A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10751, 12 May 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TERRIBLE DISASTER.

A GREAT DAM COLLAPSES. AMERICAN TOWN FLOODED, AWFUL LOSS OP LIFE. Looisvilee, April 3. At sir- o'clock this evening the levee at SJiawneetovm, 111., broke a mile above the town, and, from - all the information that can be obtained here, it is learned that a great part of the place has been destroyed, and perhaps a large number of citizens have been drowned. Sbawneetown -is 25 miles from Evansville, on the Ohio River. It is situated in a valley of extremely low land, with hills skirting it in the rear, and with a 25-foot levee-running from bill to hill. The town is very much in the position of a fortified city, and when the levee gave way a mile above town, under the pressure of the very high rivet, the water shot through a 20ft opening, and struck the place like a hurricane, sweeping everything before it. Houses were turned and tossed about like boxes.

The people were not warned of the break, and for that reason many were caught. Those at) home sought refuge in second storeys and on housetops. Those in the streets were carried before the avalanche of water, and probably a majority were drowned.

Citizens came from the place ,by skiff's to a telephone several miles away, and asked for aid from Evanaville. They said that more than 200 peoplo were drowned, and they had reason to believe it would reach 500 or more,.oven 1000. The water stands from 20ft) to 30ft deep all over tho town.

There are, -of coarse, no fires or lights in the"place, and total darkness envelops the desolate city. Consequently, it is impossible to <?eb anything like definite information. The men immediately left the telephone, and no farther communication has 'been had. No telegraph or telephone wires are working, and outside communication appears impossible. At ten o'clock two steamboats and a couple of tugs started for Shawneefcown, under full head of steam, and it is expected some of them will arrive there by two a.m. They carry large supplies of food and blankets, quickly collected by the city officials. Shawneetown has a population of about 3000 inhabitants, and is situated on the north bank of the Ohio River. The streets are parallel with the river, the principal business street being but twoblocksdistant from the water. The level of the river is about 15ft) above the city, and the levee bank is about 20ft thick.

Situated on this bank, and level with the river, is Riverside Hotel, a large four-storey building, built by Henry l)ocher. The hotel is generally occupied fully all the year round, being not only a transient hostelry, but families'also reside there. It is feared the hotel has been washed away. When the river is at its normal stage it is lOOOtbwideat this point, and ' the citizens have long feared a catastrophe such as occurred to-day, as a tremendous pressure is brought to bear on the levee during freshets. Several years ago during a flood the water flowed over, the levee, and the streets were 2ft under water. The levee was strengthened and built up afterward, and the town has since been considered in no danger, v- ■

—A showman in Paris has been lately making a good thing by exhibiting a curious animal in tho cafes chantant and such places. It was a very queer little animal, and the alert Parisians were willing to drop tho petit sou for a night of it. Still, look as they would, none could determine the creature's species. It was interesting, but it was baffling, and the exhibitor coined money. One day, however, a dog chanced to follow a curious beholder into the cafe chantant. Immediately the wondrous animal humped its back like a diminutive camel, and began to hiss and spit 1 The mystery was solved! It was a shaved cat! ' /. At one of the Canadian farmers' institutes a lecturer lately gave the following ten reasons ■why farmers should keep sheepl. They are profitable. 2. They weaken the soil least and strengthen it most. 3. They are enemies of weeds, r*. The .care they need is required when other farm operations are slack. 5. The amount of investment need not be large, f 6. The returns are quick and many. • 7. They are the quietest and easiest handled of all farm stock. •; 3. Oflier farm products are made more largely from cash grains, while those from the sheep are made principally from pasture. ", 9. There is no other product of the farm that has'fluctuated so slightly in value as mutton. 10. By comparison wool costs nothing,' for do not the horse and cow in shedding their coata ■waste what the sheep saves? In conclusion let me repeat—Sheep pay. Teas will come, and Teas mil go, But there's only one that continues to flowArthur Nathan s " Reliable," that all should know. ;