two
wholesale drug establishments.

Throughout the night fires lighted the sky and illuminated the rushing
waters. Fifty thousand people were jammed in the upper floors of their
homes, with no gas, no drinking water, no light, no heat, no food.

[Illustration: Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
The flood at Watervliet, New York, showing buildings torn from their
foundations and floating down the stream. Great damage and untold
suffering resulted]

[Illustration: Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.
Rescuer leaving one of the houses in the flooded district and removing a
family to safety]

THE CREST OF THE FLOOD

The crest of the Dayton flood passed about midnight, but the next few
hours allowed no appreciable lowering in the water. Wednesday morning
brought little hope of immediate relief to those who spent the night in
horror, however, and it was feared that the number of drowned had been
greatly increased during the twelve hours of darkness.

Cloudy skies and a cold drizzling rain added to the dismal aspect of the
city in the morning. The temperature fell steadily all night, and when
daylight came the thermometers showed that it was only three degrees
above freezing. The condition was welcomed, because it was expected that
a hard freeze would aid materially in holding back the innumerable
tributaries of the flooded streams and assist the earth in retaining the
moisture that had been soaked into it steadily for the last five days.

By ten-thirty the water depth had lessened about two feet. All stores
and factories in the main part of the town were flooded to a depth of
from eight to ten feet. Numerous residences and smaller buildings
collapsed, but any estimate of the property loss was impossible.

A morgue was established on the west side of the city, and efforts to
recover the bodies and aid the suffering were pushed as rapidly as
conditions permitted. Relief trains began to arrive in the stricken
towns.

Adjutant-General Speaks, with a small detachment of troops and a squad
of linemen and operators, left Columbus early Wednesday in an effort to
reach Dayton. The attempt was made by means of motor boats and
automobiles in the hope to establish adequate telegraph or telephone
communication with Dayton.

MARTIAL LAW ESTABLISHED

A message from Governor Cox ordered the entire Ohio National Guard to
hold itself in readiness to proceed to Dayton as soon as it was possible
to enter the city.