Show NORTH TOPEKA A I SCENE OF UTMOST DESOLATION Entire Portion of City Covered Cov-ered With Water 1 I RESIDENCES ARE ALL RUINED J ff tf fc J Nearly All of the Fires Put Out J by Rains Rain-s f If 0 i Number of People Known to Bo Drowned Will Be at Least One 1 Hundred and Fifty Topoko Kan + May 31At 1 oclock the number of drowned people was known to be at least 1DO and a large number were yet missing Several t I were reported burned to death but f this could not be substantiated From s f nil over eastern Kansas boats are being be-ing rushed here for the rescue of the sufferers The north end of the Mcllnn bridge the only way of reaching North Topeka Is entirely submerged and iF i I an effort will be made to > stretch a wire cable across the bridge r JAII J oC the pontoon bridges to the north Elde were washed out early this morn jvlng and the only possible chance oC reaching the survivors then was by i boats A BOATS CAPSIZE Ji Shortly after daylight nine boats arrived ar-rived from Ottawa on a special train I fllnfl they were put Into active service at I once Soon after reports or drowning ibegan to come In A boat containing eight men was swept away in the swift current at about 7 oclock and as far I V t as known all were drowned A boat I i containing two men was capsized The 4 boats were too frail to live in they the-y swirling waters RIVER IS STATIONARY f The rher remained stationary after I having fallen seven Inches Heavy rains were reported from up the i stream however and It was feared that another ripe would net in Eightyseven people are high and dry In the Pace elevator If the building t holds together they will be rescued DROWNED IN CHURCH In the B street colored Baptist church nearly a hundred peonle have been l f ntandlng slnco yesterday Many of 1 them have doubtless fallen from exhaustion rj l ex-haustion before this and drowned The building stands Intact however and those who are left alive may be rescued res-cued I SCENE OF DESOLATION North Topeka is a scene of utmost desolation Not a square foot of land can be seen In any direction There > < is but a small chance of any of the ij residences being left standing at then the-n end of the flood period of f Sherry Oakland and the region about ft l the Reform school north of North To pf peka are all under the rushlnc ways wa-ys ters but the situation Is favorable in I f these places compared with what North Topeka is undergoing FIRES PUT OUT I Nearly all the fires have been put out by the heavy rain which fell all night The sky was overcast and the rain bid fair to continue all day STEAM LAUNCHES CALLED FOR It was recognized that rowboats would be of no use In battling with the current Steam launches must be secured at once and to this end rush messages were sent to the superintendent superintend-ent and agent of the Hock Island at St Joseph and to Iayor Bertgcnthal and the secretary of the Commercial club as follows Topeka wants from three to six steam launches and 12 or IS clinker built rowboats with men to handle sent here by special train at once to rescue people In North Topeka The agent was ordered to load the train at once secure a clear track and Proceed to Topeka The train was to feel Its way as far as possible on the submerged trades and then the boats would be launched It was expected that when the launches reached here I many of the people on the north side could yet be saved Boats were received re-ceived here on a number of special trains run by the Missouri Pacific and the Santa Fe over circuitous routes but the current in the river seemed to be growing more powerful every minute min-ute and they were powerless to cope with it BELEAGUERED ENCOURAGED Meanwhile the beleaguered ones were being encouraged as far as possible to hold on a little longer in the hope that rescue would soon be effected The S5 people In the Page elevator In North Topeka were In desperate straits for food having had nothing to eat since last Friday At 10 oclock two boatloads boat-loads of provisions were started to them They had not yet reached tho elevator after engaging in a hard battle bat-tle with the waters for over an hour COULD NOT STEM CURRENT Former Policeman K N Capron Just returned from a fruitless attempt to rescue some personal friends saying he could make no headway against the current though he and his companions put forth the most strenuous efforts Avlth their threeoared boat Mr Ca pron said the desolate condition of the country on the north aide Is worse than anything he ever heard of The loss of life from drowning alone he said will hardly be covered by 150 without including in-cluding the large number of missing AMONG THE MISSING Chief of Police Goff and his family are among those not yet accounted for They may be among those on the tops of the buildings but this is hardly probable as their house was in the direct di-rect path of last nights fire PROVISIONS FOR SUFFERERS Isaac Stardon succeeded In reaching the B street Baptist church with 500 pounds of provisions He was two hours in making the trip of not much more than a mile Half a dozen persons per-sOns are In an abandoned street car Just north of the bridge and hae been there for thirty hours but will be rescued Eighteen people were rescued res-cued late this afternoon from a house at 3203 North Monroe street From this place the current Is now swift and after great labor the place was reached MANY PEOPLE IN TREES A man who has Just returned from the scene of the flood says he could see as many as ten persons hanging from trees near the Sardou avenuo bridge at the foot of Morse street E D Lang and Charles Waldon Santa Fe employers em-ployers started out In a boat early today to-day to rescue a Russian whom they saw on ton of a house not far from the bank of the river They not the Russian In the boat which Immediately capsized The three found resting places In trees where they remain at this time Another party Is trying to rescue the three WATERS RECEDING At 3 oclock the water had receded Continued on PaSo 9 I SCENE DESOLATION Continued from Page 1 1 I exact one and a hat Inches an hour Before this a rise of an inch had been reported The gauge went up and down all the afternoon until 3 oclock wheh a fall set In At 4 oclock thc water wa-ter had left the first floor of the Rock stand general offices but was yet six feet deep Just outside the building I was then that a gang of telegraph line iinen succeeded In getting a heavy wire cable stretched across the top of the pontoon bridge A large hand dipper vas attached to this and used to take large quantities of provisions to those who were not yet rescued RESCUED BY MEANS OF CABLE The first flood victim to be rescued by > means o the cable was the Rev A N Pearson pastor o the North Topeka To-peka English church Mr Pearson aid We spent three days on the top of our house We were fairly warmly ressed but had only two loaves of bread for our family of four during that time All day Saturday and today we had nothing to eat Our situation vas desperate and extremely uncom fortable but we at no time lost faith In the ultimate ability of our friends to rescue us Yesterday my wife and children chil-dren were rescued Today my turn came and I cannot begin to tell how thankful I am AGED PEOPLE LOSE REASON W N Keppard and wife aged people peo-ple were rescued at 4 oclock They were so numb that they could not feel and had to be knocked down Into the water before the men could reach them They were standing close together In the attic of a house and so severe had atte been their experience that their minds gave way under the strain They cannot can-not recover I DESPERATE BATTLE FOR LIFE A Mrs Anderson and her yearold baby > have been for three days In a tree In plain sight of the people who were powerless to rescue them The mother clasped her child close In her arms and managed to brace herself against a limb in a reasonably secure position For three days she kept up the battle for life At 4 oclock her rescue was very near but she lost consciousness con-sciousness Both mother and child fell Into the water and were drowned bong bo-ng Immediately drawn under by the current HAD THRILLING EXPERIENCE Harvey Parsons 1 local newspaperman newspaper-man had a thrilling experience He I took a boat Friday night and made his way to a house in the hope of making some rescues A woman and her baby names unknown were In the house and Parsons took them Into his boat They had only proceeded a short distance dis-tance when the boat capsized Parsons contrived to get himself and the others up Into 0 tree and there they remained until 3 oclock this afternoon when rescued res-cued They were brought to a place of safety but will probably not recover STEAMBOATS RESCUE MANY Two small steamboats were put Into service at 430 one from Ottawa and the other from St Joseph By this means the work of rescue was greatly facilitated One of the boats brought eighteen people over and landed near the desslcallng plant They floated down halt a mile and became lost north of the Melan bridge This was before the flood had reached its height FOURTEEN ON A CAR Fourteen people had entered a stranded strand-ed street car but soon had to seek tne roof Standing in this uncertain position posi-tion for twentyfour hours their condition con-dition was desperate until they were taken off at 445 with the aid of the big cable B L Wise former city engineer was dragged from the hayloft of a barn He was unconscious and numb from cold but soon revived Hla story of the beginning of the flood Is dramatic RESCUED FROM TREES By aid of the small steam and gasoline gaso-line launches forty men In south Garfield Gar-field park were rescued They had perched themselves In trees They had had nothing to eat for thirtysix hours I These men were In a fenced grove where they could not keep a close watch of the situation All they could see was the angry water rushing about among the trunks of tho trees One of the men said they could not hear each other speak above the roar of the ate a-te Uncertainty was added to their other misery and not one of them had any hopes of escaping AWFUL EXPERIENCE Patrick Bellne his wife and three smal children were taken from the attic at-tic of their small dwelllnc The parents obliged to hold tho two were ob1ged younger children constantly In order to Iccep their heads above water They were nearly starved and probably cannot recover re-cover PLUCKY WOMAN Miss Annie Noble operator at the Union Pacific railroad headquarters In North Topeka was forced to leo the building when the water covered the floor With her mother and young sinter sin-ter the plucky young woman took uj housekeeping quarters in an abandoned I horse cnr This was good enouGh ohel ter until the water rose a foot above the floor of tho car but there they had to stay until today when they were Included In-cluded among the rescued PASSENGER TRAIN IN WATER Near the Rock Inland depot a passenger pas-senger train of seven coaches was stalled by tho flood The train camp In Friday night The Rock Island In washed out as did also most of the Innd on which the track was laid and as a result the cars cannot be moved out of here for two weeks or more after af-ter the flood Bubsldos About 150 pas I sengers arc on the train They have not at any time been in real danger but their real situation Is anything but pleasant They are well cared for by the road and most of them have remained re-mained on the cars preferring this arrangement ar-rangement to the uncertainty of securing secur-ing suitable quarters MAY BE SAVED At 5 oclock this evening people were quartered In North Topeka as follows In B street church CCK In Topeka woolen mills UK In CaHcs flour mill 91 I In an elrvator 56 In the lire station w A boat was sent to the woolen mill with 1000 feet of halfInch rope which was to have been used In making a lifeline FLOATING BODIES SEEN At 6 oclock the first sight of floating bodies was seen and fourteen bodies were seen passing by the North Topeka Tope-ka fire station Soon after this it was definitely ascertained that the following follow-ing were drowned Karl Rupp Orvllle Rupp Two Rupp girls E H Garnett This represents only a fractional part of the heavy loss of life At a conservative con-servative estimate 200 are dead Where these bodies are nobody can tell When the waters recede the bodies will doubtless be found at different places miles down the stream PAYING ADVANCE SALARIES The Santa Fe Railroad company Is responding to the needs of the situation Many of the people who have been rendered ren-dered homeless and who are In the most destitute clrcumstancca were Santa Fe shop men and employees Besides aiding aid-ing the actual rescue work with all the available force the company has arranged ar-ranged to relieve the Immediate needs by 1 paying advance salaries to the men who are homeless The total amount o f wages for this number of men will be about 512000 OUTLOOK THIS MORNING Patrolman Hopkins who at 1230 this Monday morning returned from I trip near the buildings where vthe flood sufferers arc housed says their condition condi-tion Is now much more comfortable than It has been at any time since the flood began The situation Is widely different from last night when screams for help and the shooting of pistols could be heard at almost any hour WORST IS PASSED There Is ground for the hope that the worst has passed So treacherous has the Kansas river proved itself today In I the rising of Its water tonight R slowly slow-ly as to be Imperceptible the fivemile stream is settling back Into Us rightful channel Up and down the offlcia gauge has fluttered all day Tonight however City Engineer McCablc Issued a bulletin giving out the cheering intelligence In-telligence that the waters had subsIded sub-sided to the extent of eoctly seven and a half Inches I may be a few hours before another drop will be noticed AID FOR SUFFERERS Large contributions have already been received for the benefit of the sufferers The amount given by Top ka citizens alone will aggregate 100 000 To this Is to be added an Immense quantity of clothing provisions and general supplies Outside townn have generously offered aid among which Is Galveston Tex BUILDINGS COLLAPSE Many Structures in North Topeka Are Crumbling Topeka Kan May ni rcprenenta tlc of the Associated Press walked out on the pontoon bridge to tho Mclan arch bridge where a satisfactory view of the flood situation was obtained Looking to the north as far as the eye could reach was one expanse of water dotted here and there by badly wrecked or crumbling buildings The half mile from Second street to the Melan bridge was covered with water six to twelve feet deep through which a mad current was flowingBUILDINGS BUILDINGS COLLAPSE On cither side of the pontoon bridge were brick business buildings 63 In I number which are completely ruined by high water Two have collapsed while tho foundations of others are crumbling The los In this respect in money will aggregate half a million dollars This Is the district In which all the wholesale whole-sale commission houses were located and Immense amounts have been lost by the commission men All this it must be remembered Is on the south side of the river where tho damage has been comparatively Insignificant t RUINED BY FIRE The reporter ventured out into the stream In a boat OB far as the raging current would allow and there It was ascertained that last nights reports regarding re-garding the burning buildings were somewhat overdrawn Last night the whole northern part of the city seemed to be aflame Closer Investigation this afternoon revealed the fact that only about onethird of the buildings on the north side were destroyed by fire EVERY BUILDING DAMAGED Fully half of the remaining buildings are so damaged by the water that they are absolutely useless There Is i not a House In the entire northern part of town that has not been seriously damaged dam-aged When the value of the stocks of merchandise destroyed Is considered It is easily seen that the loss in a financial finan-cial way assumes enormous proportions propor-tions tons RAILROADS AT STANDSTILL The railway companies have abandoned aband-oned l efforts to keep their tracks in shape The water washed away the sand bags as fast as they sink them so It Is simply a waste of funds to continue the work As soon as the water goes down so that the tracks can be reached hundreds of men will be placed at work repairing the damage AIDING THE SUFFERERS For the convenience of the public and flood sufferers the public buildings remained re-mained open all day All grocery stores I meat shops and dry goods stores also kept open to furnish supplies The physicians phy-sicians at I meeting this afternoon advised ad-vised the authorities to establish a camp I on high ground near the city for the flood sufferers MEASLES AND DIPHTHERIA North Topeka had an epidemic of measles when the town was stricken Several cases of diphtheria were also well developed there Many of the afflicted af-flicted have been rescued and great precautions pre-cautions must be taken against the spread of the disease PROVISIONS FROM OTHER CITIES Wichita and other cities on the south which can be reached will be called on for provisions tomorrow Already there Is a scarcity of meat and vegetables and staple groceries are getting low PROFFERS OF AID Messages from Kansas towns authorize author-ize the commission here to draw upon individuals for stated sums andas soon as the malls arrive a great number of contributions from outside towns are expected ex-pected to materialize NO CALLS FOR HELP Topeka Is doing nobly for her sufferers suffer-ers The wealthiest city of Kansas Is proud to acknowledge that no calls on outside help need tq be made I will be necessary to raise a great fund for relief work Weeks must elapse before order can be restored from the present chaos Hundreds of houses will have to be rebuilt entirely BOATS ARRIVE Boats from Emporia Ottawa Kansas City and Sl Joseph are all doing good service They are hauled two miles above town filled with provisions and manned with good oarsmen Then they are run across to the stricken section sec-tion The supplies are distributed among the sufferers In the building and people are picked out of the trees and given shelter In some house When the boats get so far down that they cannot be pulled up stream sufferers arc picked up and brought to this side of tho river a mile or so below town Then the boats are hauled to tQwn and again sent on a similar trip COW FURNISHES FOOD A cow swam to the Melan ridge today to-day and is now making Its home there Tonight 0 oman with a little baby was brought to the bridge by rescuers Both were almost starved A rescuer got a bucket and milked the cow and gave the milk to the woman and baby Buildings in the submerged district continue to collapse I Is I said thattwo or three big store buildings on North Kansas avenue which escaped the fire last night are now crumbling HELD RELIGIOUS SERVICES Notwithstanding their precarious condition many of the sufferers held religious services today In the buildings where they were cooped Tonight fifty or more of the flpod sufferers are living in passenger coaches on the Rock island Is-land tracks Water surrounds the cars but there Is no danger At 1 P m the lumber yard In North Topeka was again burning WOMEN AND BABY DROWN Two women and a baby were drowned tonight by the capsizing of a boat All the people yet remaining in North Topeka in places of refuge have a supply sup-ply of food sufficient to last ro three days with the possible exception of the people In the woolen mills Thousands of dead horses cattle and tirnaller animals are floating down the stream tonight LIFESAVER DROWNED One man who worked with the lifesavers life-savers all night waR R F Hayden tho Probate Judge of Shawnee county Early this morning he entered his boat to return to the north side The strong current mastered him and he was swept down the river He has not been soon since RIVER NOW FALLING The Associated Press has reports from Manhattan Abilene and other points to the effect that the water is falling slowly There Is no probability that the river In Topeka will go any higher DECLINE PROFFER OF AID To all offers of aid from oUt lde of the county the Commercial club Is sending tho following reply Situation Is very grave and It IB impossible at this time to estimate tho loss of life or property We thank you sincerely for your offer of assistance but we arc riot willing to accept aid from the outside unless It seems to bean be-an absolute necessity The city and county and our own citizens will provide pro-vide for tho present ncedsJohn E Frost President Coinmerclal club LOSS OF LIFE Notwithstanding the reports of great loss of life very few of the stories could bo substantiated tonight and It will be several days at least before there is any accurate In formation In this regard William Holalcy 25 yearn old Is known 10 have been drowned near his home In the east bottoms this afternoon In company with his wife he started to leave his home and both were borne down Mrs Holsler managed man-aged to grasp a bit of floating sidewalk and clung to I until help arrived Her husband was unable to fight against the current and was drowned CALL FOR HELP Edward Blanchard city plumbing Inspector In-spector Is authority for the statement that three men were caught In the frelghthouse of the Union Pacific railway rail-way He declared that he saw them late in the afternoon waving their hands and beckojilng for help I was Impossible for anybody to reach them however and they are Htlll Imprisoned I is l estimated that 2CO people were rescued from buildings In the west bottoms bot-toms during the day SAW PEOPLE DROWN Among those who are said to have seen people drowned was Sergt Cough lln who Is stationed on the Twelfth street viaduct From his station he saw some distance away a woman and three children afloat on the roof of a small cottage Suddenly the wreckage gave 0 lurch and he saw the occupants of the roof no more A boat containing later the same five men capsized near sme place but whether the occupants perished per-ished or not is not known |