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HE BROWNSVILLE HERALD By Brownsville Herald Publisliing Co. M. J. Slattery - - - Manager Mrs. Jesse O. Wheeler - - Editor Official County and city Journal. Consolidated in 1893 with the Daily cosmopolitan, which was published ju urownsviiie for sixteen years. Entered at the Postoffice, Brownsville, Texas, as second-class matter. TERMS OP SUBSCRIPTION. Daily Published every evening except Sunday, by mail postpaid to any point in the United States, Mexico or Cuba, or delivered by ".arrier to any part of Brownsville, . TVxas, or Matamoros, Mexico. One copy one year. . .$6.00 One copy six month's. 3.00 Weekly Published Saturday, by mail postpaid to any point in the United States or Mexico. One copy one year $1.50 One copy six months 75 One copy three months. . .50 - Subscriptions invariably due and payable in advance. Advertising rates on application. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1909. MIGHT EASIL Y HA VE BEEN A VOIDED. Once more the Rio Grande has been on the rampage and several thousand acres of low land along the river are under water. While the amount of damage done by this rise is comparatively small, meas ured bv results, vet there is no doubt that the mere fact of the news being spread abroad that the river has overflowed again is likely to do some harm to the entire val ley. And, in view of the fact that 't m;ght all have been averted by a comparatively small expenditure, ii r is indeed to be regretted that such an inopportune occurrence has hap pened. Probably no other stream in me i'nited States is more easily sus ceptible of control than the Rio Grande, especially in the lower part of its course. By means of levees along the banks of the rier for a distance of about sixty mile.'-, with 'provision to let the flood waters through into reservoirs and natural drainage ways, all of which would" probably cost not over $15(,00i for that distance, overflows could eas ily be jrevented. The thing has been done at San Benito and other places in the valley, where levees are now protecting the canals from encroach ments of the flood, while the spill ways are letting the water through and draining it off into convenient resacas, which win carry off the surplus to the Laguna Madre. It tan be done in the same way along ih- entire river front. The lesson of this summer to the land and i canal owners of the valley will as suredly result in the construction of the levee system indicated before mam- months more have passed, and But thing as an overflow of the lower alley will be made an im possibility in the future. And just to think--Old Glory has b. n floating over the north pole for 'ong over a year, and nobody fcn v.- nnvthine about it bir I)r i Cook and the polar bears: 2,500 SPECIMENS FOR SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Trophies of Col. Roosevelt's SkiH at Hunting, Shipped from Africa to Washington. Rv Associated Press. i Nairobi, Sept. 3. J. Alden Loring and Major Mearns. members of the Roo?t velt expedition are about to un dertake an extended trip through the Kenia province. Loring started out todav and will be followed by Mearns tomorrow. The two travelers expect to return here by November 1 to join Col Roosevelt. total of 2,500 specimens were shipr"d yesterday tto the Smithson ian institution. They include birds, mammals, snakes and plants. THE STOCK MARKET. Quiet Trading, and Few Small De clines Marked Down. By Associated Press. New York, Sept. 3. Quiet trad ing and moderate price changes characterized the opening of the stock market today. Favorite spec ulative stocks were quoted higher than yesterday, but the list showed a few small declines. Grain Market. Chicago, Sept. 3. The closing Oats 38 " quotations: Wheat Corn 5 7 57 Sept. Dec. .98 .94Vj Mission Plant Uninjured. Special to The Herald. Mission, Sept. 3. The pumping plant and canal are uninjured and capable of Immediate operation up to the flumes. The flumes and the canal beyond have been damaged about $5,000. Repair work will be instituted at Once and can be com pleted in 30 days. Farmers in the flooded district have not suffered se rious losses. The river has fallen two and one half feet today TORIES OF THE MONTEREY FLO LOSS OF LIFK PKOBAlSIiY WILL; REACH :5,00i). ' Brownsville Citizen Who Was There j During Flood Tells of Terrible ; Scenes of Disaster Houses Bur- ied in ?Iinl Show Depth of Water, i "Three thousand would be a con servative estimate of the number of lives lost in Monterey in the over flow of the Santa Catarina river at that place on last Friday night," stated a prominent citizen of Brownsville who returned from Monterey last night to a Herald re presentative this morning. "One cannot picture the misery, want anu suffering now existing in the flood ed district of the city," he continued. "The overflow occurred between nine, and ten o clock Friday night, but few people who resided outside of the flooded uistrict were aware of the fact until the next morning, as no alarm of any kind was given." According to The Herald's in formant, the greatest loss of life oc curred Saturday when the homes of hundreds of people that were ma rooned by the raging flood with no way to reach dry land, began to crumble and fall either crushing the lives out of those in the interior of them O! forcing them into the water 'A here they were quickly drowned by the waves, which were at least 20 feet in height. The houses, he s.-iys, were not all oftadobe, as has been asserted heretofore, but the majority of then: wen- of limestoiic and their collapse was occasioned by the water undermining their foun dations. Among the nan t-rrib!e semes of the flood, The '.raid's informant saw the root ot a house floating down the rier, on top of which was seaed a man holding a voting b-iby in his arms and three women. He turned to call a friend to assist him in rescuing them from their perilous positi-tn and when he tmned back to look, for the root on which the peo ple were seated, it had disapneared beneath the antTy torrent with its human Ireight. After the flood had receded, all of the buildings near the bridge across the Santa Catarina river were found to be buried in mud up to the ery transoms oer their doors, showing what height the wat er had attained. The belfry tower of the old San Francisco cathedral was destroyed by the water, and not the entire building as reported in the state papers, the remainder of the structure still standing. This is the oldest building in the city. Not only was there a great scar city of food felt in the city, but the sanitary conditions are something horrible to describe. It was almost impossible for anyone to approach within a hundred yards of the mar ket house on account of the stench arising from the carcases of the many bee"; and othe.- animals in the buti heiV stalls !:, hid been there eer since Thursday night, and which were still there up to Wednesday, this week, while from a linos i every part of the flooded dis trict the odor arising from the hun dreds of dead bodies of humans and animals was simply terrible. While the authorities were doing all in their power to relieve the-! conditions, yet the work was nec essarily slow, on account of hun dreds of bodies being buried unde: neath the debris of fallen houses and mud, added to the necessity of attending to the thousands of help-!-ss survivors vho are shelterless and starving. Every effort was made to save with a rush finding its way across very few boats were available and t was impossible even for these to cross the torrent for hours after the uerilous situation was known on Saturday. The worst of the flood was confined to the lower part of the city in the immediate vicinity of the Santa Catarina valley, the water be ing only a foot deep in the Zaragoza Plaza. Many were rescued on Sun day by operating a cable stretched across the flood and rigged with a large wicker basket on pulleys in which people were drawn across the river and landed on dry land. Thousands of the poor people who had lost their all in the flood were being fed by the municipal authori ties, when The Herald's informant left, frijoles and a little gruel con sisting the fare. The scarcity of supplies was such that even the guests or the best hotels were obliged to content themselves with a menu comprising little more than ham and potatoes. However the conditions have somewhat improved, as railroad communications with Laredo have been established and a relief train loaded with food is now on the way to the stricken city. The Comical Side. Even in the midst of such awful tragedies, the observer could not fail to cote some comical features. The returned traveler tells of a few: One aged man was observed standing on a street corner with an ancient gcnder under one arm, all that he had saved from the hungry waters, while here and there could be seen people tightly clasping a small plaster of paris statute of a horse, dog or other animal, all that they rescued from their homes. The Herald's informant says that the lives of more pigs than of hu man beings seemed to have been saved and that everywhere could be seen men, women and children lead ing aboitt pigs by means. of a rone tied about the neck of the animals that they had saved from the flood, probably at the risk on their own lives. CALL FOR FIFTH ANNUAL CONVENTION. 1 As president of the Interstate In i land Waterway and by virtue of au- thority vested in me by the execu ! tive committee, I hereby call the ! Fifth Annual Convention of the said organization to convene at Corpus Christi, Texas, October U, 22 and 23, and urge upon all citizens of Texas and Louisiana who are inter ested in the early and successful consummation of the important pro ject to which the organization is dedicated, to assist and cooperate in making it the most successful and largely attended waterways con vention ever held in the Southwest. Preliminary plans have progres sed far enough to justify the asser tion that, with the aid of those in terested in the project, the conven tion will be a memorable one in the annals of waterways promotion. For the second time in the history of our country, a president of the United States will address a water ways convention when the Hon. William Howard Taft will appear at the Corpus Christi meeting. The president has positively accepted an invitation to attend and address this convention. He will speak at the morning session on October 22nd. It will be the first waterways con vention that Mr. Taft has addressed since his election and it is safe to assume that his speech will be a notable one. The secretary of war, who will be a member of the pres idential party, is also expected to address the convention. Hon. T. M. Campbell, governor of Texas, has also given his definite promise to attend and speak to the convention. The chief executive of the State of Louisiana has likewise been invited to be present at the convention and assurance has been had that he will accept. A similar invitation has been despatched by special messenger to the Hon. Jos eph G. Cannon, speaker of the nat ional house of representatives. In vitations have also been extended to the United States senators and con gressman of Texas and Louisiana an numerous other distinguished pers ons and many acceptances have been received, so that it goes without saying thatso -far as the program is concerned, the convention will go down in history as one of the most interesting and important ever held in this country. It now only remains for those interested in the great project which this convention will 1-e I. eld to further promote to use their utmost endeaors to make the convention just as successful froi i t:e standpoint of attendance. The citizens of Corpus Christi are now busily engaged in arranging the program of entertainment for the con.ention and 1 am sure that they will not permit this to be an excep tion to the general rule of generous hospitality for which that beautiful city by the sea is far famed. 1 am particularly anxious for the success of this convention because I believe the prospects for the early consm. 'ination of our great project were never brighter than they are at the present time. Largely as a result of the splendid convention he k! at New Orleans last year, a ie-' jrvpv the entire Intercoastal (.ii... I on the basis of a nine foot deptn and a hundred foot width a as secured from the last congress. Th report ot this survey will no doul.t be ready when congress next -oiv aes and with the proper co orcrntion of all interested we ought to be able to secure extensive appro iri.'iions for the larger and deeper .:u.i in the next rivers and har bors bill . 1 am glad ro say that the pro ject was nner in better shape than it i now. During the year, con spicuous progress has been made, but it is the duty of this organiza tion to sr-e to it that even better progress is made in the future. With the president of the I'nited States, the secretary of war, the governors, I'nited States Senators and many congressmen of Texas and Louisi ana in attendance, the Interstate Inland Waterway will be afforded the golden opportunity of its exis tence to further the purpose for which it is intended. I. therefore, call upon the countv judge.-; of all counties, the mayors of all cities and towns and the offi cers of all commercial bodies in the sections of Texas and Louisiana in terested in the Intercaostal canal to appoint delegates to the convention and forward a list of same to Mr Roy Miller, secretary of the Com mercial Club ac Corpus Christi, Texas, as early as possible in order that they may be furnished with proper credentials. I urge that this be done at once in order that our plans may be finally perfected as expeditiously as possible. The program of the convention will be issued shortly. C. S. E. HOLLAND, President Interstate inland Water way. Victoria, Texas, Sept. 2, 1909. La Ferin Notes. To The Herald. La Feria, Texas, Sept. 3. D. W. Harris, who has been in charge of the local branch of the South Texas Lumber Co. since the beginning of things here, has been promoted to the Houston office. His place here will be taken by T. E. Marchbanhs, ons of Pat Haley's lieutenants at Harlingen. .Mr. Marchbanks was lucky enough to win a bride in June and now he is to win a home, as the Lumber Company is to build him a house. i The new hotel will be in readiness to supply food and rest to wavfarers on the first of October. Though it contains hilt fifteen rooms, according to Walter Vann about 150 people can be accommodated in the Rio Grande style on cots. The foundations for the pumps are now being put in at the river and work will be started very soon on the bridge across the arroyo This is located just south of the town and is practically a continua tion of the main street and at the same level. It will be of steel, with an 85-foot span, and a total length of 200 feet. INTEREST PAID ST On savings deposits made up to and in cluding the 5 th of each month. ROWNSVILL BANK & TRUST COMPANY $1.00 starts an account 4 LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE Suggestions for Aid of Crop Growers. To The Herald. Every man, whether in the city, or on the ranch, is interested in the prosperity of the grower of crops, and ought to be a willing part of a central Bureau of Information front which crop conditions of the north may be correctly obtained. Nearly every state in the Union has representatives in this valley from whom accurate information can be gathered, notations can be made, and information given to every producer, buyer, shipper, merchant, builder, and real estate dealer through The Herald as well as through other publications in the valley. Let the Commercial Club gather this information from the private correspondence of these peo ple by call or clippings from such letters as pertain to seasons, and such crops as go into cold storage in the North. Postal cards can he sent out with questions for the people to answer from these northern letters, which the most of them will gladly do. This will move many. to send let ters of inquiry to their friends from which will come a great deal of valu able information. We received a letter this week from Springfield, Mo., stating, '"we i have not had a good rain since he 12th of July, the drouth and heat are destroying all the late fruit and ' vegetables." ! Now you see that information like this from a large part of the North , is stimulating to the grower and his hope of success: besides what ever leads the grower to succes Is j a boon to every craft, a tidal wave of prosperity to this, city, and all the ' .owns of the valley. It is well reported that .Mr. opn man of the Farmers' Department of 1 Agriculture in Washington, D. C, j has toured the middle west extend-1 ing his tour of inspection over a 1 .Treat part of Texas. He reports to j the department that drouth in many ' of the states has cut the crops down 1 to nearly half a ( rop, and some : places the drouth and heat have I been so severe that the farmers are left with practically no crops i at all. ; Looking for the misfortunes of ; others in this way and for these reasons is no sin for it encourages 1 the winter growers of this friendly 1 clime to stipply them with the neces-! sities, - the proceeds cf which in , turn supply their homes, pay their debts; besides it binds the Lower Rio Grande to the commonwealth of this great country, making it a part of the commercial brotherhood. A. NOBLE JAMES. HARLINGEN HAPPENINGS Arroyo Colorado Gets Share of Flood Three Mexican- Saved. To The Herald. "Harlingen, Texas, Sept. 'J. The water is rising very fast in the Ar royo Colorado, and some diillculty is being experienced in keeping the flume clear of drift wood. Three Mexicans in trying to free a log from the drift got adrift on the log, and would probably have been drowned, but for the timely arrival of Mose Hill and several others, who rescued them in a boat. L. E. Snavely and family, his brother and brother-in-law came in today from Jefferson, Oklahoma. They intend starting at once .to clear up their farms near Harlingen and put the same in operation. Off For School. 1 With September conies school time 1 and the annual departure of sons and daughters of Brownsville to divers places in search of the Pierian spring. Yesterday saw the departure of the Misses Lucille and Lily Cham pion for Nazaretth Academy, Ky. This morning Jose Celaya and son Enrique and Emilio Champion, with his three young sons left for St. Mary's Acad emy near Louisville. Ky., where the boys will study the coming session. Last Monday, Mrs. Augustin Celaya witht her three daughters, the Misses Laura and Addie Celaya,. and her niece, Miss Amfe Putegnat, left for Nazareth also, intending to stop off at San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans for a little sight-seeing en , route. High Water does not Affect It's an ideal J. B. SCOTT - BROWNSVILLE. TEXAS Capital and Surplus, $150,000.00 Free to the Bachelors Homeless Ones and Others BEGINNING AUGUST 15th we shall repair all men's underwear, darn all men's socks and sew on all men's buttons, without extra charge. And the goods will be laundered in the very best manner, too. It's good laundry service. Try it. Phone No. 1. The Model Laundry WARREN & CROSS Maps, Plans and Estimates Irrigation Engineering one of our Specialties Rooms 4 and 6, Puente Building, Brownsville, Texas T-J A rr rr TT T IX. U r A 1 JL LLi Fall jf Before buying it will pay 8 woolens. Workmenship ursurpas.ed. ' Fit guaranteed. I Longley and Stetson Hats I Kingley and Lion Shirts SHIRTS MADE TO ORDERj f Phone 269 Everything for the well dressed man 9 tOt j JL The Fall Term Opens Tuesday, September 7, 1909 1 j-i IV! American Plan Now Open. Under the able management of MR. AND MRS. C. R. STEVENS 3 blocks north depot, on Adams, between 11 and 12 Sts. Rates $2,00 Special by week or month. We furnish your Howse Furniture Company .nim.'.ij.Mj..!Hii.i..ar a a place to live. - General Manager. Civil and Hydraulic Engineering Architects C" TvT ' O XS. O J IN o Suits s you to look at my line ( f 1 lege home from A TT7