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Newspaper Page Text
in 4 hours. The people of the ralley are fleeing from 'the low lands back of the levees. The river rose a foot at Mem phis in the last 24 hours. The levees here are strained to the bieakirig- pointy Memphis has a 42-foot stager today. Levee en gineers say that a 44-foot stage will sweep away the great iu Francis levee, which pjotects an area as large as the state of Rhode Island. ' Washington, April 2. Presi dent Taft today .sent a special niessage to congress urging the hnmedhte appropriation of $500, 00" to be placed at the disposal of the army engineers noy pat rolling the levees along the Mis sissippi river. In the 'message the president points out that "unless itrutiediate action is taken, millions of dol lars worth of property will be de stroyed, and many lives lost. N Whole City Under Water. Kickman, Ky., April 2. This whole city is under from two to eight feet of water today. Two thousand persons are wandering about in the cold and rain, food less, shelterless. More than 100 tents arrived here today, sent by order of Gov ernor McCreary. Hundreds more will be needed. The levees broke early this morning, after a night of wild labor, during which hundreds of tnen fought to strengthen the if kes enoug hto hold in the rier. The inhabitants had been warn ed, but when he bowing of whis tles, the ringing of "bells, combin ed with the roar of the released waters, most of the people rush ed to the water front to witness the spectacle. One lok satisfied most of them, and they turned ajnd fled. The result was utter confusion. Po6r Peopjfc Suffer Most. So far as is?!khown, no lives were lost. The chief trouble to day is "Ret food problem. Only in a few housei'is it possible to cook. All of that parUofjthe town in which the por people lived is un der about six feet of -water, so they are suffering most. The river is steadily rising. Cairo, 111., April 2. After a night throughout which this city was threatened with a disastrous flood, the levees at Cairi and around the drainage district on the north are safe. Mayor Parsons issued a p'rocla matiQn today ordering all busi ness houses with the exception of grocery stores, meat markets, drug stores and bakeries to close, so that all employes can work at strengthening and raisihg the levees. May6r Parsons 'issued a call for volunteers last night. Nearly every able-hodied man1 in the city turned out. Traveling men also were pressed into servicej The surrounding towns sent hundreds of men. All night long, the hundreds of men worked on the dikes, strengthening them, building ; jKTltniMllMji KjUjtfl