ering
from the daze of the Easter tornado, treated in another chapter, Terra
Haute inside of forty-eight hours faced its second disaster, when the
waters of the Wabash left the banks, flooding part of the residence
section.

The river was then rising at the rate of five inches an hour. Railroad
traffic was suspended and interurban traction service had been
abandoned. Residents of Taylorville, Robertsville and West Terre Haute
deserted their homes, fleeing before the approaching waters. Five
hundred homes were under water and the coal mines near the city were
flooded.

For two days the situation seemed to grow hourly more desperate. On
Thursday the river had reached a stage of thirty-one feet six inches and
was steadily rising. Four thousand persons were homeless, and those
whose homes were on higher ground were without gas or electricity.
Traffic was at a standstill.

THE RECEDING WATERS

But slowly the waters receded and the work of reconstruction was begun.
On down the river the disaster-bringing torrent traveled. Throughout all
southern Indiana the river reached unprecedented stages and hundreds
were driven from their homes. Railroad lines were covered with water
through many counties, and on March 31st the river was reported forty
miles wide between Upton, Indiana, and Carmi, Illinois.

CHAPTER XVI

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 exposu