Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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RED CROSS SEES 750,000 NOW ROUTED AND HOMELESS BY FLOOD DAMAGE ALREADY DONE IN OHIO. VALLEY ALONE PUT AT $300,<H)0,00p •} Deaths Mount To 132, With Kentucky Leading With 53; Losses • 'In Cincinnati Put As High As $15,000,000. “Worst Emergency Since World War.” Many Towns Paralyzed or Wiped Out, . With Rural Acres Devastated. Facts about the Ohio and Missis-jpbis was prepared to care for 50,000t eippi river valley flood: Irefujf^s. Homeless; Approximately 600,000. Estimated at 750,000 by Red Cross, Major General' E. M. Markham, chief of army^ enjrineers, said in Dead: Kentucky 53; Arkansas 18, Washinjfton, however, flood waters Missouri 14, Ohio 13, West Virpnia morinjr southward probably would be j iO, Tennessee 9, Illinois 3, Pennsyl vania 3, Indiana 7, Mississippi 1, South Carolina 1. Total 132. Damage: Estimated at more than $300,000,000—including losses of many millions at Louisville, $4,000,000 at Frankfort, Ky., *$10,000,000 to $15,- 000,000 at Cincinnati, and $1,000,000 “below the leve^ grades between the Arkansas and—Red..rivers. 1 Wholesale evacuations of beleagur- ed towns in Tennosse^ western Ken- tuck, southeastern Missouri, Arkan sas and Mississippi burdened refugee ' centers while the mighty father of waters feft' out the slie%th ,of its^J confining dikes. Pittsburgh Relief: Federal, state and^^r^vatej Martial law was declared in the agencies joined in evacuating the r^- Arkansas flood zone when gov- looned and sheltering refugees. Se- emment engineers advised* Tuesday rums, food clothing, bedding, fuel and main Mississippi river levee j drinking water rushed t& stricken cit- Melwood, 20 miles south of Hel-j ies by plane, boat and rail. The Red Cross estimated its needs at $10,000,- 000. The house at Wasliirvgton sj^di- ^ crest of ,55 feet was predicte<l for ly approv^ a $790,000,000 deficiency appropriation bill to make funds available for the flood sufferers. President Roosevelt allotted $900,000 of emergency conservation funds to the relief of refugees. f Mississippi Levees Strengthened Ai great, quiet fight to strengthen the already strained levees of the Mississippi — gravely threatened by the history-making flood on the Ohio river—was being waged as the out look in the hard-hit Ohio valley brightened.' Although the floods—reaching'from the upper Ohio to the deep south— had taken more than^lSO lives; made an estimated 750,000 homeless; caus ed property damage placed at more than ^00,000,000. It was said Adimiral Cary T. Grtiy- Bon, iMtional chairman of the Rad Croaa, “the greatest emergency the nation and the Red Croaa have faced since the World war.” .Along the ll$ississippi, where a dis trict engineer for the U. S. army at Memplus had pre(Mcted the worst flood of all time, men were ordered to build a solid sandbeg-backed wall of planks stretching $00 miles or more from New Madrid, Mo., down to Lou isiana. M the New Orleans tip of the great riv^ W. F. McDonald of the U. S. ena, Ark., “might go out within 24 to 36 hours.” Memphis—nearly 9 feet above the 1913 record—within 10 days or two' weeks, before the water now in sight from the Ohio moves out. Urgent Red Cross Appeal To The People Of Clinton ' For Stricken Flood Sufferers More than 750,000-men, womert and children have been driven from th^ir homes as a result of the greatest flood disaster our^country has^ever know^. Thousands along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and especially in the cities of Louisville, K^;., and Cincinnati, Ohio, and many other cities, towns and communities are in immediate and dire need of help in this emergency. , , iThe American National I^d Cross has issued a call for funds to be used/ior relief’ll these flood sufferers. Presi- 'dent Eranklin D. Roosevelt, as head of the Red Cross, has appealed to the people to respond to this appeal. The need is most urgent. The people of Clinton are already resix)nding liberally and voluntarily to this calf. A great many, howler, who wish to give have no information as to where to leave their contributions. For the convenience of the public the following places have been designated to receive contribu tions to the Red Cross for flood relief: Bailey*^ Bank, Com mercial Pepositorv, Sadler-Owens Pharmacy, The Chroni- cl? OflTce, Ffafh^r-Bimpsiyh Eurhituf^^^^ Store, (L A. Cope land & Son, office of Robert S. Owens, Clinton Mills Office, C. N. Mauney at Lydia Mill Store, and Lydia Mill Office. ^ All funds received will be forwarded promptly as they come in by W. H. Simpson, Treasurer, through the Red Cross for relief of flood sufferers. Call Robert S. Ow^ns, Chairman, or W. H. Simpson, Treasurer, for any further informatipC' ROBERT S. OWENS, Chairman, Clintoi^ Branch, American Red Cross. A IT P«rW> Wh« iseCurtty bill UP IN SENATE Says Wheel* Collapse!.. .-r— 1 Tragedy In Ever-r*®^“’’® Advanced To Second Driver 1 Caused- Tragedy glades. Thirteen Escape. Miami,' Fla., Jan. 25. — An express, buaf plun.ge«1 from the Tamiami trail today carrying 17 of its 30 passen gers, many of them Northern tourists, to death by drowning in the Ever glades. The big vehicle overturned and Readings With^ Only One Op posing. Vote. Debate Grows Warm On Bill Limiting Gov ernor's Term. Columbia, Jan. 26.—The general as sembly took another step toward so lution of the knotty itocial security problem today with the adoption on second reading in the senate of a bill rolled into a 12-foot deep canal which to ratify the- security amendment to parallels the lonely highway across the state constitution A.1 J xu- Tx r the southern end of the pebinsula. Itl The senate appirovod the measure was the worst tragedy m the trans- q<v ^ u * i- i.- t , , A ‘ ™ ;32^ to 1 after mombeivs servtxl notice , portation history of the state. ' „„„ t , , .l- i , I ,, .. igeneml amendments on third read- nesules the thirteen . — Regular army troops moved in-tolnnW|^ TVOI?^ KiPX/pD WAMT 14AQTPF LouLsville and martial law was de-l 1 Tf V-^ I I 1 EO llE-VEilV ffI creed for other spots in the flood I area as every federal agency—moved j by President Roosevelt’s command to! IN STATE GENERAL ASSEMBLY “step on it’’-^tumed its energies to One Conscientiously Believes Much Time Should Be Necessary. 1 weather bureau said the oncoming waters were expected to send the Mississippi at that city to 21 feet— four feet above flood stage—or as high as in the great flood of 1927. f And this estimate, he said, was bas ed on “normal rainMUs hereafter and levee Hnes maintained intact." A 55-foot stage for Memphis, some 10 feet above the 1927 high, had been pre^cted by engineers. Between Cai ro, ni., and Memphis the levees rsnge BB height from'five to 10 feet above the 1927 flood stages. Other official forecasts were for a 57-foot crest at Natches, Miss., 11 - feet above flood stage, and for 45.5 at Baton Rouge, La., where flood stage is 35 feet LouisviHe, vritere Ohio river flood water covered 30 square miles, was without lights or transportation and faced a water ^kortage. Oinciniwti was a vasli lake, except for its seven hills, its power curtailed and its in dustry pazalysed. BfaiisviHer‘>4«d., and PoxlsmoiiUit. OhaOb were being evacuated. Traim kind busies moved northward through ^ aoutbern iFhidtana with refugees. Iir some sections of Paducah, Ky., water stood six feet deep. ^ There came reassurance, however: At Cincinnati, Meterologiat W. C. Devereaux expressed hope that the flood crest had passed and that with favorable conditions a steady faH aid the stricken. A territory 1,600 miles along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, through 11 states, fac^ disease and untold suffering bef^'supplies and relief crews could marshal their forces ef ficiently—with an unknown prospect in store should the Mississippi’s un tested, levee system prove unequal to the task of carrying off the piled up waters. A wsaVened levee at Slough Bend, five miles qprth qf Tiptonville, Tsnn., threatened. acxM of Lake coun ty, Tenn. AH of R will be floodedlf the levees break. Engineers also expressed fesr for the main leveSs at New Madrid, Mo., Hickman, Ky., and a point above Charleston, Mo., as. waters pouring through the blasted phig levee in an effort to take pressure from Cairo, HI., climbed, to a 60 foot set-ba(^ le vee. ■ • . At Ciaro fnmtic efforts were being made to build up the 60-foot river wall with eandbag bulkheads. The Ohio river dropped two tenths of a foot to 58.46 at Cairo, apparently aa.^ the direct result of blasting the plug levee. A new rise was expected, however, which may send the river to a 61 foot crest, 21 feet above flood stage Thursday. All along Missippi, where flood memory is long, men experienced at their tasks fought to establish flood controls in this, one of the richest farming areas in America. An army engineer at Memphis, Lt. Col. Eugene Reybold, had predicted Other Enjoys Vacation and “Importance. Highway Issue Up Again'. ♦♦ 1 .u .1 • ing. Tho sole,opposition vote was cast «ho ..scapcI.lhe dnvoTaml a Negro ^ McCormick county jwi-ter wore saved. Senator. The passengers were trapped in, ’ their seats as tho bus sank in thei, house consumed its day with-a stream,whore Seminoles pole their argument ^over the futile ef- dugouts^amL.hiiiit for aUigators. OnlyP®^.^^ ® determinod group to push a corner of the roof remainwl^above' joint resolution to reduce the water. th e .state’s^fubematorial term to two The driver, Bill Hammond, 23, Tampa, who escape<l with slight cuts,: Members favored the measure by a said he thought the .steering gear of 57 to 55, but it was defeated broke. jby the absence of the two-thirds Vote /“I was driving at a moiierate rale ^^ary for approval of a bill sub- of speed when something happened," I'fitting constitutional amendments to he recounte<l at a hospital. “Either ^ referendum. v y the steering gear broke or the right! Representative Leppanl, of Chester- front wheel collapsed. I field, brought out the main argument “F'or 30 or 40 yards I was able tojof tho.se in favyr of the rcslucod term hold the has on the highway and then when he said his “ohsrervation has it swerved to one side and the next i been that <iuring four-year terms gpv- I knew we were in the canal. .jernors have been looking for some “The porter and I broke the glass I other political job,” just as umler the and crawle<l out. When I got out of | former two-year terms they “workeil the waU'r, jia.s^ng ^motorists had toward reolection.’ stoiiped. I thought we shouFid go into Columbia, Jan. 23—There are two groups in the general asaCmbly who do not believe ’ hurrying along ses sions. They may be impressed, but are not tremendously moved, appar ently by the unusually large amount of current res<dviT)g that thia session be cut short. Ona of tlMsc froiq>a w made up*oi membera who conecientioualy beHeva there ahould be no hurry. They take the position that business done by a deliberate body such as a legisla ture simply has to be stretched out. They teil you that a large group of men and their ideas, cannot be ae- simdlated quickly, not even enough of them to constitute a majority, and that it would be a mistake to spur- this process of assimilation. This is not te say these men are right, but merely to report their point of view. They are, .most of them, se rious men, and some of them consider the state’s business to be of such sbl- erhnity and weight that It should be a ‘‘“super flood," with crests almost 10 feet higher than any ever known. The gravity of 4»i« fears was illus trated in the fact he looked for'some thing even worse than the flood of 1927—described by the Red Cross as the “greatest disaster this country ever suffered.” Against the time when the flood crest andxee in the south, the Red Cross -made emei^gency. p, to concentrate ga many as ugeea in Memphis alone. Nearly 2,000 boats werq^Midjto be at that city ta bring in Refugees. At Louisville, trouble mounted up on trouble. Dming yesterday (Tues day) the threat of heavily imaging fire was added to the menaces of di- eeaS^Tid water shortage. Regular army troops had as their Cotton Farmers To Get Ten Per Cent To Be Added To Che^g Under Federal Pro gram, Says Cannon. Cotton fanners of Laurens county will get an increase of 10 per cent, on the original amount of thefr govern ment checks for participation in iMt yeitr’a federal farm program, it hivs been announced by (bounty Ageirt G. B. Caniu>n <m advicea received from the state office in Columbia. County Agent Cannon said that co operating farmers will be paid five cents a pound for their cotton as baaed on their 1936 crop yield instead ' 'T ' • dignified by time in its consideration. These men pay little attention to pleas for short sessions, The other group enjoys the session, enjoys the stay in Columbia and all that it involves, and therefore they are not clamoring for short sessions. F'or many, it is a period to which they look forwMd all yeiw. Some of three, of course, have a "big time,**' «hjoy * vacation. Others of them are conaei- entfoua but at the same time are not in a hurry to get home. Yet others, of course, enjoy the sheer “import ance" that comes to bhem. AH varieties of long-stayers are represented at this session of the as sembly. The aquawl stirred up by Speaker Blatt’s failure to include any of the minority, or JoKnstonite representa tives on the lMu.se ways sikI means comnkittee has not tu^ded entire ly, but its life, it is believed, will not be very long. After all, one man pointed out, the fact that the committee contains no JohnstonHes does not mean a great deal. In any event, the committee would have been made up of a gi^t majority of the anti-Johnetonites and they would have ruled. Another, a fairly non-partisan member observed, however, that this doubtless will turn out to be a tacti cal mistake on the part of. Blatt and his advisers. “’This aide (the anti-Johnatonites) seldom has made bad mistakes," this man'-says. “It was very smart all through the highway battle last year, and it was surprising to see it so dis regard precedent in this instance. It gave the .other side (Johnstonites) a chance to yell, if nothing else." Yet it would seem that the Blaitt- Bennett bloc, the ruluig anti-Jolin- tho canal hrwl break the Vrihdbws in an effort to get ptKiple out'but the motorists thought air might still be in the bu.s ami people might etill be alive.’’ - ^ It took divers with helmets to ex tricate the bodies later. Tamiami Trail Tours, Inc., operators of the line, numbered the passengen at 27 from Miami and three from Coral Gables but had, no record of their names. Identification was made with difficulty from their personal effects at mortuaries. Th^ porter, Robert Singleton, a Ne gro, said it seemed to him as if a front wheel had broken. “The water began pouring into the bus and I smashed the front window with my left fiat," he related, dis playing a bloody hand, “ft was not until the water began coming in that there was any^ sound from the paa- sengers. Then they began screaming. “I managed to get out, then saw- a man come to the top of the water. When I had got my breath I dived back down and got the driver and one woman.” •— ■ Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Gilliland of Boston, escaped through the emer gency door — they happened to be chatting about how the door operated just as th e accident happened. M V i-u u ij the rear of theAeighi buildSng'dor- one.b»lf r«- oualy set by the state office. sugh trouble w this J This move is*^effective immediately and those who have already received checks under the ori^nal payment frill get mn additional ^djedr-covering the increase. Hie decision to boost the payment canie after tne state office was as- sui^ federal funds on hand were suf ficient to cover the increase. would continue. task the completion of evacuation ofi Within the past ten days or two , told by Meter-jtwo-thii^ of the city’s 330,000 resi-!-weeks, said Mr. C low-lying areas remained to be Louisville’s naayor, ologist' J. L. Kenfall that a stage of 56.9 feet—28.9 feet above flood atage —would be pushed up only a few moved; the c<mstructk>n of pontoon inches, exclaimed: bridges seemed the only way. “We’ve made it then. Our relief In Cinernnati, ^e cry “boil all facilities sue working fine." 1 water” went up -repeatedly and in- “We’ve got it whipped," jubHantlyj sistently through every device of pub- shouted Portsmouth,. -Q,,—officials, i lie proclamation. , —— Meanwhile Mississippi levees me farj The period at which water could be south as Arkansas were reported in | had was cut'to one hour a day—and "danger. One near Helena, Ark., aaidjeven then it waa avaiJaWe only in the an engineer, ’inight go out within I lower aectiorts. -* 24 to 36 hours.” .j Everywhere—in schools,-* churches, Anrb^ engineers received orders to pubHc buildings—huddleci the home Cannon, 440 benefit Soil Exhibition Car Here 29th Will Be At Seaboard Freight Depot Friday From 8:30 To 5. Public Invited. ^ The Seaboard Air Line Railway an nounces to all persons lintereet^ in soil oOnservatioii that,on FViday, Jan uary 29th, between the hours of 8:30 a.m.and 5 p.m. their specially fitted car of soil conservation exhibits will be at the freight depot in CUnton for the examination of the public. A free sound motion picture will be shown in - .Approval of-4ho—bill-to^- ratify *tht* - social security amendment and thus allow old-age pensions, aid to blind, and assistance'to needy children, was considert'd a necessary step before measures carrying the actual program with its difficult financing features can be worthed out. " Representative Leppard brought his proposal for popular election of the speaker of the house of representa tives to the fore again with a request to the committee on offices and offi cers, of which Leppard is chairman. The request waa denied but only after Leppard had remarked, “If we don’t get this bill I doubt If we will have another chance to/ket^Dn any bill this year." / • The request to hav^ the bill with drawn frtm the judiciary brought Chairman Calhoun Thomas of that 'greup tO/ his feet. “Ill admit,” he said, “that the ju diciary committee does report unfa vorably on a lot of fool bills that are introduced, but I resent-it when some one says that we didn’t give a le- ispectf'uJ hearing ahd,proper consider- * ation to measures brought before us.’’ Leppard assured Thomas he had misconstrued bis meaning but With erspoon, of Laurens, called the com mittee “the death* house." Ratification of the .social .security amendment is considered the first step in working out a program of as- _ sistance for needy in the .-rtate. Finatv- emg and full operating particulars wouM be included in a later measure after the amendment, approved in the general election in November, is, rati fied. The bill was introduced in the sen ate by Sims of Orangeburg, chairman of a joint Sjocial security committee. A similar measure by Representative Calhoun 71)00188, of Beaufort, Is^be^ fore a house committee. , TTie senate adjourned after a 30- minute sereion but not imtil it had re ceived a number of house measures on first reading and heard Lieut. Gov. J. E. Harley serve notice that there wopld be , “bob-JajifidI! htUa^-thia- session. , —r'»- leaving off of the committee of mem bers of t^ minority will be superfi cial. There will be yet more yelling, they say, bSt after that things wiir»o»l testing, erosion control, forestry. Representatives of the Clemson ex tension service and aoil consemtioo service will give demonatrationa Jn go along with no more mention of it. *11)6 JohnstonHes came forward this week with a resolution which may de velop at least a highway department discussion. Hie resolution will re quire the highway departnient to fur nish the house wHh figures showing and the control of crop ins^icta and diseases. W. C. Nettlre;^ extension entomolo gist, win give two demonstrations in Smith Seed Loan Plan Is Favored s. treating cotton seed with dust to pre vent a number of direases wluch us ually cause small cotton seedlaRgs to dents. Some 20,000 refugees from! checks amounting to the’rise of $32,-1 department’s capital ihvb^ent or bewme stunt^ after genrnrot- 300 have been received by Ijis office! and are in process of distribution. No-i Not long ago the highway depait^®*/®;®® *^ 2:00 p.m. at the car. tices are .sent out as soon as checks nient, in making public an auditor’s arrive, said Mr. Cannon, and farmers, ''eport after an examination of i(s af- are requested not to call for checks 1 announced Hs total capital, in- until their notices are received. rvestment in roads and bridges, etc.. Several farmers have failed to signi^ ^ approximately^ $109,000,000. their applications for grant«,i he said,l What the Johnstonites want to aithouj^ they have been notified. 1 *^w is how this is distributed arpong, Until they are signed and forwarded counties, or .how much has been to Columbia, the benefit checks will, ii^vosted in toads, bridges, etc., in ing. Hia demonatrataons wHl be All farmers of this community are cordially invHed. Washington, Jan. 2?. — The senate agriculture committee today voted to report favorably a $60,000,000 seed and crop production loan bill. 'The bill, introduced by Chairman FJllison D. Srr^^, of South Carolina, of is exactly the same drop rescue work at midnight to give their whole energies to the vast task of trying to save the .great levese line.’ Other levee breidcs were threatened at (Charleston and New Bladrid, Mo., and near Tiptonville, Tenn. In three fSoothem states—^Tennes see, Arbfuiw and Misskatppi->and in the border state of llteouri, more thiMi 2f000,000 acres, or some 8J)00 lees, who numbered altogether more than 65,000. hot be i.s.sued, he said. SHERIFF RE-APPOINTS j each county. I h is suspected by some that they might be .setting the stage for an GAIN IN GIN REPORT .aqasre Bnlea» ‘wars under waiter, but «6- Bo huge eitire were inundated. M< OiPnings from the 1936 cotton crop in Leurene county prior to January 16 totaled ll),884 bales a^nst 18,872 balee for the eame period in 1935. With the ’36 crop ineomplete, the report abowa an itu^emee 1J)12 bedre over laet year. SAME MILL DEPUTIES. effort to embarra.sg the department^ j by showing hov/ much more this coun- MilJ village deputy sheriffs in thejty has bqpeiited than that. Others' county, serving during the term of office of Sheriff J.-D. W. Watts have been re-appomted by Sheriff Caldwell W. Wier, H has been announced from his office. They are J. D. Owene, at Watts MiUa; ^dly Johne, Lydia Ooh- ton Mille, and Jack Davenport, Joanna Cotton MiUe, GoldviHe. say they are “just picking on Ben' Sawyer." ""■’"I Anyhow, H iwlikely that the figures which the department will give in amwer^to^he resolution will develop a floor disensdon which would find every member iv his sast \ (Continued on page two) O h- DEiATHS frDm AUTOMOBILE. ACCIDENTS in LAURENS COUNTY 1937 ' ' r Let's Strive To Make This .a Safe Year On the Highways. as the seed loatf,bill he .sponsored last year except for two changes: 1. The limitation of the amount each individual farmer may borrow is raised from $500 to $<500. r 2. Interest rates are lowered from 5 1-2 to 4 1-2 per ctmt. VOTE HUGE RELIEF FUND Washington, Jan. 26,—The plight of 750,000 floo<l refugees brought'light- I hing action in congress teKlay upon a $790,000,000 relief fund. Without a record vote, the house approved the huge appropriation and sent it along to the s^jnate, where adminsitration leaders planned fast action. President Roosevelt promised that every cent of tfie fund would be used for flood vie-, tims if necessamu.^Originally he had requested it to'finance graend rdief throughout' the nation “for Oi« next five months. ^ ; ■X \ r \