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Show -MTE:lMGiGMlMS Communication Is Cut Off ' and Results Can Only Be Surmised; SL Louis I Flood Highest Known j Since 1844. BULLETIN. BT. LOUIS, Mo., June 8. All the .whistles in Hadison were blown early today to arouse citizens for rescue work, as soon as the ' fact became known that a colony of persons, al-' al-' leged to number 150, were at the mercy of the flood. J. B. Elder, superintendent su-perintendent of the American Car & Toundry Works, said at 3 o'clock that ho personally saw nine men plunge into the water and drown. Just where these men are situated cannot be definitely learned, as reports re-ports received in St. Louis vary. Some reports say they are imprisoned on a crumbling levee, and others are tnat they are imprisoned in a tottering building at the car works, whence they had fled from the breaking levee. I : I BULLETIN. ' ; ST. LOTUS, June 8. The entire group of east side cities lying Just north of East St. Louis, and including Venice, , Madison, West Hadison, Newport, Brooklyn and Granite City, are under from 10 to 18 feet of water,' which till rising? and deaths from drowning are variously estimated at from five to twenty. Eight thousand persons were driven from ' their . homes. Very little confirmation of the reports of drownings can be had, as these "places are" sll cut off from . railroad service and telephone communication com-munication is uncertain at best. Tha weather bureau promises relief after the river shall have' risen to about - 33 feet.- 'it is now within ' a few . inches of that mark, but rising very slowly. ,,..-. ' ST. LOUIS, June 8. According to the local weather bureau, relief seems In sight for the flooded districts In the vicinity of St. Louis. This morning the stage recorded by the Government gauge Is 37.5 feet, a rise during the past twenty-four hours of 1.3 feet. This breaks all records but that of 1844. It Is expected that the river will rise from now on until tomorrow night and that the predicted S8 feet. If at all. will be barely attained. Then after remaining re-maining stationary for a . short time, the Government officials say the water will begin falling Tuesday evening or "Wednesday morning. Unofficial reports re-ports from St. Charles, on the Missouri river, to the north of St. Louis, are to the effect that the river is rising very little, if any. Communication Cut Off. Inability to secure communication Jlth Madison and Granite City. 111., Mnr a few . miles north of St. Louis, "T.i'here a number of persons were late . last night reported In danger of losing their lives from the encroaching flood, caused great anxiety here. At Madison, Madi-son, nine persons are reported drowned and others either on a crumbling levee 'or In unsafe buildings are in' peril. Nothing different than that can be learned, however. ' Lives Lost in a Hotel. From Ferdinand Cole, president of the levee commissioners, living at Venice, comes a report of lives lost through the collapse of a brick hotel at North Venice or Newport. Communication Communi-cation between Granite City and Venice Ve-nice Is impossible. Two men are said to have braved the flood by swimming from Venice to Madison, being forced by the water from the roof of the house they were living in. Six feet of water Is reported sweeping sweep-ing through the offices of Hedges' hotel. ho-tel. Madlson,'wlth guests imprisoned In the tipper stories. . Breaks in the Levees. Residents of Granite City are In great peril from several breaks In the levees protecting that manufacturing town. Persons living about the manufacturing , plants in which they are employed are ' reported fleeing .from the fioxxi that comes from the north, and a fresh break in the abutment to the west. The conditions in Bast St. Louis continue con-tinue the same as last night, when a squad of twenty police were sent over from here at the request of Chief f Police Purdy to assist In guarding lives and property. All the available men that could be spared were sent overtodajr. ' Xighteen in Peril on Island. John Buehrar, who lives on Chouteau island, twelve miles north of St. Louis, reports ' that eighteen persons on the Island cannot get away. He wanted assistance, but , was unable to secure aid, as all the boats are at present busy and cannot reach the island. , At 3 o'clock Monday morning the com-fcined com-fcined forces of the Missouri river and , . ' ICor.Unued on page 14 ! 1 j t Marooned on Levee. - - (Continued from page 1.) Cahokla creek broke the barriers at the relay depot. East St Louis, The relay depot was surrounded with water, but the embankment of clay and sandbags made by the workers Sunday, saved the city from the rush of water. Trains continued con-tinued to pass on the tracks around the depot, but at 8:45 the eastbound Southern South-ern train was stopped on the bridge incline. in-cline. The water had risen so high that the engine could not pass through without with-out "dying." East St. Louis city authorities expect to make their embankments hold until tonight, hoping that by that time the crest of the flood will have passed. In order to do so, the different plants of East St. Louis have sent their men to work for the city. Elliott's frog shops have been converted into a commissary. Bast St. Louis women, under the direction direc-tion of Dr. J. L. Wiggins, have worked in the commissary night and day. giving food to the workers on the levee. New Source of Danger. Guards are on duty at the canal bridge on the Illinois Central tracks St Center-ville Center-ville station, seven miles southeast of town. Back water from the river has flooded farms to the southeast and the farmers in that section of the country threaten to cut the timbers blocking the water. Should this be done the waters would back up Pittsburg lake, which at present reaches up to the city limits of East St. Louis, and gain another point of attack on the city. Train Service Paralyzed. With all the east side terminal points between Alton and St. Louis In the embrace em-brace of the flood and the Merchants' and Eads' bridges accessible only to a few lines. St. Louis passenger and freight traffic, both Incoming and outbound, out-bound, is temporarily paralyzed. No attempt has been made to transport trans-port freight between this city and East St. Louis, and relief from this critical situation is not expected within the next twenty-four hours. It is estimated esti-mated that the flood disaster has already al-ready cost the railroads 12,000,000. Marooned in St. Louis. All incoming Eastern passenger trains are marooned in St. Louis. The Vandalia was the only line which started a train to the East today, but this was two hours late leaving the Union station, and there is no assurance assur-ance that it will make anything like schedule time, even if it succeeds in getting through East St. Louis. The Wabash, the Burlington, the Big Four, the Louisville & Nashville, the Chicago . Alton and the Toledo, St. Louis and Kznsas City are suffering heavily. All trains on the Clover JUeaf have been annulled. The Big Four and Chicago & Alton are carrying passengers pas-sengers to Alton by boat, where connection con-nection is made for northern and eastern east-ern points. No Trains to Cairo. No trains can be operated between St. Louis and Cairo. The Illinois Central Cen-tral was the only Chicago train to make St. Louis today. It arrived at the Union station three hours late. The Southern railway held its own pretty well until Sunday nlgh.t, when it encountered difficulties at East St. Louis, where a number of its cars are now tied up. The Western roads are experiencing similar hardships. The Wabash, Chicago & Alton and Burlington Burling-ton have practically ceased operations between here and Kansas City. The Missouri Pacific and the 'Frisco are the only lines actively operating betvreen the two cities. The Missouri Pacific is handling westbound business for its crippled competitors. Freight tonnage has been reduced to a mini-mam mini-mam and only the most imperative shipments can be made. |