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Show ' -525,00 3,a30DAI5AGE FROM FLOOD IN" - ' KANSAS VGITY-r SITUATION IS IMPROVED - -Fiords Subsiding at Kan-: Kan-: sas and Iowa Points; , Waste of Waters SIow- - ly Moving Southward. k 1 1 J" , BULLETIN". TOPEKA, Kan., June 2. The Commercial Com-mercial club at noon today voted to keIt. for outside aid for the flood suf - fcrers. Yesterday the club voted that ::o outside aid would be accepted, but tho distress of the people Is so gTeat - that the community cannot provide for all, so the charity of the country "is appealed to. j IJANSAS CITT, Mo... June 2. There 1 decided improvement In the flood sit- ..tion this morning, and there is a gen- -, il feeling that Kansas City has seen t!:5 worst of the storm. The danger of a famine has passed, and the railroads are confident that they will be able to rt; tag in ample supplies froni this time 01. There is a greater scarcity of food in Kansas City. Kan., but with the w i-.ening of the electric line from Leaven-worth, Leaven-worth, it is thought that there will be r.o distress of an acute description. Superintendent Goodwin of the Waterworks Wa-terworks department announced this morning that the water supply would be estored by nightfall. -Tirst Mails. From "West. . , The first mails from the West have ( ome In, one late last night and another from Wichita this morning. Nothing lias come' yet from the flooded district r.round Topeka and Lawrence, and It is ivot likely that any will arrive for sev-' sev-' ral days after the' water subsides. About two carloads of secorid, third and fourth-class matter have been lost in the freight yards. The water is now about five feet above the bottoms of the mall cars and running strongly. It may be possible to dry out many letters after , . 'ts recovery, but present Superintendent " Taft of the railway mail service classes that mail among the lost articles. $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 Loss. The financial damage is estimated by . prominent business men at anywhere ... between JIO.000,000 and $25,000,000 in this city alone, but there is no method of determining de-termining this with any accuracy. A mild type of martial law was in force last night. Soldiers were stationed . -all over the business part of the city, and while no attempt was made to keep people off the streets anybody walking abroad after midnight was compelled to give an account of himself. f VICTIMS OF FLOOD -. ARE FIRING GUNS TO SUMMON HELP ' - Z KEOKUK, la., June 2. The Egyp- Z tian levee below here is broken in twen- " ty different places and the water is running through the streets of Alexan- drla. Territory ten by twenty miles in the Clark county (Mo.) bottoms Is sub- merged. Inhabitants are on the roofs of the houses firing guns for help. A Government boat and men have been sent to the scene from here. No life loss has been reported. , MATERIALLY BETTER : IS FLOOD SITUATION; E TOPEKA NEEDS AID , " TOPEKA, Kan., June 2. The flood - situation here today is materially better. bet-ter. The Kansas river fell during the night at the rate of an inch an hour. The standard gauge measurement this morning showed a 27-inch fall from the highest point on Sunday. It- is safe to say that all those marooned in trees is slowly falling. At Wamego the same condition prevails, and It is now reasonably certain that the waters here will steadily recede. At this time there ari thirty-four known dead. One of the most distressing features of the situation now is the possibilty that there will be a spread of canta-glous canta-glous diseases. People of all classes are huddled together in houses not large enough for them, and on all sides they are surrounded by water. Doctors and medical relief cannot reach the sufferers suffer-ers to any great extent. Monday afternoon after-noon a case of dlph'.herla was reported from the woolen mill In North Topeka, where the are many children in addition addi-tion to the adults. It Is easy to see what may result from this. There is also a case or two of scarlet fever among the refugees on the north side. Hundreds of cases of measles are prevalent among the children, and ort account of the exposed condition of the patients the disease will result fatally in many cases. The possibility of an epidemic is the most serious thing the city must contend con-tend with. The physicians of the city, under the direction of the City Board of Health, are making heroic efforts to check the threatened calamity. In this work they are being well aided by the health boards of the State and county. An emergency board of health has been appointed by the Mayor to co-operate with the city physician. Provisions of all sorts are becoming scarce in Topeka. No freight trains have entered the city for several days, and as large quantities of groceries were destroyed in North Topeka, there will not be enough for the people to eat if this situation continues much longer. and flooded houses have now been removed re-moved to places of safety. The previous pre-vious estimate of twenty dead is still adhered to. Money is the thing most needed now, and citizens are contributing nobly. But the demands of the situation are great. Offers of aid from outside cities are pouring in, but the Governor and Commercial Com-mercial club have so far refused all such. GOVERNOR TO PROVIDE MEANS OF RELIEF FOR . IOWA FLOOD SUFFERERS. DES x MOINES, la., June 2. It has practically been determined that there will be no extra session of the Legislature. Legisla-ture. Gov. Cummins is confident that he can supply the needs of the flood sufferers and tornado victims in an irregular ir-regular manner by borrowing money, the next session to approve of his course. The flood in Des Moines is still disheartening, dis-heartening, but the water is falling rapidly. Train service here on the main lines is once more nearly normal. LIGHT, POWER AND WATER PLANTS SHUT OFF AT KANSAS CITY KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 2. With gas and electric lights extinguished, the water-works shut down and the city practically at the mercy of the first fire that shall break out; with railroad transportation feeble and uncertain, Kansas City may. If the waters do not recede within the next two or three days, be compelled to fight for her very life. The first authentic Information from Kansas City, Kan., was received tonight. to-night. In that district 20,000 people are, homeless. A number, which cannot be estimated, have been drowned, and the property loss has been heavy. The situation situ-ation there is a parallel to the situation here, apparently no better and no worse. There Is no great probability that" there will be further loss of life If the river does not rise very suddenly. It is likely like-ly that the number of fatalities in the city will approximate 50. The- newspapers have been compelled to discontinue the use of their typesetting type-setting machines and because of lack of power are "sticking" type in the old way. In the hotels, all of which are crowded to their utmost capacity, , the most elaborate care is taken to prevent the waste of water. Never in the history of the West has there been a greater prostration of railway rail-way traffic than at the present time. west, southwest and north of Kansas City. The approaches to the bridge of the Chicago. Milwaukee & St. Paul at Sheffield, ten miles east of Kansas City, went down this morning, although the bridge proper is intact and is high enough to stand any possible stage of water. The fall of the approaches to this bridge leaves the Santa Fe bridge at Sibley, twenty miles from here, the only structure of the kind standing. Many people are yet imprisoned by the waters in the west bottoms. From the west bluff, between Thirteenth and Seventeenth streets, this morning could be seen white sheets waving up and down from the roofs of several buildings build-ings away out across the water. Shouts for help came across the waters to thousands of people who lined the bluffs. There is no chance to rescue them at present. Numerous attempts were made to rescue people in the east bottoms, and while several of them were successful, success-ful, a number failed. Eleven women and children were taken from roofs in this section. The relief promised by the War Department De-partment at Washington last night is being offered today. Col. Charles W. Miner, commanding at Fort Leavenworth, Leaven-worth, received orders from the department depart-ment last night to aid the sufferers by the flood in every way. Electric cars were at once loaded with blankets and provisions and sent to Kansas City, Kan. The food supply is rapidly becoming a question of vital importance. There is but onfe wholesale grocery store In the city that is not under water. The employees of this establishment were almost swept from their feet today by the rush of buyers. Merchants consider the food situation alarming. Their supply sup-ply is limited to two or three days in everything except canned goods. FEAR OF EPIDEMIC FOLLOWING THE FLOOD . IN NORTH TOPEKA TOPEKA, Kan.', June 2. At 6 o'clock last night the water in the Kansas river had gone down fourteen inches and was falling at the rate of half an Inch an hour. From Manhattan up the river comes' the' report that' the : water there |