THE PLIGHT OF PERU: A STRICKEN CITY
LAST MESSAGE FROM PERU--AT ONCE TO THE RESCUE--THOUSANDS
MAROONED--TALES OF STRUGGLE--FAMINE AND DISEASE--GREED ABROAD IN
THE CITY--REFUGEES URGED TO LEAVE--SEARCH FOR THE DEAD--SHAKING OFF
DESPAIR.
Of all the cities devastated by flood in Indiana, Peru was the most
desolated. Situated on the Wabash River just below the entrance of the
Mississinewa, it suffered more than any of the stricken cities through
which the angry, swollen waters of the Wabash flowed.
"This probably will be the last message you will get from Peru," said
the man who telegraphed to Governor Ralston on March 25th, asking for
coffins, food and clothing. "Two hundred or more are drowned and the
remainder of the residents are waiting for daylight."
AT ONCE TO THE RESCUE
Governor Ralston immediately communicated with State Senator Fleming at
Fort Wayne and asked him to forward the coffins and other supplies as
requested.
When the messages of distress from Peru were sent forth South Bend and
other cities sprang nobly to the rescue. They found the people half
crazed from exposure, want and fear. One of the rescue party who made
the trip in the first boat that entered the city said:
"The cry to be saved from those who saw the first boat was heartrending.
Some of them threatened to jump into the water if we did not take them
aboard. But it was impossible with the scant boat supply to take all
away at once."
THOUSANDS MAROONED
Relief parties from South Bend were the first to arrive on the scene.
They found hundreds of people huddled together in the court house
square, which was three miles from the nearest dry land; hundreds more
were marooned in the upper stories of buildings already rendered unsafe
by the high water. There was no heat, no light, no water, and sanitary
conditions were horrible. The only motor boat had broken and it was too
dangerous to venture into the raging torrent in rowboats. This made it
impossible for the South Bend relief volunteers to get blankets and food
to the sufferers.
TALES OF STRUGGLE
Death faced hundreds of persons who were clinging to the roofs of
buildings, where they sought refuge. Currents of muddy water from ten to
twenty-five feet deep were running through the main streets at twenty
miles an hour.
Harry Lumley, a despatcher, lay on a table all Wednesday in the Peru
station of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad, which the water had
invaded, and kept open the line for relief trains.
Dr. W. A. Huff, a dentist, started to South Peru with an unknown man
Tuesday night. The boat capsized and Huff lodged in a tree, where he
remained until Wednesday morning. His condition was critical.
No effort was made to count the dead. "Our energies are being devoted
entirely to saving those still living," said Lieutenant-Governor
O'Neill. "It is impossible for us even to try to learn the whereabouts
of the bodies just now."
A VIGILANCE COMMITTEE
Citizens, finding lawlessness in every block of the city above water,
organized a vigilance committee with orders to shoot looters.
On Wednesday night several thousand persons were still marooned in the
court house, hospital, factory buildings and other structures because
the various relief parties sent from South Bend and other cities had not
sufficient boats to carry them to the nearest dry land. Snow was falling
heavily and the suffering was intense, because of the lack of heating
facilities. The city was in darkness, except for a scant supply of
lanterns.
FAMINE AND DISEASE
But the height of the flood had been reached. On Thursday the water was
receding three inches an hour. It had fallen four feet since the
previous morning, but the current was still so swift on Canton Street
and in South Peru, that it was impossible to investigate in rowboats the
district in which the heaviest loss of life was supposed to have
occurred.
There were three inches of snow on the ground and it was still falling.
Recovering from the flood, Peru organized to meet greater menaces,
famine and disease. At a meeting in the courtroom at the county
building, Lieutenant-Governor O'Neill was chosen head of the committee
on organization.
Hundreds of persons marooned in the second stories of their homes
appealed to passing boats for food, fuel and water. Fishermen seized
some of the boats and were taking the curious sightseeing. Persons who
appropriated boats and tied them up were arrested.
There were 500 persons at the Bears Hotel in Peru. Their only fire was a
grate in the lobby. Two meals a day were served. The water had receded
so that a Lake Erie and Western relief train was pulled up to the
canning factory in the northeast part of the town and took out 200
persons marooned three days. They were taken to towns along Lake Erie.
It was estimated that 2,000 persons had left the city and were being
cared for in towns and school houses to the north. The relief committee
discouraged the influx of people who came to Peru to see and eat, as
there were more mouths to feed than there were provisions.
Lieutenant-Governor O'Neill remained in Peru to insure whatever aid the
state could give the sufferers. He ordered the Indiana Board of Health
to send experts to make the city sanitary. These specialists had the
co-operation of city and county medical societies and a score of
physicians who came from other cities.
[Illustration: Copyright by George Grantham Bain.
Scores of strongly-built bridges like this throughout the flood
districts were carried away by the raging torrents]
[Illustration: Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
When the waters of the Hudson overflowed, hundreds of men, women and
children were trapped in their homes near the river bank and were
rescued with difficulty]
TWELVE BODIES IN ONE HOUSE
Twelve bodies were recovered in a single house in the southern part of
Peru on Friday. This was taken to indicate that the loss of life in that
section of the city was great, as it was there that dwellings were
completely submerged before the occupants could vacate.
"It is impossible to tell how many lives were lost at Peru," said one of
the rescuers.
Six survivors were suffocated in the overcrowded court house. The
weather had turned severely cold, adding to the misery of the
unsheltered, but the flood was falling rapidly.
Terrible conditions prevailed among the refugees, who were increasing in
numbers, as the waters receded. Sanitary conditions among the hundreds
sheltered in the court house became so bad that boats removed many of
them to other places.
GREED ABROAD IN THE CITY
The water was rushing back as fast as it came, leaving a coat of mud and
slime. It was from this that the great danger of disease existed. The
state board of health combined with the Peru board to help clean up.
Relief workers and city officials joined to investigate statements
concerning exorbitant prices for foodstuffs, and proposed to expose
every merchant attempting to make money through the misfortunes of
others.
Several looters were arrested and others shot. One robber was shot by a
citizen, who threw the body into the river.
The work of rescue was greatly impeded by the selfishness of residents.
An Indian of the Wallace circus secured a boat and charged people $200
before he would help them off. Instances were told of men who drew
revolvers on the men and boys working in the boats, threatening to shoot
if they did not take them in.
REFUGEES URGED TO LEAVE
Railroad officials and the relief committee urged refugees to accept the
hospitality of the municipalities north. They hoped to be relieved of
temporary care of 3,000 persons by sending them out of the city.
Two railroads were bringing plenty of provisions within a half mile of
the city, but the boats could not transport rapidly enough to the center
where the supplies were being distributed.
SEARCH FOR THE DEAD
Systematic search for the dead was made, and the appalling early reports
of hundreds of dead continued to shrink, although it was believed that
the search would probably reveal more. The diminution was due to the
discovery in the hills on the other side of the Wabash River of hundreds
of persons who had been given up as dead.
The streets were strewn with dead animals that had begun to decay in
some sections. An epidemic was feared. One of the greatest obstacles
which the people faced was that of ridding the city of the dead animals
and filth in the low sections around the edge of the city proper into
which disease-breeding filth had been washed.
Water still covered these low sections, and seemed likely to remain
there for a long time. There were few sections around the valley that
could be used for burning dead animals.
Citizens and officials who were becoming alarmed at the new danger
estimated that at least 500 dead animals were strewn about the city of
Peru alone. Most of them had to be fished out of the water wherever
found, and it seemed an impossible task.
SHAKING OFF DESPAIR
Slowly the city began to shake off despair and repair the damage done.
The property damage totaled $3,000,000. The Broadway bridge went down
when a large house lodged against it and in turn carried away the Union
Traction structure.
As Peru emerged from the flood it became apparent that the death list
probably would not run over twenty-five.
The indirect death list as a result of the flood, however, went much
higher, as scores of aged men and women, who for hours were forced to
undergo terrible exposure and later to endure unsanitary conditions,
perished soon after they were rescued.