Miami County, Indiana - Chapter 19: Miscellaneous History, 1914

Chapter 19: Miscellaneous History

First Flag in Miami County - Lawlessness - A Vigilance Committee - Petition to Phesident Polk - Early Prices and Wages - The Stranger's Grave - Trading Wives - Queer Real Estate - Some Prominent People - Political Meetings - Temperance - Disastrous Fires - A Stormy Summer - Historic Floods.

In these clays, when United States flags can be purchased at almost any dry-goods or department store, at prices ranging from five cents to fifty dollars or more, it may seem strange to the reader to learn that the first flag ever used in Miami county was not made until ten years after tlie county had been organized. In 1844 a number of young people began planning to celelirate tlie Fourth of July and soon discovered there was no flag to be found. Now, a celebration of the "Glorious Fourth" without a flag would l)e like a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet with tlie character of Hamlet missing. In this emergency the young men agreed to buy the material if the young women would make a flag. The girls agreed to the jiroposal and through this cliannel came the first flag to ^liami county.

The young men who contributed toward the purchase of the goods w-ere Oliver Adkisoii, James Potter, Coleman Ilenton. William Smith, Charles Spencer, Aljihonso Cole, Samuel Driver and a cousin of his also named Samuel Driver, James M. Stutesman, John Ilartpence, Daniel Tyler, John Aveline and E. H. Shirk. When everything was ready the following yoiing women assem])led at the home of Louis D. Adkison on East Third street, in the town of Peru, and there with needles, in the good, old-fa.shioned way, constructed the flag: Harriet Henton, Maria Ilenton Thayer. Mary Bruce Paine, Elizabeth Bruce, Louise Crane, Elizabeth Shields, Henrietta Randall, Mary Cole Miller, Hannah and Letitia Seville. When tlie flag was finislied it was turned over to George Winters, the Loganspoi't artist, wlio i)ainted the eagle upon it and also the white stars upon the blue field.

liam A. McGregor read the Declaration of Independeiiee; a choir that had been organized for the occasion rendered patriotic airs under the leadership of Barney Zern, and Alphonso Cole was the orator of the da,y. After the celebration Oliver Adkisou was made the custodian of the flag, with the understanding that it should never be used at a political demonstration - a stipulation that has been sacredly kept through all the three score and ten years since the folds of that banner were first kissed by the breezes on July 4, 1844.

"When Oliver Adkison left Miami county for California in 1852. he turned the flag over to James T. Ilenton. who took care of it for fifty years. In 1902 Mr. Henton placed it in the hands of Frank M. Stutesman, whose parents at that time were two of the three survivors that assisted in making the flag in the first place, the third survivor being Mary Bruce Paine of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Mr. Stutesmau is still the custodian of the flag, which is carefully kept from moth and dust, a cherished relic of the first Fourth of July celebration in Miami county. The constellation upon this old flag shows twenty-four stars - the number of states at that time in the Union. Then all that vast domain west of the ^Mississippi river, with the exception of IMissouri and Louisiana, was either subject to territorial form of government or in the hands of the Indians. Now it is made up of sovereign states and the constellation on the flag consists of forty-eight stars.

While some young men and women thus contributed of their time and means to the construction of a flag representing law and order as well as liberty, unfortunately not all the early settlers of Miami county were of that character. During the latter '30s organized gangs of horse thieves infested the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan and a few of these lawless individuals found a lodgment in what is now Perry township, Miami county. Horses stolen in Ohio and Indiana were taken to Illinois, and sometimes as far west as Missouri, where they were sold. The perpetrators of the theft, with the assistance of their abettors in the western states, would then return with other horses to the northern part of Indiana and Michigan, where the animals were disposed of to the settlers, often at remarkably low prices, an incident which in itself was calculated to arouse suspicion. These gangs were so well organized. the members always armed and ready to use their weapons upon the slightest provocation, that the settlers found themselves unable to cope with them.

As the time passed the success of these liandits led them to a.ssinne a bolder attitude and to commit their depredations almost openly and with tin- greatest impunity. Highway robberies were I'retiueiitly committed and travelers eomiug into the country for the purpose of buyiug hiud learned to carry ai-ms for their defense and never to travel alone if it was possible to find a companion that could be trusted.

About 184U, or perhaps a little before that date, a quantity of counterfeit money came into circulation in the Wabash valley. It was learned that the counterfeiters had formed an alliance with the horse thieves and that the headquartei's of the allied gangs were at the house of one John Van Camp, a mile or so west of Gilead. Several efforts were made to rid the country of their presence, but the gang could never be apjiroached unawares. It was believed that a lookout was kept in some tree top to give notice of the approach of any one of unfriendly appearance. Thus matters went on until the gradual increase in the number of settlers had a tendency to render the gang more cautious. Some time in the '4:0s a stranger came into the neighborhood and soon became affiliated with the outlaws. His resourcefulness was such that he quickly won tile eontidence of the thieves and counterfeiters and became one of their most trusted m( lubers. This man was really a detective and when he was chosen to conduct a robbery in Alarshall count.y, managed to give infornuition to the atithorities at Rochester. Nearly all the bandits who took part in that robbery were captured and several of them were sent to state's prison.

This checked the depredations for a time, but in a few mouths operations were resumed. By this time, however, there were a number of honest, law-abiding citiwns in the county of Miami, who organized themselves into a vigilance committee, determined to break up the gang at all hazards. Every member of this committee was given authority to arrest any suspicious character, or at least to cause his arrest by the proper authorities. Poinding themselves confronted by a band of determined men as well organized as themselves, the ma.jority of the desperadoes sought a more congenial climate. The few that remained contented themselves with disturbing religious meetings, throwing stones through the windows of dwellings and the commission of other acts of equally annoying andpetty character.

In 1853 a man named Jlyers was arrested for passing counterfeit money and though he made a defense his guilt was so clearly established that he was sentenced to the penitentiary for a long term. This seems to have ended the career of the outlaws in Miami county. It is said that Dr. B. H. Sutton, who was the first physician to locate at Gilead, was one of the leaders in the organization of the vigilance committee, and was otherwise active in ridding that part of the county of undesirable characters. After serving part of his sentence, the man Myers was pardoned, upon a petition signed by many of his former neighbors, and he was never again known to indulge in any overt acts against the laws of his country or the welfare of the community.

Twelve years after the organization of Miami county an incident occurred that had a potent influence upon all its subsequent history. In order to make this incident more clearly understood, it is necessary to go back to the time when the "Big Reserve" of the ]\Iiami Indians was opened to settlement, immediately after the treaties of 1838 and 1840. The reserve was reported to be one of the "richest spots in Indiana" and was not long in bringing to it a sti^rdy. honest and industrious class of citizens. On account of the representations concerning the great fertility of the soil, and the desirability of the reserve as an agricultural district, it was with great difficulty that a homestead law - or, more correctly speaking, a preemption law - was obtained in 1845, giving settlers the opportunity to purchase the lands at two dollars per acre. Money was a scarce article among tho.se who had already located upon the reserve, but most of them felt confideut that the.y could eventually "pay out" and secure the title to their homes. Most of the money in circulation on the frontier came from payments made in the construction of the Wabash & Erie canal and from the sale of peltries. Settlers would sometimes make a journey back to the old neighborhood from which they had come to borrow a few dollars to finish payment on their lands.

While the pioneers were struggling with these conditions they were further handicapped in paying for their lands by failure of crops and a great deal of sickness in the years 1845-46. Still these hardy frontieramen went on, hoping for better health and better times, when they could finish paying for their farms and give their attention and industry to the development of the country. Their optimism received a severe shock in the spring of 1847, when it was learned that the president of the United States had issued a proclamation ordering the immediate sale of the Miami reserve lands "for cash only." It has been intimated that this proclamation was largely due to the influence of speculators, who, seeing that .some day the lands would be of considerable value, and knowing the circumstances of the inhabitants hoped to get possession of the reserve, upon which they could ultimately realize substantial profits. Whether this be true or not, the proclamation struck terror and dismay to the hearts of the settlers, who saw that if the orders of the president were carried into execution many of them would lose all the labor they exerted in estaWishiu;,' ii home in the wilderness. In this exigency word was sent out calling tlie settlers to meet in Peru for the purpose of taking such action as might he deemed hest undn- tlie cireumstanees. At that, prelinunary meeting it was decided to prepare a iietitinn and forward it to the president without delay. On June 12, 1847, an ad.journed meeting wa.s held to <u\opt the petition. One petition was presented by John U. Pettit, afterward .iudge of the eireuit court ; one by Andrew J. Harlan, of Orant county and member of Congress from his district; and one by James B. Fulwiler, of Peru. The Fuhviler petition was adopted liy the meeting. It was as follows. :

"We, the undersigned, beg leave respectively to repi-esent to your Excellency, that we are settlers upon the lands known as the 'Jlianii Cessions,' in Indiana: that we are not ignorant of the extraordinarxcost of these lands to the government, mainly owing to extravagant representations of their value by distinguished men whose foot-prints liave never tracked the soil ; that, to the serious prejtidice of .settlers, it has coiitinuicl 1o be represented as immensely valuable, and surrounded by a highly developed and densely populated country; thus creating and fostering that bitter sectional prejudice whicli manifested itself ill iiinvdiitid hostility to the passage of the late preemption law. That these I'cjiresentations have been made at random and without a knowledge of the country, and that the impressions which prevail abroad in regard to the \Mirtli of the lands are incorrect, must sufficiently appear by reference to the maps and field notes of the surveys. Instead of meriting the i-eputatioii of being the 'garden of the state,' a cognomen gained for it by strangers to its quality and strangers to the surrounding country, it is. in fact, a body of ordinary land ; the choicest portions thereof having been reserved by individual Indians by treaty stii)iilations. and these, together with numberless tracts selected by the state for canal purposes, compi'isc nearly all the best land and most desirable locations. That the adjacent country, instead of being densely pojuilated and valuable, is, in truth, sparsely settled, and its unimproved lands will scarcely command the minimum government price. That a large majority of the present occupants of the territory settled thereon i)rior to the passage of the preemption law, knowing that in the event of its becoming state land, they would have the benefit of easy and extended payments, and hoping, should it become Federal lands, that their iiiiprovements. in case of their inability to purchase, would not be taken from them with- out remuneration. That, were it possible to blot out these improvements and transform the country into its primeval state, the condition in which we found it, our honest convictions are that not one-half the tracts, now rendered valuable by our labor, could be sold at their minimum rate.

' ' Permit us further to represent that the number of families occupying this territory, as actual settlers, is nearly two thousand, the value of whose improvements will probably average three hundred dollars each, and of this number not more than two hundred will be prepared to avail themselves of the benefit of the late preemption law; unless the sale shall be postponed until the fall of 1848, affording time to realize the proceeds of the labor of the present and succeeding years. Unless the sale shall be thus deferred, the consequences will be that two hundred settlers will be able to secure eighty acres of land each, which will bring into the United States treasuiy the inconsiderable sum of -$30,000. Eighteen hundred will be unable to buy and must necessarily lose $540,000 expended in improvements, while the sale of these lands, on account of the inipi-ovements, will add to the national exchequer $288,000, selling at the minimum rate of two dollars per acre, which may be the case, when the settler has not the means to compete with an organized band of speculators.

"In view of this state of facts, the proclamation of your Excellency designating so early a day for the sale of these lands has given rise to the most lively emotions of regret in the breasts of those for whose benefit the late preemption law was enacted, and we have spontaneously laid aside our implements of husbandry and have congregated together for the purpose of imploring, at the hands of your Excellency, a postponement of this sale.

"We came here as pioneers of a country usually come, in humble circumstances, manj' of us having large families claiming support at our hands; have suffered the privations incident to the settlement of a new country, our labor and the products thereof have been absorbed in opening our fields and erecting our cabins, and the general sickness which has prevailed to a fearful extent for the past two years, producing an incalculable amount of human suffering and destitution, has swept away the means that otherwise might have been spared to secure at this time our wilderness homes - homes which are dear to us, not on account of the superiority of the soil, nor in view of their desirable localities, but because we have reclaimed them and rendered them valuable by the sweat of our brows - because of our labor, highways and communication now traverse the wilds where a short time ago the trail of the Indian ventured not - homes rendered dear by social and domestic ties, and thrice sacred as the burial ground of departed friends. Yet, if this application for postponeineut fails, the homes of eighteen hundred families who have thus contrilnited their toil and treasure to render them valuahle, will pass into thr hands of heartless speculators, and these families will heeonie houseless, homeless, dispirited wanderers after new fields of lahor for a subsistence.

"In concluding this appeal, your Excellency will permit us to say, while we are sensible that no ordinary circumstances, at this crisis, should be allowed to clu'ck the flow of money into tiie national treasury, we at the same time feel confident that the voice of humanity, though it comes from the wilderness, will not plead in vain.

"Therefore, we ask. if within the scope of executive discretion, that your Excellency may cause the sale of the 'Miami Cessions' to be postponed, at least until the fall of 1848 oi- until after the next Congress shall convene, anil your petitioners will ever pray, etc.

Copies of the petition were circulated with all i)ossibIe speed through the counties of Miami, Cass, Howard, Grant and Wabash and were promptl.v si,!j;ned by several thousand settlers in the "Big Reserve." The i)etition was then hurried to Washington, and upon its arrival there was not intrusted to any less a personage that President Polk himself. After reading the petition and listening to the messenger who lu-ought it to liim. lie rescinded the order for the sale of the Miami lands and in this way the homes of some fifteen Irandred families or more were saved fi-om the rai)aeity of land speculatoi-s. Had the president refused to listen to the plea of the petitioners the history of Miami county might be diff'erenfly written in this year 1914 - eighty years after its organization.

Within recent years a great deal has been said and printed in the public press about the high cost of living. But a comparison of prices now with those of the early days shows that the pioneer did not possess very great advantages over the people of the present generation. Market reports, published in the Peru Forester soon after it was started in 1837, show that the settlers were then paying much higher prices for staple articles than are paid now. The merchants of that day handled only a few of the necessaries of life and these had to be hauled long distances on wagons before they could be placed on the shelves and offered for sale. One of the old market reports referred to quotes brown sugar at

20c per pound ; loaf sugar, 25o to SOc ; candles, 25c ; nails, 10c to 15c ; according to size; tea, $1.00 to $1.25; coffee. 20 to 30e ; calico. 20c to 50c per yard; unbleached mu.slin. 16c to 25c ; bleached muslin, 20c to 30c; flour, $11.00 to $11.50 per liarrel. Women's shoes could be bought for $1.00 to $2.00 per pair, and men's boots (few men wore shoes in those days), from .$3.00 to $5.00. Most of the boots and shoes were made by local shoemakers from leather tanned in the country tanyards. On the other hand the things the farmer had to sell, because of the restricted market, commanded low prices. Beef sold at from 5c to 7c per pound; pork, from 6c to 7c; butter, from 18c to 25c; eggs, 12Hc per dozen; chickens. 37ii;C per pair.

Owing to the scarcity of money, the merchants gave long credits and took a large part of their j^ay in such produce as could be hauled away and exchanged for goods. Laborers received from 50c to 75c a day in wages, and mechanics, such as carpenters and masons, from $1.00 to $1.25. During the winter months the settler added to his income by trapping fur-bearing animals, frecpiently selling as much as one hundred dollars worth of skins in a season. While the Wabash & Erie canal was under construction many of the pioneers found employment for themselves and their teams, thus earning a little "ready money." After the completion of the canal the prices of store goods decreased slightly and the prices of farm products increased about in proportion, bringing better times to the inhabitants of the county.

In the spring of 1830 a number of homeseekers came to what is now Miami county. Among them was a man named Eli ]\Iacy. from Wayne county, Indiana, who spent a day or two at Miamisport. One morning in June he announced his intention of swimming the Wabash river, in order to pursue his .iourney. The June freshet was then at its height and there w'as a high stage of water in the river. Despite this condition and the warnings of the settlers, he mounted his horse and plunged into the stream. Unable to stem the .swift current, both horse and rider were carried down stream some distance and Mr. IMacy was drowned. His body was buried on the bank of the Wabash, near the spot where he lost his life, and the place was marked by a rough ashler. For three-quarters of a century this stone was pointed out to visitors as "the stranger's grave." In the spring of 1908, when preparations were commenced for the dedication of the city park, the Peru Commercial Club decided to erect a more suitable monument in the place of the rough stone that had marked the spot for so many years. Accordingly a neat shaft of Bedford limestoiK' about I'igliteeii iiiclu's s(|uare aiul five feet liigli was placed over the grave. On the west side of this inonuinent is the inscription :

Eli Macy June, 1830

On the east side is tlie simple inscription: "Erected by Pern Commercial Club. 1908." The monument stands immediately east of the city park, on the bank of the Wabash river, and marks the scene of one of the earliest tragedies of ^liami county. Young and full of ambition, Eli Macy left the friends and associations of his early life to establish for himself a home in the Wabash valley, only to lose his life in a rash attempt to cross a swollen river, and there is something pathetic in the name bestowed n])nn liis last resting |>la('i' - "'Tlie Stranger's Grave."

.\mong the early settlers in Allen lownshi]) were two families named Adams and TIernsberger. who built their cabins near each other and between wJiom a neighborly friendship soon became established, it was not long imtil Sir. Adams began to show a fondness for Mrs. Tlernsbei'ger's society. The attachmeiil was mutual and an elopement was planned, but .Mr. Ilernsberger was on the alert and overtook the runaways before they had jjroceeded very far on llieir journey. Instead of creating a disturbance, or showing a desire to wreak summary vengeance upon eithe!' his wife or her paramoui', .Mi', lli rnsberger in'()])osed that if ^Tr. Adams would give him Sli-s. Adams and a .siiudl sum to boot, no further oti.iection would be ot1'ei-cd to the el()i)ement. The trade was accordingly made and an old seftlei- used to tell tlie story, adding that they "lived happily ever afterwards."

It seems hardly probable that sm-li a transaction would be tolerated. even in the mast ])i-imitive comnuinity. The story seems to be well authenticated, however, and as the court records of the eounty were destroyed by fire a few years later it cannot be learned whether the divorce courts were called into requisition to legalize the "swap" or not.

In Book B. page 545. Miscellaneous Records, in the county recorder's office, is a document dated September 30. 185-t, in which J. F. Reynolds mortgaged to Milo S. Felt "the following real estate in iliami county, State of Indiana, described as follows, to-wit : the undivided one-half of canal boat 'Golden Gate,' teams, furniture and tackle belonging to said boat," etc.

It certainly requires some stretch of the imagination to regard an undivided interest in a canal boat, mules and furniture as "real estate," but it does not appear that any technical objections were ever raised by the mortgagor, or that he refused payment when the obligation fell due.

A number of ]\Iiami county people have held positions of trust and responsibi]it.v under various national administrations. James N. Tyner, more extended mention of whom has been made elsewhere, served three terms in Congress and was connected with the United States postal service from 1874 until his death, holding the position of postmastergeneral for a time under Grant's second administration.

Ira B. Myers, who was active in promoting the interests of the old Workingman's Institute along in the '50s, was afterward United States consul at St. John's, New Brunswick.

John W. O'Hara was admitted to the bar in Miami county in June, 1888. He took an active part in political atfairs and was for a time United States consul-general at Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, South America. He afterward was appointed consul at Santos, Brazil, and in both these positions his ability as a diplomat was demonstrated to be of a high order.

Henry Sterne, one of the partners in the firm operating the Peru Woolen Mills in their early history, held the position of United States consul at Budapest, the capital of Hungary, in which position he acquitted himself with credit and served until his death.

Mrs. Oren, better known in Miami county as ^Irs. "Wesley Haynes, was the first woman to hold the office of state librarian in Indiana. She was long resident of Clay township. Subsequently two other Miami county women held the position of state librarian, viz.: Mrs. Emma Davidson and Miss Eileen Ahern. who was a teacher in the Peru public

William II. II. .Millrr. Uw several years a law partner of Benjamin Harrison, at Indianapolis, was located in Pern as superintendent of the public schools for some time before his removal to the state capital. When Ml'. Harrison was elected president in 1888 he appointed Mr. Miller his attoi'iiey-general.

James F. Stutesman, a native of tlie connt.y, was admitted to the bar at Pern in October, 1893. The next year he was elected to the lower house of the state leg:islatnre and was subsequently appointed TTriited States minister to Bolivia, Honth America. In 1913 he was appointed a commissioner to visit the South .\merican reiinblics and securi' their cooperation at the Panama Exjiosilion at San Francisco in 1915.

George B. Lockwood, who is mentioned elsewhere as an author, was for some time secretary to Congressman George W. Steele at Washington, and afterwards served as private secretary to Governor W. T. Dnrbin and Vice-President Charles W. Fairbanks. Before he attained to his ma.iority he was appointed court I'eporter of the Miami circuit court and was the youiiKcst court reporter ever in Indiana. He is now the editor of the Indkinu State Journal and the Muncie Preas, both papers being published in the same oflSce at Muncie.

In the educational field Fi'aiik Fetter, Ph. D., has an almost worldwide reputation. After graduating at the Indiana State Univer.sity he received the degree of Master of Arts at Cornell. He then went abroad and took his Doctor's degree at the University of Halle, Germany. Returning to his native land, he was an instructor in Cornell and Leland Stanford Universities for some time, when he accepted the chair of political economy and history in Princeton University, which position he still holds.

John DeHuff, another Miami county educator, was appointed a teacher in the schools of the Philiiipine Islands a few years ago and by his abilit.y and resourcefulness has risen to an important position in the educational system.

While Miami county has been well represented by large gatherings held by all the leading political parties in many campaigns, probably the two most noted rallies were in 1884. James G. Blaine, the R^^publican candidate for president in that year, visited Peru on October 21, 1884, and was welcomed by a vast throng of people. He was accompanied by a number of the leading Pe]inblicans of Indiaiui and the day given over to speech-making:. The newspapers of that date refer to the meeting as one of the greatest rallies ever given by any party in Miami county.

When the Democratic leaders iu the county learned that Blaine was to visit Peru they immediately began preparations for a meeting that would equal, if not eclipse, the great demonstration of the Republicans. A liarbeeue was decided upon and the date fixed as October 23, 1884, only two days after the Blaine meeting. As this was the first barbecue ever attempted in Miami county, it attracted wide attention. Uniformed clubs and bands came from the surrounding towns and, notwithstanding the day was rather cold and raw, it was estimated that 25,000 people were in Peru to attend the barbecue. Colonel Josiah Farrar was marshal of the day and among the speakers were Thomas A. Hendricks, the Democratic candidate for vice-president, and Joseph E. McDonald.

^laik Twain, in his "Roughing It," tells how great gatherings and processions in a western mining town were for years compared with the inimber that turned out to attend the funeral of Buck Fanshaw. So in Miami county for a number of years the number of persons attending a Republican rally were compared with the attendance at the Blaine meeting, and Democratic gatherings witli tlie great barbecue of 1884.

There has always been a strong temperance sentiment in iliami county, notwithstanding that during the early years of its history there were several in operation within its borders and whisky was both plentiful and cheap. In the earlier agitation of the question the Sons of Temperance had a few organizations iu the county and in later years the Independent Order of Good Templars, whose members were pledged to discountenance the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, was strongly represented in all the principal towns. During what is known as the Murphy, or '"Blue Rilibon" movement, a great temperance revival was held in Peru. Hundreds signed the pledge and wore the blue ribbon as a badge of total abstinence. Several years later Mr. Murphy, the originator of the movement visited the city and conducted a series of temperance meetings.

In 1908 Governor Hanley called a special session of the state legislature, which passed a local option law, providing that any county in the state might, at a special election called for the purpose, vote to discontinue the licensing of saloons. Under the provisions of this law Miamj county was one of those that "went dry," a special election having been ordered by the commissioners on ]\Iarc]i 8, 1909, for Tuesday, March 16, 1909.

In the ahsenop of adociiiatc records it is impossible to o;ive a eoinplete account, or even the exact date, of some of the tires that iiave occurred in the county. The first disastrous fire in Peru was that when the west side of Broadway from Thirtl street 1o the alley south was entirely wiped out by the flames. This was about 1870. The buildings in that section were all of frame construction ;uid tiie oidy fire-fighting apparatus at that time was the old hand engine, whieii was inade(|uate to the demand. After trying for a time to extinguish the Hames tiie dej)artment turned its attention to saving the adjoining buildings and preventing the spread of the fire. The loss was heavy and the origin of the fii"e cannot at this late day he ascertained. Within a short time the entire block was rcliuilt. the old fi-aine structures being replaced by new ones of a more sulistantial character.

About midnight on .laiuiary 2. 1884, fire was discovered in Warner's store on South P>roMd^ay, opposite the Bearss hotel. The first floor was occupied by Warner's clothing store; R<>asoner & Loveland's law office occupied the front part of the second floor, in the rear of which was about $4,000 worth of goods belonging to J. V. Whittenberg ; and on the third floor was the hall of" the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Warner's loss was about .$5,000; Reasoner & Loveland lost about $500, most of the damage being caused by water; Whittenberg's stock was also seriously damaged by water; the Engineers lost about $150; Bouslog & Myers stationery store ad.joining was likewise damaged and the J. M. Stutesman building was injured to the extent of about $2,000. Other bu.siness houses in the vicinity were slightly damaged, so that the total loss was about $]r).000.

On Sunday. .Xovember 23, 1884. the store of Jacob S. Itanndls at Perrybui'g, with the greater portion of tiie stock of goods, was consumed by fire, causing a loss of $12,000, partly covered by insurance. The loss preyed upon -Mr. Rannells' mind until it is supposed his reason became un])alanced. Shortly after midnight, or almut 1 -MO a. m., on Wednestlay, December 3d, ten days after the fire. Mi-s. Rannells heard her husband call and entered his sleeping apartment to find him lying across the bed with a deep ga.sh in his throat, inflicted by bis own hand. On the table near by was a note which read:

Dr. Ager was summoned and ari-ived a few minutes before the unfortunate num breathed his last. Mr. Rannells had been in business at Perrysburg for some time prior to the fire and was considered one of

One of the most spectacular fires ever witnessed occurred on November 17. 1897, when three oil derricks and nine tanks of oil on the Dukes lots in the northwestern part of Peru were burned. The fire department responded promptly, but when the water was turned upon the fire it onl^' scattered the flames, the burning oil refusing to yield to the efforts of the men. This made the fire all the more dangerous and the men then undertook the work of saving the ad.iacent buildings, leaving the tanks and derricks to their fate. The flames rose to a height of one hundred feet or more and lighted up the country for a considerable distance, the light being seen for miles. About one thousand barrels of oil were consumed and the tanks and derricks reduced to ashes before the fire burnt itself out, the loss reaching about $3,000.

About 2 o'clock a. m. on Sunday. January 27. 1901. fire liroke out in the Emerick Opera Hoiise on East Fifth street, between Broadway and AYabash. and in a short time the building was a mass of flames. The damage to the building was about .$20,000. Among the tenants who sufit'ered severe los.ses were the Daily Chronich\ Griswold's confectionery store and Miller & Wallick's jolj printing establishment. For a time it looked as though the entire block was doomed, but by heroic efforts the fire department, assisted by a number of the citizens, succeeded in saving the ad.ioining buildings, though some of them were slightly damaged.

People living in the vicinity of Eighth and Wabash streets, in Peru, were suddenly aroused from their shimbers about four o'clock on the morning of Llarch 12, 1902. by the noi.se of two exj^losions, one occurring soon after the other, and the fire department was quickly summoned to the scene. The explosions were in a brick building, the lower fioor of which was occupied by Newton Sarver's meat market and the upper story by a family named Hays. It appears that ilrs. Hays awoke and smelling gas went into the kitchen and struck a mat<?h to investigate. An explosion immediately resulted, but no great damage was done. Mrs. Hays fled down the stairway, forgetting her child, but upon reaching the ground suddenly remembered and turned back for her baby. She had barely reached the ground the second time when the flames reached the leak in the gas pipes and caused the second explosion, which blew out the walls on three sides of the building. Next to this house was the residence of John H. JaniLson and just beyond it was the house of Frank Kiley. The Jamison family hurriedly vacated the premises, expecting to see the house go the same way, but it was not injured. The Kiley house was less fortunate. Within a short time after the second explosion in the Sarver hTiililiii<r llic sides of the KiK^v (Iwclliiiij were blown out by a third explosion, the cause of which remains a mystery. Mr. Kiley was found unconscious and his son, Frank. Jr.. was in.jured. The fire was easily suhdiii'd. but the loss by tlie explosions aninunte<l to aliont $4,000.

On March 14. 190"). a lire started in George Moore's bakery at .\ndio\- and for a time it looked as thonjih the town was ".'oinii: to be wi|)ed off the map. From the bakery it was eonununicated to John Little's meat market and from that to Edj;ei-ton's grocery. Herbert Cox's residence was the next in line of the flames and George Lewis & Sons' grocery was almost completely destroyed. The And)()y .Mercantile Company was threatened, but the citizens managed to save it. as well as other buildings, and after a .strenuous fight of several liours the fire was und(>r control.

Three da.vs after the Aml)oy tire the fine fai'm house of Frederick Roberts, about a mile south of the village of I'coria. with nearly all of its contents, was destro,ved l).v fire.

Several destructive fires occtirred in the count,v in the year 1910. About 8 o'clock a. m. on Saturday. January Stii. fire was discovered in the basement of the Endicott & Xesliit furniture store in the Louis Little building, on the north side of \Yest Third street, immediately west of the first alley west of Hroadway. Two business rooms were on the first floor, the east one being occupied b.v the furniture store and the west one, in which had been a motion picture theater, was vacant. The second floor was occupied by Company L. ThinI i-egiiiient. Indiana National Guard, as an armoiy. Just north of the alle.v at the I'ear of the i)uilding is the Wallace theater, which was in inuninent danger of destruction, but it was saved by the systematic work of the lire department. Endicott & Nesbit 's stock was practically ruinetl and the arniorv was so badl.v damaged that the military comjjany was .soon afterward disbaiuied. Some of the ad.ioining buildings were slightlj' scorched.

On the night of :May 4. 1010, Charles Ha.skett's barn, near North Grove was destroyed by fire, together with four horses, two mules, four milch cows, a lai-ge ([uantity of feed and some valuable farm implements. the total loss amounting to ovei- $3,000.

The saw-mill of Eisaman & Richer, at Denver, was completely consumed liy live on Monday. Jul.v 4. llHO, causing a loss of about $2,000. Several hou.ses in the immediate neighborhood were set on fire by falling embers, but the citizens succeeded in saving them from destruction by good team work. The owners of the mill lived in Peru.

On ^Fonday night. Se])tember 12, 1910, a severe electrical storm swept over the southern part of the count.v. Cyrus Crider's barn in ^Vashington township was struck by lightning and set on fire. A heavy rainfall saved the ad.iacent buildings, but the barn was completely destroyed.

111 the chapter of Finance and Industry mention is made of several fires in which factory buildings were damaged or destroyed, particularly the fire at the Howe factory on February 10, 1871, in which E. P. Loveland and John Cummings lost their lives.

Although thunderstorms are of no uncoinmon occurrence in the summer mouths, the summer of 1908 was one of unusual severity in this respect. On Tuesday, June 16th, a small-sized tornado struck the county near Chili, uprooting trees and doing considerable damage to buildings that stood in its path. John Tombaugh's barn, in Richland township, was partly unroofed and Frank Day"s barn was seriously damaged. Fences were scattered in all directions. The wind was followed by a heavy fall of rain and hail that beat the growing crops into the ground, causing a heavy lo.ss to the farmers.

On Saturday night following the above mentioned tornado a storm did considerable damage in Peri'y township. The barn on William Brown's farm, south of ilud lake, was struck by lightning and destroyed, with all its contents. Although the wind was not .so great as in the tornado of the preceding Tuesday, the rainfall was so heavy that growing crops were severely iii.jured by being beaten into the ground.

The southern part of the county was visited by a great storm on Sunday morning, June 21st, wind, hail and rain uniting to wreak damage upon everything that came in the way. The west galile of the Ihiited Brethren church at Waupecong was blown in ; a great deal of valuable timber on the farms of George Miller, John and William Sims was blown down ; few wind pumps in the path of the storm were left standing, and the growing corn and orchards suffered from the hail that followed the wind. Some damage was done in Deer Creek township, Init much more in Clay.

Another severe hail storm passed over Clay township and the southern parts of Washington and Butler townships on Thursday, July 9th. Vegetation of all kinds was beaten into the ground by the hailstones, which were of unusual size. Windows were broken, chickens and small animals caught out of doors were killed and the fruit crop was greatly damaged, thousands of young apples, etc., being knocked from the trees. Telephone and telegraph wires were broken by the wind ami hail and it was several days before the service could be restored to its normal condition.

The last really great storm of the summer occui'red on Wednesday night, August 12. 1908. and the northern part of the county suffered most from its visitation. Some damage was done by the wind, but the rainfall amouiitcd alinnst to a cloudljurst and flooded all tlic low fields ill a few minutes. Two washouts occurred on the Vaiidalia railroad between Denver and Logansport and all trains were sent around hy Peru over the AVaViash and Lake Ei-ie & Western.

The first fireat flood after the .settlement of .Miami county hy white men was in the spring of 1847, which is still remembered by old settlors. Although there were several floods during the next quarter ol' a century, the high water in the Wabash river did not reach the mark of 1847 until the flood of February. lS.s:5. On Friday, February 2, 1883, there was a heavy fall of snow, which turned to rain late in the afternoon. The groun<l was frozen so that the water could not penetrate it, the temperature rose during the night and the snow melted, adding to the volume of water that was forced into the streams over the frozen ground. By eleven o'clock on Saturday morning the Wabash railroad tracks were under water and the channel of the river was tilled with floating ice. Rain fell all day on Saturday and during the night it turned colder, the temperature on Sunday morning being only a few degrees above zero. When the peojile arose that morning they found the Strawtown pike under water from the bridge to the toll house, the Mississinewa pike was under water for a mile or more, and South Peru was inundated. Frank Henton and Lou Cole led a rescuing party to convey the people in lioats to places of safety. The back-water had extinguished the fires at the gas works and the people had to return to coal oil, and in some instances to candles, for their light. All along the river, on the high gi-ounds, could be seen little herds of live stock and the intense cold added to the suffering of both man and beast.

As frequentl.y happens in such eases, there was .something of a controversy among the old-timers as to which was the highest flood, that of 1847 or the one of 1883. Jesse S. Zern, G. L. Dart, Coleman Henton and 0. P. Webb maintained that the flood of 1847 was still entitled to recognition as the greatest in history, while James B. Fulwiler, J, D. Cox and Alexander iloss. the last named the most prominent colored man who ever lived "Peru, insi.sted .just as strenuously that the flood of 1883 broke all previous records. It appears that a mark had been made on an elm tree near the bank of the river and on Sunday night, when the water was at its highest point, some young men took a lioat and a lantern and went out to the tree to investigate. They claimed that the mark of 1847 was under water, but on Sunday morning ice was found hanging to the lindv of the tree about three inches below the mai-k, so that the advo-

A relief committee was organized and those who had been drowned out of their homes were given aid until the waters subsided, or even longer where it was necessary. Notwithstanding the local distress, the people responded liberally to Governor Porter's call for aid for the flood sufferers along the Ohio river, where hundreds of families were rendered homeless. Mayor Graham issued a proclamation calling a meeting for Saturday, February 24th, for the purpose of taking steps to act in harmony with the governor's call. Charles H. Brownell stated the object of the meeting and moved the appointment of a committee to act with the general relief committee and the Indianapolis board of trade. Mr. BrowneU was made chairman of the committee, the other members of which were James M. Brown, Charles A. Parsons, John Muhlfield and John L. Farrar.

This committee appealed to the charitably inclined people of the county and received a large quantity of supplies in the way of food, cast off clothing and other supplies, as well as some cash donations, all of which were forwarded without delay to the general relief committee at Indianapolis, or such other points as ordered.

Twice in the early part of the year 1904 the Wabash river broke over its banks and did considerable damage. On Friday, January 22, 1904, the river began rising rapidly and the floating ice threatened to carry the Union Traction bridge at the foot of Broadway from its abutments. The bridge was raised about fifteen inches with jackserews and chained, and was thus saved from destruction. Armstrong's meadow in South Peru was under water on Saturday morning, though the trees in that suburb east of Broadway were not entirely submersed. The cut on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad at Converse was filled with water and traffic was for the time abandoned. A portion of the Pan Handle Railroad along Big Pipe creek was under water and the train service all through the Wabash valley was irregular for several days. In fact, this flood was general all over the state.

The second flood of 1904 began on Friday, the 1st day of April. On Saturday morning the east end of Peru was threatened with inundation and families began to move out of their houses. Much of the trouble in this section was caused by the Mississinewa river. The Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville (now the Chesapeake & Ohio) Railroad, ran cars loaded with stone and scrap iron upon the bridge over the Wabash to prevent it from being carried away. The Union Traction bridge, at the foot of Broadway, was swept from its abutments by the torrent and demolished. No work was done at the Indiana Manufactur-

Ajrain a relief committee was organized to solicit and distribute aid. William Demuth. the treasurer of this committee, made his final report on February 24. 190:i. stating that his reason for the delay was on account of some of the subscribers being "a little slow in paying their subscriptions." According to his report the amount collected by the committee was $1,031.25, all of which had been disbursed in aiding the flood victims except $5.80. which amount still remained in his hands.

licgan falling early on Sunda.v. ilarch 23, 1913, and continued almost without intermission for more than thii-t.v-six hours. The Waliasli river iiegan rising early Monday morning, but no special alai'ui was felt until eight o'clock that evening, when the fire alarm whistles at the electric light station announced that the river had broken over its banks and that the i)umping station of the eit.y w-ater works would soon be submerged. The daily papers had previously informed the people what the signal would mean and as soon as the whistle was heai'd the citi/.ens hastened to fill every available vessel with water, thus providing themselves with a supply until the waters subsided. Before midnight the electric light station was forced to close by the flood and the cit.v was plunged into darkness. At da.vbreak Tuesda.v moi-ning thi' eastern part of South

Peni was under water aud as the i"iver was still rising at the rate of several inches an hour the people living in the west end of the town became alarmed. On Monday afternoon the back water from Bloomfield creek, half a mile west of Broadway, covered the fields eastward nearly to Pike street, and when the flood from the Wabash and Mississiuewa rivers broke over the Wallace road a few hours later it was only a question of raiiuites until the entire south side was submerged. Many of the residents of South Peru saw what was coming and began their preparations for removal on Monday evening. All that dark aud dismal night they worked to save some of their belongings from the ravages of the i-isiug waters.

Early Tuesday morning the members of the Peru Commercial Club saw the necessity for some measures of relief and a committee headed by Frank D. Butler was appointed by the president, J. T. Kaufman, to canvass the business district for subscriptions. The court house, the Dukes Hospital, the ^Masonic Temple, the liigh school building, and other places were made ready for the reception and care of those who were driven from their homes. A food distributing station was established in the public library and a number of private residences in the more elevated portions of the city were placed at the disposal of the relief committee as places of shelter for the refugees.

The flood reached its height on Wednesday morning at about 2 :30 o'clock. On Tuesday morning all of South Peru, eastern Peru as far west as Wabash street, all of Elmwood and North Peru were flooded, and on Broadway the waters had reached above Second street. They continued to rise rapidly and about 11 o'clock the Broadway bridge went out. carrying with it the bridge of the Union Traction Company immediately lielow it.

In the meantime the Associated Charities, under ]Mrs. E. W. Shirk, had begun the work of dispensing sandwiches at the court house, for many people who had left or been driven from their homes found it impossible to return to them and were in need of food. This work of feeding the people continued for weeks, or until normal living and working conditions were partially restored. Tliousands of all classes, at one time or another, had to avail themselves of the food here prepared.

By noon the water had crossed Broadway north of Sixth street and people living west of Broadway on Third and other streets, who had felt secure, inasmuch as the water had not risen quite to Third .street from the river, were surprised to see the flood pouring in upon them from the north, the waters, as it were, having executed a flank movement and attacked them in the rear. By 3 o'clock in the afternoon, all the streets of the city were practically submerged, with the exception of

|irrlia|)s a block or less each way from the junction of Main and Broadway, which proved to he the highest point in the business district. There were only a few isolated points in the city wiiich, like this, remained dry throughout the trying time. The Smith hill, on east Fifth street, was one of these places and hundreds of people were housed there, but on Fifth street only a few blocks west there were ten feet of water. The western part of the city did not sui¥er as nuich as the eastern. For half a mile ea.st on Main street the water was six feet deep and flooded the homes, while on AVest Main it was perhaps not more than two feet deep and invaded but few of the dwellings. Late on AVednesday afternoon the waters began to recede and by Thursday morning had fallen sutificiently for many people to wade out in rubber boots and make their way to the court house to assist in the work of I'clicf. Thousands of people had been eared for there the night before.

When the eastern part of South Peiu b(>came inundated on Monday night there were but few boats about the city. That night a few others were .secured from people in the vicinity of I'coria. .Among them was one owned and manned by Sara Bundy, a Miami Indian. It was about sixteen feet long and four feet wide, with a flat bottom, and well calculated to ride safely over the turbulent watei's. With this craft Bundy saved 162 persons. About 11 a. m. on Tuesday nineteen boats came from Lake Manitou at Kocliester, in charge of Clinton Ervine, and a few hours later forty-three more came from the same place, with a squad of skilled rowers under the leadei-sliip of the Knight brothers. Colonel Gignillat, commandant at Culver Academy sent one hundred boats manned by the Culver cadets. Seventy boats, including two launches, came from the Winona Agricultural College, with forty students of that institution as the life saving crews. Three life boats with their crews were sent down from the United States life saving station at iliehigan City and on Friday these boats established the first ferry to South Peru, which place had been cut off from the city for three days. All through the city, over the flooded streets, went the boats rescuing people from perilous situations or carrying supplies to those marooned in their homes. Without them the suffering would have been much greater and no doubt many lives were saved by the prompt action of the boatmen.

No railroad trains could reach the citj' for several days, a portion of the Lake Erie & Western bridge was carried away^ there was but one telephone line open to Indianai^olis. the Western Union had one telegraph wire open to Chicago, interurban traffic was abandoned, some of the cars being left standing in the flood, and for a time Peru was cut off from the rest of the world, especially on the south. On the north side the relief trains could come within a mile or two of the city and the l)oats did the rest.

South Bend has the honor of being the first city to render aid to the stricken Peruvians. It was ciuickly followed, however, by Rochester, Goshen, Elkhart, Valparaiso, Plymouth, Gary, Madison, Wisconsin, and Kalamazoo, Michigan, as well as a number of smaller places on the north, all of which hurried supplies to the flooded cit.v. On Wednesday an express train arrived from Chicago bearing two hundred mattresses, three hundred blankets, three hundred comforts and other supplies from the Chamber of Commerce of that city. The Bradley Knitting Company, of Delavan, Wisconsin, sent a number of knit caps and sweater coats. As soon as communication could be established on the south Amboy, Converse, Kokomo, Marion, Muneie and numerous other places extended a helping hand. Most of these towns had extended aid to South Peru while the flood was at its height. It is told of Albert Conradt, of Kokomo, but formerly of Peru, that when he was informed of the situation in his native town, he promptly replied: "Go ahead and get what the people will need at once and rush the stuff to them. Be quick about it and you may go as high as $5,000, which I will advance and run my chances of getting it refunded to me by the people of Kokomo."

At a meeting held in the court house on Thursday morning the following committees were appointed to carry on the relief work in a systematic manner: Executive, Frank D. Butler, Lieutenant-Governor O'Neill, R. A. Edwards and Rev. A. M. Bailey; Medical aid, Drs. L.

0. Malsbury, John E. Yarliiig and John IT. Spooncr; Finances, Jospph H. Shirk and Milton Kraus; Law and order. ^Mayor J. J. Kreutzer, Sheriff Frank Hostetler and Prosecnting Attorney H. C. Phelps; Publicity, J. Ross Woodring, Tlionias Walsli, James Costin, Omer Holman and other Peru editors; Food supply. R. II. Bouslofr, Joseph liery:inan, Fred Ream, C. A. Holden and Ed. Ream; Bedding and clothing, Dr. C. E. Rednion, Charles R. Hughes. John W. Volpert and Albert Callahan; Boats, C. Y. Andrews, W. S. Mercer and Timothy Dunn ; Sanitation of court house, Frank K. McElheny and Spencer Hammer; Transportation, Andrew Stehle and H. P. Loveland; Labor Bureau, R. J. Loveland and Harry Crites. Trouble committee, C. Y. Andrews, chairman.

A commissary department was established in the Grand Army room in the court house and a clothing supply room in the assembly apartment of the county superintendent's office. ^Fercer hall was also utilized as a food depot.

Altogether the relief committee received cash subscriptions amounting to nearly .^60.000. Of tliis $27,500 came from the Red Cross society ; -tS.OOO from the State of Indiana; about .$20,000 from local sub.scriptions, and the balance from miscellaneous sources. Of course, this does not include the value of food, clothing, bedding and other miscellaneous supplies, wiiich ran into thousands of dollars.

During the flood exaggerated reports of the loss of life were circulated. Eleven lives were sacrificed, the total dead being Mrs. Lou Stumm, Mi.ss Delight Shields, Mrs. James Ilossman. Roma, or "Red" JIays, Benjamin York, Peter Kellogg, Bert Smith, Adam Betts, Omer Friend, Harry F. Gintner and his daughter Anna. Mrs. Stumm, wife of Dr. Stumm, of South Peru, was rescued from a tree, where she had remained for many houre, and later was drowned on Spring street. Miss Shields was in a boat with a Miss Hesser and Frank McXaJla, when the boat was capsized. Her body was found near the mouth of Little Pipe creek. Roma Mays, a Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad conductor, was one of the heroes of the flood. For many hours prior to his death he had been engaged in the work of rescuing people with a boat. While bearing Mrs. Ilossman to a place of safety on Wednesday the boat was capsized in twenty feet of water about fifty yards west of the South Peru school house and both were drowned. The body of Benjamin York, a man about seventy-five years of age and a veteran of the C'ivil war, was found upon a dresser at his home after the waters went down. The clothing on the ui)i)er part of his body was not wet and it is supposed he died of exposure. Adam Betts and Bert Smith were drowned near the Chute & Butler piano factory. The bodies of Mr. Gintner and his daughter were not found until late Saturday afternoon, when they were discovered in the old canal near the north end of the Wayne street bridge, about one hundred feet from their home. It is supposed they were trying to reach the bridge when they were caught by the current and drowned. Peter Kellogg and Omer Friend were drowned at the Lake Erie & Western Railroad bridge while engaged in stretching a rope for the ferry.

A voliune could be wi-itteii uj^ou the conditions that prevailed in Peru during and immediately after the flood. On Wednesday about twenty members of the sanitary corps of the Indiana National Guard, under Captain H. G. Chittick, came to aid in protecting property and improving sanitary conditions. They remained until April 10th and rendered valuable service iu policing the city and aiding in the work of rescue. The law and order committee was assisted materially by the action of the saloon keepers, who voluutaril.y closed their places of business until the worst was past. The free employment bureau, under the control of the labor committee, found work for over six hundred people during the ten days of its existence. Ernest P. Bickuell, national director of the Red Cross, Dr. De Valain, a United States health officer, Frank Tucker, of the state pure food commission, and Miss Kagel and Thompson, two Red Cross nurses of Chicago, came to assist in restoring sanitary conditions and all worked together to that end.

A Peru newspaper, published a few days after the flood, gives the following estimate of the principal losses, but it is only an estimate : Indiana Manufacturing Company, .$250,000; the Hagenbeek & Wallace shows, the winter quarters of which were flooded, -$1.50,000; Broadway merchants, $.325,000; Miami county, $100,000; other factories. $100,000; Central Union Telephone Company, $65,000 ; Wabash Railroad, $20,000 ; Lake Erie & Western, $25,000 ; Chesapeake & Ohio, $35,000 ; the three interurban companies, $50,000. Probably 1,000 homes sustained damages to the amount of $500 or more each, and the total loss caused by the flood reached $2,000,000.

With a courage and fortitude rarely excelled, the people of Peru began the work of recovery immediately after the flood had passed. A few months later a special correspondent of the Indianapolis Star visited the city and wrote to his paper:

"Peru displays more gameness and talks less ahout it than most cities one can find with about 15,000 inhabitants. She takes her good and bad medicine alike and, although the dose may be unusually bitter at times, she makes no wry faces to indicate that she prefers the good medicine to the bad.

litiTiilly wijied off the map liy tho torroiits that surged down the valley of the ^Vabash. The town was all hut submerged, ouly a verj' small portion of the business district being above water. Other cities in Indiana were suffering fj-oni similar disasters, but it was conceded generally that, with few exceptions, the ilaniage left in the wake of the waters of the Wabash was more extensive than it was in other cities.

"The people of Peru saw their homes wiped out in a few brief hours, for tlie water passed over the town with alarming swiftness. Others more fortunate watched the murky waters invade their houses, ruining, in many cases, the lielongiiif^s thai had been procured as a result of .years of toil and thrift, and bitterest sight of all to them was to see the flood submerge the business district, bringing ruin to that section of the city of which everj' citizen was proud.

"The water receded, leaving in its path what seemed to be a hopeless task. Houses were overturned or w-ashed from their foundations. Every building was covered inside and outside with a coating of mud. Furniture fell to pieces when it was lifted from the sjjot where the flood had left it. Thousands of dollars' worth of mercantile stock was ruined, and there was no money to buy the new goods after they had been procured. Industries that formed the skeleton of the city's liusiness life were damaged, seemingly beyond repair. Everywhere there was ruin, and had it not been for a spirit of gameness Peru would have lost that part of her population that was free to move.

"Having I'ead accounts of the disastrous fiootl in Pern and having heard from all sides of the amount of damage to property, many persons in other cities have cause to believe that Peru is now a disabled community. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fact is that it is difficult to find traces of the flood, although only a few months have elapseil, since water was covering the town. The same bravery that was displayed by the citizens at the crest of the flood has been evident since in their efforts to upbuild the city. The business interests of the town cooperated to renovate the ruined stocks, and the citizens cooperated in repairing lionies and in cleaning their neighbors' premises. The result has been that Peru has eliminated practically all traces of the flood in the residence districts, anil were it not for the condition of a few bridges that were washed away it would be difficult for the stranger to realize that the city had ever been visited by such a calamity."

After the flood had subsided the Union Traction Company n-liuill its bridge at the foot of Broadway within a reasonable time. The wagon bridge at Kelly avenue, west of the city, was rebuilt late in the summer was not completed for more than a year after the tlood. This long delay or earlv in the autumn of ]!)!::!, but the new wagon bridge at Broadway was due in a great measure to litigation following injunction proceedings. A drainage engineer had been employed as an expert by private interests and the city to make a survey and report on the advisability of dredging, building levees and removing obstructions, with a view to preventing, or at least mitigating, destruction by future Hoods. Two factions quickly developed - one which wanted a new bridge "right away" and another which insisted upon waiting until the engineer had made his investigation and recommendations as to the kind of bridge, the number and location of piers, and the feasibility of widening and deepening the channel of the river. In the course of the discussion it was recalled that the Wabash was "navigable" at Peru - theoretically so at least - and that under a recent decision of the supreme court the stream was under the supervision and control of the general government. Consequently, those who wanted delay in the construction of the bridge, after being beaten in the circuit court by the "right away" element, appealed to the war department, which for a time did interpose and laid down certain restrictions as to the kind of a bridge that should be constructed. Congress was then appealed to and a bill was passed by that body authorizing the county to proceed, and the construction of the bridge was begun toward the close of the year 1913.