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Show , iE DRIVEN FROM HOMESJf FLOOD RAGING TORRENTS LEAP LEVEES AND BRING DISASTER TO MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. ' i . Congress Responds to President's An peal and Appropriates $350,000 to Be Used In Building Dikes and Strengthening Levees. i ' ' Washington. President Taft ent message to congress on Tuesday, asking that $500,001) be appropriated , tor strengthening levees and liuildin ; new dikes In the flood districts ahm? the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohlt rivers it nd within fifteen minutes afiet it was read in the house that bod) passed a bill making $:i50.ono availablt or tho purpose. The bill was rushed over to tlx semite, where it was also passed an' was sent to the president for his tig nut u re. The president sent his message ol appeal to conkhss after Senators Fos ter and Thornton and virtually the en lire Louisiana delegation in the hous had called upon hirn and pictured th destruction being worked by th floods. The greatett wilume of water In I hi history of the Mississippi iw strainln; at the 200 miles of levees that have leen broken in several places and hai Hooded large areas. Ilreaks at Hickman, Ky.. opposite on the Missouri side, and at Mcmphli have mude thousands homeiess and llone untold damage. .Sufficient warning warn-ing had been given, however, and tc date only two lives have been reported lost. Two thousand persons marooned at Hickman are suffering from hunger, hun-ger, while trains with food supplies cannot by run Into the city. From Cairo, 111., to Helena, Ark., persons living near the river are abandoning their homes and moving their effects and livestock to high ground. Further breaks in the Kentucky Ken-tucky and Tennessee levees are ex pected, and it Is feared the water will force its way through those of Arkansas Arkan-sas and Mississippi. As far south as New Orleans precautionary pre-cautionary work Is being done, tiov-ernor tiov-ernor Sanders of Ixniisiana Issued pe-cinl pe-cinl Instructions to all state levee board members to press every available avail-able workman Into Immediate service in strengthening the levees of that mate. Thousands of men una reams tire working along ttie stream and pe ciul trains are carrying supplies. Traffic on the Mississippi is paralyzed, par-alyzed, Government steamers and ferry boats are the only raft In oper-at oper-at ion. |
