THE RECUPERATION OF DAYTON
SPIRITS GO UP--SECRETARY OF WAR GARRISON ON THE SCENE--CLEARING
AWAY THE DEBRIS--BOAT CREWS SAVE 979--RELIEF ON BUSINESS
BASIS--STRICT SANITARY MEASURES--TALES OF THE RESCUED--A SUMMARY OF
WORK ACCOMPLISHED--RAILROADS AGAIN WORKING--COMMISSION GOVERNMENT
ESTABLISHED--A HOME OF TENTS--MILLIONAIRES IN THE
BREAD-LINE--ORVILLE WRIGHT'S ESCAPE--DEATH AND PROPERTY LOSS--THE
TASK OF REBUILDING.
Dayton passed Friday night in terror because of constant shooting by the
militiamen. Just how many looters were killed was unknown, as
information was refused. The facts figure only in military reports.
Fifty shots were fired between midnight and three o'clock Saturday
morning within hearing of the main hospital quarters in the National
Cash Register Building. Civil workers in the center of the town, where
efforts were being made to clear away debris, reported that five looters
were shot after midnight.
One of these was a negro who had succeeded in entering a Madison Street
house where he was seen by a militiaman and shot in the act of looting.
It is declared that only one of the five men shot was killed.
Orders were issued to the soldiers to inflict summary execution on
corpse robbers--ghouls who sneaked through the business and residence
streets like hyenas after a battle.
Dayton came out in force on Saturday to look around and judge for itself
the extent of the tragedy that confronted its people. Business men with
forces of assistants penetrated the business section and set about the
task of learning whether they had been stripped of their possessions
completely.
Haggard faces, worn out with sleepless nights and days of weary struggle
and apprehension for the future, brightened with the flush of new-born
hope as some of the searchers found that the flood had not proved
completely disastrous for them.
Scores of business interests, not alone in the central section, but as
well in the outlying manufacturing districts, faced ruin. The work of
reconstruction, already in the forming, meant for them going back to the
beginning for a fresh start, but on every hand one heard in spite of
this words of hope and cheerfulness that the disaster was no greater.
SPIRITS GO UP
The bitter cold gave way to a day of sunshine and comparative warmth.
The military authorities lifted the ban on uninterrupted travel about
the city. This privilege and the brightness of the day brought most of
the people out of their discouragement and great throngs appeared on the
streets. They found the death toll smaller than they had expected and
the property damage, while almost crushing in the size of the figures it
represented, not so utterly annihilating as was generally feared.
Military engineering experts began the work of extricating Dayton from
its covering of debris, and its menace to general public health. H. E.
Talbot, of Dayton, who built the Soo Locks, was placed in charge and the
Pennsylvania Railroad sent in seventy-five engineers to assist him.
While fifty additional experts appeared from other points, the Ohio
National Guard Battalion of Engineers from Cleveland became a part of
the organization to "sweep up" the city.
Relief from the suffering because of the closing down of the public
utilities bade fair to be accomplished by Sunday. The city lived up to
its motto "Dayton does" with the amendment that if it cannot find a way
it will make one.
With real philosophy and high courage its people set about the arduous
task of retrieving the ground and the fortunes they lost. The lives that
were taken by the disaster were not sacrificed in vain. The Citizens'
Committee, headed by John H. Patterson, the relief agency, and H. E.
Talbot, determined to find a way to protect the city against a
repetition of the horrors of the week.
Things looked brighter. It was announced that on Sunday the water would
be turned on in all the mains that were not broken, in order to give
pure drinking water to practically the entire city, something the
sanitary and engineering experts were working for as imperative if
epidemics were to be avoided. Until such time as the city mains could
be used, water was distributed from artesian wells by water carts and in
kegs, which were carried to the various districts by the "flying
squadron" of the auto relief corps.
SECRETARY OF WAR GARRISON ON THE SCENE
Secretary of War Garrison and his staff arrived at Dayton at noon, and
immediately went into conference with John H. Patterson, chairman of the
committee of fifteen, in charge of the relief work.
Soon after Mr. Garrison arrived the relief committee began to call local
physicians to consult with him to determine whether to place the city
under federal control. It was said Dayton's sanitary condition appeared
to warrant the presence of federal troops and government health experts.
It was later decided to leave the city in control of the state militia
and the local committee, except that sanitary experts from the federal
health service should be brought to Dayton. Mr. Garrison stated that
Major Thomas Rhoades, in co-operation with Major James C. Normoyle,
would have charge in Dayton. Major Normoyle had experience in furthering
relief in the Mississippi flood district last year.
GARRISON'S REPORT
Secretary Garrison gave out the substance of his telegram to President
Wilson as follows:
"I find the situation at Dayton to be as follows:
"The flood has subsided so that they have communication with all parts
of the city, no one being now in any position of peril or without food
or shelter. The National Cash Register plant has been turned into a
supply depot and lodging place for those who have no other present
place.
"Surgeon General Blue and some of his officers are here, as are also
some naval surgeons. We are all working in concert. The Governor, the
Mayor, the local committees and the citizens have all expressed much
gratitude for the action of the National Government, and have welcomed
us warmly, all of them stating that the fact that a direct
representative has been sent to their community has been of the greatest
benefit to the morale of the situation.
"I find a competent force is already organized to clean up the streets,
remove the debris and do general work of that description and has agreed
to work under the direction of the army surgeon I leave in charge of
sanitation. The National Guards have their Brigadier-General, George H.
Wood, here in command of the military situation and he has cordially
offered to co-operate in every way with our work of sanitation.
"I think that the situation here is very satisfactory and that this
community will find itself in a reassured position within a very short
time and facing only then the problem of repair, restoration and
rehabilitation.
"I will go back to Cincinnati tonight to get into touch with matters
left unfinished there and will go to Columbus at the earliest moment.
Governor Cox tells me that he thinks matters are in a satisfactory
condition at Columbus; that he has ample immediate supply of medicines
and other necessities; and that much of each is on the way. The weather
is very fine and there does not seem to be any cause for apprehension of
further floods in the vicinity of Dayton."
CLEARING AWAY THE DEBRIS
Efforts were made to clear away debris in sections where the flood water
had run off, and it was feared bodies might be found in these masses of
wreckage. With well organized crews doing this work, others took food to
persons still marooned in Riverdale and North Dayton.
The two hundred and fifty persons marooned in the Algonquin Hotel, in
the heart of the flood district, moved from their prison after the
waters had receded. Most of them said there was a general scare at the
fire which burned along Jefferson and Third Streets, on Wednesday night.
There was one death in the hotel, Johnny Flynn, a bell boy. Several of
the guests organized the majority after the flood waters had cut off
escape on Tuesday, and for three evenings programs of entertainments
were given in the hotel dining-room. It was decreed by a safety
committee that any person who declined to contribute to the
entertainment would be compelled figuratively to walk the plank. There
were no dissenters.
Among those marooned in hotels were one hundred from New York, Chicago,
Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia,
Detroit, Boston and St. Louis. All were safe.
A brilliant sunshine threw an uncanny light over the distorted scenes in
the areas where the homes of 75,000 people were swept away or toppled
over. A view down almost any street revealed among the wreckage,
tumbled-over houses, pianos, household utensils and dead horses brushed
together in indescribable confusion. At two points the bodies of horses
were seen still caught in the tops of trees.
Digging bodies out of the mud was the chief work of rescuing parties.
The water had drained off from almost all the flooded area. In some
instances the mud was several feet deep.
The rush of the currents claimed the greatest toll of lives, judging
from how most of the bodies recovered were found. They were washed up
onto the ground from new-made rivers and many were found buried in the
wreckage. In moving this workmen moved carefully, fearing they might
tread upon bodies, but they were not found in groups.
It was anticipated that the majority of the bodies of flood victims
would be found buried under the debris in the Miami Canal under great
piles of wreckage and far down the Miami River, at Miamisburg,
Middletown and Hamilton. Those who were drowned for the most part were
caught in the streets either while on their way to their places of
business and employment or while trying to get to places of safety when
forced to flee from their houses. Lieutenant Leatherman, surgeon of the
Third Regiment, O. N. G., who went through the flood in West Dayton,
said that he saw scores of dead bodies floating down the Miami River and
many people were swimming, but there was not one chance in ten thousand
that these were saved, he said.
The policing of the city by the military was reorganized with
Brigadier-General George H. Wood commanding and Captain Tyrus G. Reed as
Adjutant General. The city was turned over into a military district of
five military zones, and rigid orders were laid down for the conduct of
its affairs.
Chairmen of the various committees were unanimous in asking that word be
spread broadcast that mere sightseeing visitors were not wanted. The
railroads were informed of this attitude and conductors refused to
accept passengers who could not show that their presence here was
necessary. There were thousands of visitors in the city. Most of them
were from surrounding towns.
BOAT CREWS SAVE 979
The work of extending succor to the marooned inhabitants of the
districts which were still flooded continued during the day. In many
sections were to be seen rowboats, skiffs and canoes making their way
with extreme difficulty among the heaps of wreckage and overturned
houses among tangled meshes of telegraph, telephone and electric light
wires, seeking out possible victims who had been uncared for.
Among the organizations engaged in rescue work was the company of naval
reserves from the United States ship Essex at Toledo, under command of
Captain A. F. Nicklett. The company reached Dayton on a special relief
train from Toledo Thursday and immediately launched a number of boats on
the raging torrents which were sweeping the city from end to end. Up to
six o'clock Saturday night the sailors had been constantly on duty and
had to their credit a total of 979 lives saved, and they were not
thinking of sleep when darkness fell.
One crew in command of Ensign E. E. Diebald, with two boats, rescued 375
persons from the business section and that district immediately east of
Main Street and west of Eagle Street. Many of the people were taken from
their homes only after the sailors had mounted to the tops of partially
overturned houses and chopped their way through to the attics where the
inmates were huddled together waiting for death to enter.
Another crew under Junior Lieutenant Ross Willoh succeeded in saving
360, while three boats in command of Senior Lieutenant Theodore Schmidt
rescued 244 persons. The majority of these latter were taken from box
cars, warehouses, freight sheds and grain elevators in the railroad
yards. It was here that the water attained its greatest violence,
rushing in whirlpools between the irregular buildings on either side of
the tracks. Navigation was extremely perilous on account of many
submerged box cars, flat cars and overturned sheds.
Several times the sailors were capsized, but managed to keep with their
boats and right them again. Not a single life was lost either among the
reserves or among the hundreds whom they attempted to rescue.
While sailors worked incessantly to save lives, Lieutenant Walter
Gayhart, also of the ship's company, succeeded in establishing a supply
station on East Fifth Street, where many refugees congregated, and
issued rations to the suffering. He slept Saturday night after
seventy-one hours of continuous labor.
With the additional military forces which arrived the city was
thoroughly policed. At night the city was in darkness again. It was
impossible to do much relief work at night and the curfew order was due
in part to the advisability of keeping the men where they could protect
their own households if necessary.
RELIEF ON BUSINESS BASIS
The distribution of food supplies and clothing and relieving of distress
was put on a business basis. Supplies reached Dayton in large
quantities, and the relief stations were sufficiently organized to take
care of the incoming refugees from the flood districts. The problem of
caring for the homeless was still serious, but with all promise of warm
weather it was hoped there would be less suffering. Health officers
reported that there was only one car of lime in the city, and there was
great need of more.
Fifteen thousand persons were subsisting on rations given out under
direction of the relief committee. Ten thousand of these, it was
estimated, were in their homes, and food was carried to them in boats
and automobiles. About five thousand were being cared for at the relief
stations. This showed a marked reduction in the number of persons being
publicly fed.
There was plenty of food, and it was placed into baskets in lots to
serve five persons for two days. Over candles given out with the food
the people boiled coffee, but the other food was eaten cold. There was
no gas and little coal.
Announcement was made by the relief committee that until conditions
became normal, no private messages to persons here would be delivered or
answered, as the wire capacity was taxed to the utmost to carry official
and public business.
Major Dupuy stated that he feared an epidemic of some kind unless the
most rigid sanitary rules were enforced.
STRICT SANITARY MEASURES
Major Dupuy stated that the city had been divided into six sanitary
districts, each district in charge of an officer of the sanitary corps
of the National Guard. Strict orders regarding the disposition of
garbage were issued and the people were advised, by means of bulletins
posted in conspicuous places in the streets, how best to preserve the
public health.
Several cars of lime reached the city and many more were en route from
different points. A carload of ambulance supplies was on the way from
Cincinnati.
Members of the Citizens' Relief Committee were apprehensive of a water
famine. It was believed there was little chance that the present supply
could be made to last until the water mains were in use again. R. H.
Grant, head of the Relief Supplies Committee, issued an appeal to all
cities in the country asking that as much bottled water as possible be
shipped to Dayton immediately.
It was especially desired that this water be strictly pure, as it was
practically impossible to boil the water for drinking purposes.
Considering the number of persons affected by this flood, there was
comparatively little sickness, the cold weather being responsible for
this to a great extent. The cold caused great suffering among those
marooned without food, water, or heat, but in the end it proved a
blessing.
Dr. William Colby Rucker, Assistant Surgeon General of the United States
Public Health Service, who arrived from Washington at the direction of
the Secretary of the Treasury, with Surgeon General Rupert Blue, gave
the following outline of the sanitary conditions existing in the city:
"A survey of conditions in Dayton today shows that the sanitary
situation is not so bad as was at first thought. Citizens have been
warned to boil all drinking water and to bury refuse. City water is now
flowing under twenty-pound pressure. Sewers in some sections are again
in operation. The city expects to have others working tomorrow.
"The city has been divided into six sanitary districts and tonight
physicians who have been sworn in as district sanitary officers are
being instructed as to their precise duties as heads of these
districts."
TALES OF THE RESCUED
Pathetic scenes, so intense as to bring tears to the eyes of
undertakers, were witnessed when scores of fear-stricken parents and
children walked down the rows of dead lying upon slabs in the temporary
morgues.
In Riverdale and North Dayton, where the flood waters attained the
greatest depth and degree of destructiveness, several thousand persons
waded knee-deep in slimy mud, rummaging their desolated homes for
clothing. All of this, of course, was soaked and plastered with mud, but
it was dried on the hillsides, where the populace had taken refuge. In
some places in these districts the water had so far receded as to render
possible the beginning of the work of cleaning the lower floors of the
mud and debris.
The dead line around Riverdale, where the water remained about three
feet in depth around most of the houses, continued to be maintained in
order to guard against looting during the absence of residents. It was
estimated that not more than a week would be required to immunize all
homes requiring it outside of the Riverdale section, to free them from
water and prepare them for cleansing.
A SUMMARY OF WORK ACCOMPLISHED
Following are some of the things accomplished since the flood broke over
the city Tuesday morning:
The water-works pumping station was in operation, but the distribution
of water was greatly retarded by open pipes in wrecked houses. The
pressure was feeble, but growing stronger as leaks were checked.
The main sanitary sewer was in operation, although many of the laterals
leading from houses were clogged with mud and backed-up water.
The flood sewers, separate from the sanitary, were almost ready for
service. These sewers carry off the rainfall from the gutters, and were
needed to remove the water being pumped from basements.
Sightseers in motor cars felt the heavy hand of public necessity when
General Wood began impressing machines. The sightseers were ordered from
their cars and the latter were pressed into public service. Protests
were unavailing. The more stubborn surrendered at the points of rifles,
and gave up their cars "until released by order of the chairman," as the
placards placed in them read.
The militia also began impressing citizens into service as workers. Men
who had the appearance of being able-bodied, but idle, were questioned
by officers of the National Guard; if they had not good reason for being
in the streets, and no duties of a mandatory nature, they were pressed
into service.
The Sixth regiment, O. N. G., from Toledo and northern Ohio towns, which
had been on duty in Dayton, commandeered a train when ordered to
Cincinnati and departed before nightfall. The naval reserves from Toledo
went on train.
Coroner J. W. McKemy estimated that one hundred bodies had been
recovered, though there was record of only seventy-two. He said some had
been buried without usual official action and that in some cases he did
not expect to get records.
The postoffice was put out of business on Tuesday and it was not until
Sunday that any sort of service was attempted. Telegraph and telephone
service was almost entirely crippled until Saturday night, when even
short messages were accepted only on condition that the sender assent to
indefinite delays.
Telegrams were relayed through Cincinnati. The only long-distance
telephone wires in service were two private wires connecting with
Cincinnati. On those who succeeded in securing permission to use these
wires a time limit of three minutes conversation was imposed.
No braver services were performed during the flood than those by the
telegraph and telephone linemen who made possible the dissemination of
news to hundreds of thousands of friends and relatives of Daytonians.
They waded and swam icy floods and entered tottering buildings
unhesitatingly in pursuit of their duty. Operators who had not removed
shoes or clothing since last Tuesday were found Saturday.
RAILROADS AGAIN WORKING
Direct railroad communication was established Sunday night with
Springfield, Ohio, Cincinnati and Richmond, Indiana. The Cincinnati,
Hamilton and Dayton lines, on which Dayton passenger traffic depended
mostly, were not working. The tracks leading into the Union Station were
completely blocked and the few trains arriving discharged their
passengers on the outskirts of the city.
H. E. Talbott, who was commissioned by Governor Cox, chief engineer of
the military zone, completed his plans for beginning the rehabilitation
of the city. He announced that four departments had been created, with
an assistant engineer in charge of each. One had charge of rebuilding
the streets and alleys; another the levees along the rivers; another the
sewerage system, and still another the bridges.
[Illustration: Photograph by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
Life lines strung across one of the streets. The rescuers caught persons
carried down on wreckage in the raging flood and brought them to a place
of safety]
[Illustration: Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
Man walking along the telephone cables after escaping from his house,
which was washed away by the flood. The houses in the center have been
washed from their foundations and are floating away]
Hundreds of persons still looking for relatives passed along the lines
at the morgues, fearing they should find their loved ones there. Only a
few bodies had not been identified.
Because of the city's financial condition, the problem of paying the
costs of rejuvenation caused great concern. The treasury was practically
empty, and the borrowing capacity would be exhausted when $900,000 was
raised. It was planned to seek immediate relief from the Legislature.
By order of Governor Cox, the reign of martial law over Dayton was
extended to take in the whole county. The flood did more than sweep away
property, for it swept away the city administration, temporarily at
least, and brought in what amounted to a commission form of government.
The extension of the area under martial law developed from action taken
by local dealers whose places were closed. They complained that saloons
on the outskirts were sending whiskey into the city, and that
considerable drunkenness had been observed. Brigadier-General Wood
reported the situation to the Governor, and his action was prompt and
decisive.
COMMISSION GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED
As soon as martial law was proclaimed, the municipal administration was
eclipsed. Brigadier-General Wood for the moment became supreme under the
Governor. On the heels of this Mr. Patterson was appointed chairman of a
committee of five to administer the affairs of the city. The militia was
instructed to obey his orders and thus became a police force.
Under martial law the city enjoyed the free services of the biggest
business men and the most expert professional men in Montgomery County.
Citizens who ventured into the streets were impressed from the time they
left their doors that Dayton is steadied and perhaps somewhat depressed
by the absolute grip of martial law. Soldier government was maintained
inexorably. Owners of business places could not set foot on their
property without the permission of the khaki-clad militiamen, standing
at the curbs with loaded carbines. If a citizen found himself some
distance from his home when the curfew rang at 6 P. M. his return was
beset with much difficulty, because of the necessity of halting by the
many sentries he encountered.
A citizen fearsome enough to venture from his threshold after 8 P. M.
literally took his life in his hands, because the fingers of the militia
rested on hair triggers.
Nine colored men and one white man were added to the seven suspected
looters shot and killed since martial law was proclaimed. Absolute
secrecy concerning the deaths was maintained by the military
authorities. Citizens who heard repeated firing between midnight and
dawn in the business center of Dayton and near Ludlow Street, in which
were located many of the handsomest homes in Dayton, spread these
reports. The reports were confirmed in a non-committal way by militiamen
who were on duty in these sections, who admitted they had fired ball
cartridges as a "warning" to suspected looters.
The most detailed account of the death of the white man had it that he
was halted near Main and Third Streets shortly after 2 A. M. He had one
hand behind his back, and when ordered to open it two watches fell to
the pavement. He was then searched and eighteen watches were found in
his pockets. The sentry called a corporal's squad of six militiamen and
reported the loot found on the prisoner. The prisoner was led to the
wall of a near-by building, faced toward the wall, and the squad, which
had received instruction from its commander, fired. A white band with a
red insignia, made apparently to simulate a Red Cross badge, was taken
from the man's arm, and the body was thrown into the canal.
EXECUTIONS DENIED
The nine colored men reported as killed were discovered by sentries in
various parts of the city. A dozen militiamen on duty near Main and
Third Streets, about 2 A. M., said that they had heard firing at the
locality named, but attributed it to warning shots. One of the men said
that a sergeant in his company told of shooting and killing a colored
man Friday night, when the man tried to escape in a boat on the Miami
Erie Canal.
Brigadier General George H. Wood, when asked about the reports of
squad-firing and the deaths of ten suspected looters, said:
"There was some squad-firing after midnight by sentries posted in the
Ludlow section, where are located the homes of some of Dayton's
wealthiest citizens. But neither there nor in other sections of the city
where shots were fired was any one killed. The report that executions
followed the detection of militiamen caught looting are without
foundation. There have been no drumhead or other courtmartials and none
will take place while I am in command here in Dayton.
"We have the situation well in hand. I have 1,400 doing sentry duty
throughout the city and I intend to guard homes and suppress all
lawlessness."
In spite of the rigor of this military government of Dayton, praise of
General Wood's administration was heard on every side. Citizens
discredited the stories of executions of looters and were not
over-inquisitive of details, because they realized that drastic measures
were imperative under the existing conditions.
In accordance with suggestions made Saturday by Secretary of War
Garrison and General Leonard Wood, chief of staff, Major Thomas L.
Rhoades, President Wilson's military aide, took charge of the sanitary
campaign and permanent relief organization. He had for his chief
lieutenant Eugene T. Lies, of Chicago, who was in command of the Red
Cross forces. Investigation of the financial standing of every
householder whose home has been damaged by the flood was begun. In
worthy cases money or materials with which to make repairs were
furnished from the Red Cross funds.
A HOME OF TENTS
Major Rhoades took up plans for establishing a tented camp in North
Dayton in which to shelter residents of the flood districts. These
flooded homes were inspected and when found to be unsanitary the
occupants were invited to take up quarters in the tented camp. Where the
invitation was refused recalcitrants were escorted by a corporal's guard
to the camp and compelled to remain there until their homes were cleaned
and fumigated. Major Rhoades was supported by the militia in carrying
out a policy to immunize every home in Dayton if necessary, and thus
minimize the danger of epidemics.
The medical authorities forbade the use of old clothing until after it
had been fumigated. It was urged upon the general public that old
clothing was not desirable for fear it might bring a pestilence in some
form to a city unable to cope with more disaster.
Nothing to indicate the approach of an epidemic due to flood conditions
was reported, although the number of diphtheria cases was slightly above
normal. Eight persons suffering from diphtheria were at the Miami Valley
Hospital. Seven of them were caught in a house with a person who had
recently become ill with the disease. Four persons hemmed in with one
who had measles were suffering with that disease. Typhoid fever and
pneumonia were a little more prevalent than usual. Clear skies and warm
sunshine contributed to the comfort of the city and made possible good
progress in the work of redemption.
Two hospitals in Dayton were flooded on the first floor, so all sick and
injured were taken either to the Great Miami Hospital or to the state
insane asylum. Eight persons whose minds temporarily became affected
because of hardships suffered in the flood were cared for at the latter
place.
With warmer weather, the greatest problem was the removal of the
carcasses of dead horses. Every available automobile truck and all the
horse-drawn drays were impressed by the sanitary officials and hundreds
of men were engaged all day removing the carcasses to the different
incinerating plants and to vacant lots on the outskirts of the city,
where they were burned.
George F. Burba, Governor Cox's private secretary, reported to the
state's executive that there were 40,000 persons in Dayton who must be
fed and sheltered for at least a week, and 10,000 who were destitute.
The latter were without either sufficient clothing or food, and until
business activities were restored, they had to be financed and
maintained in lodgings until they could become self-supporting.
Theodore A. Burnett and T. H. Smith, government food inspectors, took
charge of the food supply, in so far as inspection was concerned, and
appointed twelve deputies. All shipments of supplies from other places
were carefully examined before being given to the refugees. Particular
attention was paid to meats and canned goods.
Announcement was made that the particular need of the people was
drinking water, shoes, clothing, picks and shovels. Money also was
wanted, although a considerable amount had already been subscribed by
cities throughout the country.
Food was on hand in ample quantities, free to all, but the variety was
limited to staples such as beans, potatoes, bread and canned vegetables.
Of fresh meat there was practically none and butter and eggs were
scarce. All food supplies were those contributed by the outside world
and distributed from the various relief depots on the requisition of
householders. Neither provision nor other stores received any
consignment of goods.
Citizens and visitors alike were impressed with the facts that Dayton's
condition was distressing. A review of the streets from sunrise until
the curfew bell's toll furnished a practical illustration of this.
Except for the comparatively few householders who had supplies on hand
in considerable quantities, daily sustenance was secured by the market
basket method. This was as true of the fairly well-to-do families as of
the laboring classes.
HOW RATIONS WERE ISSUED
The head of a family made out a requisition each morning stating his
needs for the day. This requisition was presented at any of the supply
depots, and on it were issued rations consisting of potatoes, canned
meats, prunes or preserves, beans, biscuits or bread. Men, women and
children with their baskets were seen in the streets throughout the day.
Most of the absolutely destitute were cared for in one or another of the
buildings comprising the huge plant of the National Cash Register
Company, which is on high ground at the southern end of the city,
untouched by the flood. On the ninth floor of the administration
building, known as the office's club, and where there is a dining room
with a capacity for 1,000, more than 5,000 destitute persons were fed
daily. The menu for Sunday was a typical one, as follows:
Breakfast--Oatmeal and milk, coffee and bread.
Dinner--Vegetable soup, stewed canned meat, stewed corn, coffee and
bread.
Supper--Bean soup, potatoes, coffee or tea and bread with butter.
John F. Patterson, head of the plant, had his dinner in this general
dining room on Sunday. The only luxuries enjoyed by him and not provided
for the others were hard-boiled eggs and preserved peaches. Among the
most active of the uniformed waitresses was Mr. Patterson's
nineteen-year-old daughter. Volunteer waitresses helped out their paid
sisters during these days of hardship.
Monday in Dayton was much like the days that immediately preceded it,
except that rapid progress was made toward the restoration of the city
to a habitable condition. Electric current was supplied Monday night in
a limited residential district and in a few downtown buildings, and the
narrow zone of street lighting was extended. Automobile fire engines
were brought overland from Cincinnati to assist in pumping out
basements.
Ample telegraph equipment was installed in the Beckel House. Thousands
of telegrams remained undelivered, and it was still impossible for the
telegraph companies even to attempt delivery. The line of citizens
waiting in front of the Western Union's temporary office, to ask for
messages from friends, extended during the morning a full block.
The Bell Telephone system promised partial restoration of service by
Tuesday. Its plant manager, John A. Bell, complained of his linemen
having been impeded by refusal of guardsmen to honor the military
passes. This was called to the attention of Brigadier General Wood,
commanding the Ohio Guard, and relief was given.
Practically no newspapers had been received here since Tuesday and the
people of Dayton grew very anxious to learn of conditions in other
cities. News of the death of J. P. Morgan first reached the public
through a bulletin posted by a representative of the Associated Press.
Later the Dayton _News_, whose plant was inundated, put a two-page paper
on the street in which a few details of the death of the financier were
printed.
Impressed and volunteer laborers were put to work Monday refilling the
broken levees. Removal of dead animals was the most pressing work of
sanitation.
Major Thomas L. Rhoads, President Wilson's aide and personal
representative in charge of sanitary work, said that the situation was
quite encouraging; that hospital facilities so far were ample; no
epidemics of disease were in evidence and in two weeks there would be
substantial relief, although it would require two months to remove the
dirt and debris.
WOMEN SHOVEL IN STREETS
Monday for the first time, offensive odors came from the mud and slime
that was shovelled into the streets by householders and storekeepers. In
this work men, women and children were engaged. Wives of prominent
citizens were seen with shovel and hoe, some of them wearing their
husbands' trousers and rubber boots, doing as best they could the work
of men.
On Monday, John H. Patterson, chairman of the Citizens' Relief
Committee, issued the following statement:
"Our committee has now at its disposal all the food and clothing
necessary. Money, however, is required to put our city in condition to
prevent the outbreak of diseases and to rehabilitate the thousands, many
of whom have lost their homes entirely and all of whom have lost their
household and personal effects.
"The committee sends an urgent appeal to the citizens of the United
States for the necessary funds. All contributions should be sent direct
to W. F. Bippus, treasurer of the relief committee."
MILLIONAIRES IN THE BREAD-LINE
In the bread-line on Monday was Eugene J. Parney, a multi-millionaire,
whose gifts to charity have been very large and who recently included
$25,000 to the Y. M. C. A. of this city. The day after the flood he was
offering $1,000 for enough wood alcohol to heat malted milk for his
infant grandchild. Monday he was no more successful in buying
provisions. He appeared with a basket on his arm, rubbed elbows with
those nearest in the motley line and apparently none was more grateful
than he when his basket was filled with beans, potatoes, canned
vegetables, rice and other staples. He was eager to pay for his
supplies, but money is refused at the supply depots. It was arranged to
change this system on Tuesday to enable those well able to pay to do
so.
Fred B. Patterson, only son of John H. Patterson, stopped work in the
morgue at his father's factory long enough to tell for the first time of
the part he took in the rescue work. Like his sister Dorothy, who worked
as a waitress feeding refugees, young Patterson was doing the things
that many poor men had avoided.
ORVILLE WRIGHT'S ESCAPE
Orville Wright, the aeroplane builder, and his family, who had been
marooned in the west side, reported to relief headquarters on Monday.
The flood stopped just short of wiping out of existence the priceless
models, records, plans and drawings--all in the original--of the Wright
brothers, who gave the airship to the world.
Out in West Dayton live the Wrights--Orville, his father, Bishop Wright,
and Miss Katherine Wright, the sister, in a small, unpretentious frame
house. Orville Wright and his father and sister were in the old
homestead when the flood swept in.
The aged father was placed in a boat, but instead of conveying him to a
place of safety, the boatman carried him to a house nearby where he was
marooned until the waters subsided three days later. Orville Wright and
his sister escaped to safety on an auto truck, being carried through
four feet of water.
In fleeing, however, the inventor of the aeroplane was compelled to
abandon the small factory adjoining the homestead in which were stored
all of the originals from which the plans for the air craft were
perfected. Had these gone, there would have remained nothing of the
priceless data save what exists in the brain of Orville Wright.
At the height of the flood a house adjoining the factory took fire.
There were no means to fight the flames. For several hours the factory
was in peril, but a special providence protected it and it came out of
both flood and fire unscathed.
"We were lucky," said Orville Wright, whimsically, on Monday. "It is the
irony of fate that at the critical moment I was not able to get away
with my folks on one of my own machines. However, we came through all
right and there doesn't seem to be anything more to be said."
Just one week after the coming of the deluge Governor Cox entered his
home city for the first time, accompanied by several of the members of
the Ohio Flood Relief Committee.
Governor Cox praised Mr. Patterson for his invaluable part in the relief
work. "Mr. Patterson is the one man who is in the eye of America more
than any one other man," said the Governor.
Mr. Patterson, after he returned Tuesday night in company with H. E.
Talbott, chief engineer, from a tour of sections of Dayton that were
swept by the flood, issued a statement in which he said:
"Dayton is facing one of the gravest problems that any city of the world
ever faced and we want the world to know we need money and food for our
stricken people."
In speaking of a tentative plan to ask the Federal Government for a
loan of from $20,000,000 to $40,000,000 to be used in reconstruction
work, Mr. Patterson said:
"At a meeting of bankers and officials of the building associations this
evening it was decided to make an appeal for Federal aid. The banks and
building associations have $60,000,000 worth of assets which they will
put up as collateral. It may be deemed advisable to ask the Government
to give us some financial assistance. We feel that the disaster is an
emergency which would justify extraordinary action on the part of
Congress."
Since Sunday more than $750,000 in cash was received from banks in
Cincinnati to replace damaged money in local banks which remained closed
until April 8th.
DEATH AND PROPERTY LOSS
Mr. Talbott estimated that the property loss in Montgomery County
totaled at least $150,000,000. He declared that one manufacturing
company alone had lost half a million dollars.
Although several carloads of provisions were received on Tuesday,
officials in charge of relief work stated that the food situation was a
matter of grave concern. "We must have rations for more than 100,000
people for an indefinite period," Mr. Patterson declared.
A carload of automobile tires, contributed by an Akron rubber company
for use in relief work, arrived on Tuesday.
One of the great losses sustained from the flood was that which befell
the public library. An inspection of the institution disclosed the fact
that the children's library, the medical library and the reference
library had been wiped out of existence. Included in the loss were all
the public and official accounts and copies of the newspapers dating
from the first issues, back in 1822, none of which could be replaced.
County Coroner John McKemy, who in the week following the flood handled
nearly one hundred bodies, said that at least twenty-five bodies were
disposed of before he was released from his imprisonment by the flood.
He estimated that the number of lives lost from the flood in Dayton
exceeded two hundred.
THE TASK OF REBUILDING
So day followed day in the recuperation of Dayton; but, looking ahead,
it was evident to the magnificent corps of expert men in charge of the
work that months must elapse before all Daytonians could again live in
their own homes. There were 15,000 residences to plaster and paper
before they could be occupied. There were 4,500 houses to build
foundations under, to straighten, re-roof, put in doors and windows,
rebuild chimneys and make other repairs before their owners could move
in again. There were 2,000 houses to raze and new structures to be
built.
The Citizens' Relief Committee, on advices from engineers, decided that
this reconstruction work would require four months, even if building
material could be obtained promptly.
So far as the business and industrial buildings were concerned, it was
estimated by architects who looked over the different premises that it
would require eight months before repair work and rebuilding could be
accomplished. In the interim business was done in whatever premises were
available.
Thousands of men were employed, together with many teams of horses, and
work was pushed to the utmost in all departments. Surveys of the damage
done were made and large quantities of material were ordered by
telegraph, to be shipped immediately.
Generations must come and go before the Dayton flood will be forgotten,
and standing out in bright contrast with all else there will perhaps
remain longest the inspiring picture of the energy and fortitude with
which the stricken residents set about the retrievement of their city
from the devastation of the angry waters.