While the flood was raging, hundreds of fires which started throughout the flooded States were left to consume millions of dollars worth of property, and to destroy many lives, because of the inability of the fire-fighters to get near the burning buildingsCopyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.While the flood was raging, hundreds of fires which started throughout the flooded States were left to consume millions of dollars worth of property, and to destroy many lives, because of the inability of the fire-fighters to get near the burning buildingslink to high-resolution image
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.While the flood was raging, hundreds of fires which started throughout the flooded States were left to consume millions of dollars worth of property, and to destroy many lives, because of the inability of the fire-fighters to get near the burning buildings
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President John H. Patterson, of the National Cash Register Company, third man from the right, directing the work of rescue at Dayton, Ohio. Through his magnificent skill as an organizer, and his coolness of mind, scores of lives were saved that would otherwise have been lost, and a great deal of suffering was alleviated by his prompt measures of reliefCopyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.President John H. Patterson, of the National Cash Register Company, third man from the right, directing the work of rescue at Dayton, Ohio. Through his magnificent skill as an organizer, and his coolness of mind, scores of lives were saved that would otherwise have been lost, and a great deal of suffering was alleviated by his prompt measures of relieflink to high-resolution image
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.President John H. Patterson, of the National Cash Register Company, third man from the right, directing the work of rescue at Dayton, Ohio. Through his magnificent skill as an organizer, and his coolness of mind, scores of lives were saved that would otherwise have been lost, and a great deal of suffering was alleviated by his prompt measures of relief
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A central morgue was established at the Probate Court building, and as fast as possible identifications were made. Many of the bodies thus far recovered, however, presented difficulties in the way of identification.
Colonel Zimmerman reported that boatloads of provisions continuously were going into the still inundated districts. Milk for babies and medicine for invalids were not forgotten by the rescue squads. Governor Cox solved the problem of getting milk for Dayton's babies by confiscating in the name of the State the entire output of the Marysville dairies, and having it sent to the stricken city. The state also seized two cars of eggs at Springfield found in a railroad yard and sent them to Dayton.
PATTERSON CONTINUES NOBLE WORK
The dead bodies were placed in coffins as soon as they were identified. These coffins and decent burial for the victims were paid for by the President of the National Cash Register Company, who footed most of the bills in the tremendous and efficient work of relief.
The weather was bitter cold, but the rain ceased to fall. Thousands of survivors who spent two nights marooned in buildings without light, heat or food on Friday night slept in warm beds.
CHAPTER VThe 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.
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 andshot 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 tobe 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 ofperil 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 weatheris 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 peoplewere 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 sailorshad 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 manyrefugees 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 candlesgiven 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 almostready 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.
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 safetyPhotograph 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 safetylink to high-resolution image
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
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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 awayCopyright 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 awaylink to high-resolution image
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
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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 6P. 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 8P. 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 manhad it that he was halted near Main and Third Streets shortly after 2A. 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 2A. 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 anyone 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 whenfound 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 supplieswere 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.
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 DaytonNews, 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 theplans 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 Governmentfor 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 institutiondisclosed 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 thedifferent 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.