More People Home
less. 1 70 Square Miles Agricultural Lands Under Water. , Situation at Hick
man Still Serious. War Department Furnishes Tents and Fod. River
Falling Gives Promise of Relief. Clintor Street Submerged. Water
Reached 54 Feet on Cairo Guage. Highest Ever Recorded.
Loss in Bottoms Enormous. C. M. & G. R. R. Put Out of
Business. Several Miles of Track Out Between Hickman """
and Tiptonville. Relief Well in Hand.
Partial View of j
' Moving Dny," Refugee
the Levee
WKj9LsmIF f-IKj!15523? fEiKrwfcTL- - T811 -pwc I
West Hickman after the Break in
Coming into Hickman.
I d In conniption with tho awful dls.
'aster
Tho gllng way of this loveo means
tht inundation of thousands of acres
of the f nest agricultural land in tho
world It will bo under water any
where from 2 to 15 feet. In nil it is
estimated that fully 170 squaro miles
arc covered, embracing tho enUro
lower end of this county, a largo part
of Lnko count, Tenn., and a largo
portion of Obion county, Tonu. Tho
loss ill easily amount to $100,000,
over if tho plantors succeed in got
lins a jrop Uiis year. Live stock per
ished by tho thousands, and any num
b r ot frail residences wero washed
away and dashed to splinters.
This levee, a part of Uio goorn-
inont's big chain, was thojlrst to glo
way In truth, It wntf "tno tlrst ono
subjected to tho euornSJus strain
trough' to bear. OUicrs bolow nao
broken since, thowlng conclusively
i hat "lone of Uio lovoos. woro built to
stand auoh au ul prooodented stage of
Looking Northwest
water. No loss than 250,000 sacks of
sand have boon used on this secUon
of, the levee about 20 miles in
longUi. Tho work was undor Uio su
pervision of Mr. Brock, goemnioui
ivnMneor, and Uie coat of each 24
hours work In tho stiugglo was up
wards of $5,000. Tho hardships en
duri d by Uio men both whjto nnd
blnck--wlll ueer bo known except to
those who filled tho linos. It re
quires more than courage more than
a fow paltry dollnrs to inclto men to
work for dnys and nights without
food, sleep or shelter. Theso unnam
ed horoes tolled with a full knowledge
that they might at any moniont, in
tho blackness of night, bo swept n
way Into tho dismal lowland. But
the work continued whllo the waves
and spray dashed oer Uio big em
bankment, and nono desurted They
fought a good fight, but the power of
tho opposing elements Is demonstrat
ed by a sheet of water now visible
from tho hill tops of i Hickman.
the City Levee
from Ellison Hill.
R. R. Park
six 4 J, MftrnW
l4iSMiMf'iW5',''--JWiTi T "" """""" ' ' ' "
mgfai j THp ; t ij! Ifl
8tS4 1 i I!T V T :" TEI
w iui f I i L i mi n T If" ' U ' Si
N. C. & St. L. Railroad Park in the foreground, showing front of
depot at left. Water rose two feet higher than is
shown in this view.
THOUSANDS HOMELESS.
In addition to tho temporary dis
aster, occasioned by tho brreaklng of
Uio goernmcnt levee, thousands of
peoplo will bo rendered homeless In
the flooded district for weeks yat to
come, and will likewise be without
employment or means of Belf-support.
Tho greatest burden .of caring for
Uio refugocs falls upon Hickman,
where people flocked from lowlands
of Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri. .
Without Uio osslstanco of other towns
and Uio government wo would cer
tainly have been reduced to starvation
several days ago, as Uio provisions la
the local stores wero not sufficient to
meet the emergency and Impaired
shipping facilities made It a difficult
matter to receive shipments.
Hundreds of residences in both
Hickman and Uio bottoms aro under
water. It wUl be many days before
they can bo occupied again. Many
houses wero swept away In tho bot
tom. Some of the first to eo after
lha break were Uio residence of Bud
Darnell, three houses belonging to A.
M. Tyler, L. H. Coombes' store, Chas.
Hawk's residence, Willis Cates cotton
git: and warehouses, Carl Waggoner's
residence and many others The daa
a?e to property owners would bo hnrd
to estimate.
BROKE IN GOOD PLACE.
So far as tho Interests of Hick
man are concerned, the government
levee broke at a good place. Had It
occurred nearer or at town, Uio cur
rent of the river would have been
drawn through West Hickman, which
as a matter of fact, would havo add
ed materially to Uio dainago there
Mengel would havo lost ? 100000 worth
of lumber, and a large number, of
w ost end residences would havo been
literally demolished and carried a
vny As It Is the water Is pracUcal
ly Htlll In Uio flooded section of tho
town Tho water go.ing through Uio
break in Uio levee finds an out-let
ntar Tiptonville. ""
RAILROADS HARD HIT.
The C, M. & G. railroad company
has been forced .to suspend opera
tion, as water covers many miles of
their tracks. In places Uio tracks
hao been washed out three miles at
a stretch. All along tho lino their
stations aro submerged, and Uio new
depot at Hickman stood fqur feet
under water Friday. Their losses will
bo heavy and business cannot bo re
sumed for several weeks at best.
Tho K, C. & St. L. depot and ware
houses wont under water about six
inches nftor the city lovoeo broko
and their enUro yards havo bden cov
ered to a depth of about five feet.
They havo been stopping their trains
in East Hickman since Tuesday of
last week, and aro now engaged In
Uio erecUob of a dopot out there,
tearing, down Uio old wagon factory
paint shops, to get lumber. They caa
make no repairs on their West Hick
man yards until Uio wacr recedes.
For tho present business will bo han
dled through East Hickman.
Several days last week all train''
service was cut out on account of
washouts between Hickman and Un
ion City.
Continued on Page Two
Under Water
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