Joseph C. Schaf, one of the investigators for the committee, said: "The flood victims are helpless. They need money and need it immediately. The men are trying to hold their jobs and let the women clean up the homes, and it is a disheartening task for which many are not physically able. Give them money immediately so they can pile their water-soaked mattresses and other furniture in the street and touch a match to it. That will give them new heart." Mr. Schaf increased his donation by $1,000, and several other members of the committee did likewise. CHAPTER XV THE ROARING TORRENT OF THE WABASH A BITTER TALE OF DESTRUCTION--MANY PEOPLE DRIVEN FROM HOMES--ALARMING CONDITIONS--THE PLIGHT OF KOKOMO--THE HOMELESS IN WABASH--DISTRESS OF LOGANSPORT--MILITARY CADETS AID IN RELIEF--NEW DISASTER AT LAFAYETTE--A SECOND HORROR IN TERRE HAUTE--THE RECEDING WATERS. Bitter was the tale of destruction in the valley of the Wabash River and its tributaries. A traveler journeying over the Wabash Railroad on Easter Sunday would have seen only the usual quiet little towns of the Middle West; three days later, if he could have looked down over the same territory he would have seen nothing but a raging torrent sweeping through the region like some fiendish monster devouring and destroying as it pursued its mad course. He would have found the entire Wabash Valley, including Logansport, Wabash, Lafayette and Peru, a desolate scene, its scores of prosperous cities absolutely paralyzed and cut off from the outer world. Telephone and telegraph wires were down everywhere; trains were not running and roads were obliterated. MANY PEOPLE DRIVEN FROM HOMES As early as Monday, March 24th, northern Indiana had suffered severe loss, due to the heavy rains of the previous twenty-four hours, which had carried away bridges, stopped railroad and interurban traffic, flooded store basements, driven people from their homes along the river banks, and washed away houses. At Hartford City there were seven feet of water in the paper mills and the merchants had lost heavily from flooded basements. At Portland water was standing three feet deep in the center of the city and the loss to merchants from damage to goods reached $100,000. The wind, which followed heavy rain, cut a path several hundred feet wide. At Kokomo the light, heat, power, gas and water plants were out of commission and the river was still rising. The city was without fire protection; South Kokomo, with 6,000 inhabitants, was cut off from the main city. It was declared to be the worst flood known in Wabash since 1883; and rain was still falling. Hundreds of residents of the lowlands abandoned their homes. Interurban traffic was paralyzed. ALARMING CONDITIONS