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Show ft t lUIDIOS PERISH III OHIO FLOODS; DAYTON SCENE Of TERRIBLE DISASTER People Driven from Their Homes by Rush of Waters, , Many Being Drowned in Streets. I came mothers In the halls of Its office of-fice building Tuesday night Thu worst of tho flooded district Include all of north and west Dayton, all of the downtown sections, the south sldu as far as Oakland and all of the residenco s.iburb of Olendale. The district has a normal population of more than o0,0U0. Rescuers and those at the hospitals hos-pitals said an estimate of 6,000 dead might bo aa accurate as an estimate of 100. A fire which started from an explo-siou explo-siou In the Meyers Ice Cream company, com-pany, near Wyoming street spread and burned tho block on South Pars about a block from Wyoming. Another An-other big fire burned a downtown block. The Dayton News was under twenty twen-ty feet of water. The flood rose to the second floor of the Algonquin hotel ho-tel and all along Main street occupants occu-pants were driven to the third floors. What huppened to them since no one on the outside can tell. Houso looting began Tuesday night and wbllo the local mllltla are on duty they are wholly Incapable of handling the situation. Incidents without number are narrated nar-rated of persons In tho flooded district dis-trict waved handkerchiefs dud other-wine other-wine signaled for aid, belnj swept away before the eyes of the watchers on the edge of the wate.s. Many of the rescue boats wre swept by the current cur-rent agp'nst what had been Are plugs, trees and hours. They we 3 crushed. How many iied In this way no one knows Canoea ant rowboats shared ibe same rati. What life exist In the district Wiat the wrter covers Is In constant Conger and helpless until the flood subsides. rtj-t:r.. Cilo JUir lreds. and II la I tiieved thouHauUs, are dead as the tctiult of a flood which swept through tins city when the Miami river levee hurst Tuesduy. That th death list will be an sp-pa sp-pa 11 Im; one Is apparent, although uo one U prepared to state the number at piewut. Some estimate place the lint or dead as high as 0,000. At least 40,000 are homeless. Uodles may be seen floating down Mala atreet. whero for hours the water was from ton tJ thirty feet deep. A school bulldliig that was known to bave held ahout "0 children uhurt-ly uhurt-ly before the flood rushed In that dl-rvetion, dl-rvetion, is entirely under water, nml It Is believed that all of tho little ones have been drowned. St. Kllxabeth s hospital Is reported to bave been washed from Its foundations founda-tions and the 600 Inmates are said to have pcrlthed In the flaod waters The electric light plant was completely com-pletely disabled early lu the day. and the city was In total darkness, except ex-cept for the lurid lights o. tho conflagrations con-flagrations 1 1 various parts of the flooded district. All groceries and bakeries In the city ate In the submerged district, and It Is thought that a severe famine will result, owing to the Impossibility of getting food to many who are marooned In and on buildings surrounded sur-rounded by swirling, angry waters. The washing down of bridges and subsequent collection of debris acted as a dam in the river, later causing the levee to break and sending the water through the main streets of the city and Into the southern part of town. Governor Cox, with the sanction of the state legislature, has sent an appeal ap-peal to the world for help. The state legislature will appropriate 230,000 for the Immediate relief of flood sufferers. suf-ferers. The wood working department of the National Cash Register company has been turned Into a boat manufactory. manufac-tory. Ten boats an hour are being made. Any attempt to estimate tbe lossot life is hopeless. It is sure to run into the hundreds and very likely Into the thousands. Tbe property loss will total millions of dollars. Tbe flooded district comprises a practical circle with a radius of a mile and a balf and in no place Is the water less than six feet deep. In Main street, in the downtown section, the water is twenty feet deep. Tbe horror was heightened by more than a dozen fires, which could be seen In tbe flooded district, but out of reach of fire fighters. Most of the business bouses have occupants. Do n town the offices are filled with men unable to gt-t borne, and on the upper floors and on some of the roofs of the residences are helpless women and children. Hundreds Hun-dreds of houses, substantial buildings In tbe residence district, many of i them with helpless occupants, have been washed away or bave collapseo Tbe breaking of tbe Earlton rorr-voir, rorr-voir, which supplies the drinking' water, left the city without water and iby.ilcians declared there Is great danger of typhoid in tbe use of i tbe flood w ater. There are no boats In Dayton which can resist tbe current and those on the outside gave up attempts to reach the business section. How many bouses have been swept away and bow many occupants were carried to their deaths cannot be learned until tho waters recede. At Wyoming street on the South side, where tbe National Cash Register Regis-ter company centered Its efforts at rescue, many saved their lives by crawling on a telephone cable, a hundred hun-dred feet above tbe flood. At first linemen crept along the cables carrmg tow ropes to which tbe flat bottomed boats were st-i tached. When tbe flood became so! fierce that the boats no longer were; able to make way against It, men and women crept along the cables to safety. Others, less daring, saw darkness fall and gave sp hope o.' rescue. Those willing to risk their lives in tbe attempt to rescue, found tbem selves helpless In fare tf tbe water Seventy thousand of Dayton's population. pop-ulation. It Is reported, are hvineles. The National Cash Register plant on a high bill, offers the only haven In tbe south end. Three women be- |
