The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1850-05-18
Destructive FFeshot -Ash-
burnham and Fitchburg.
Destruction oi Eaoio,i,s. Ddnr. Bu1g,a and
Loas oL TIno Lirta.

ff''if wv ffNff ~ tf'fHif ff'.H ''ff''
Loss Of T,oo Lirs,
A, nlrrti ,,',.i,,.l, Yesterday -H,e,p,ag,- a
lnlg -lLslnn4L III A1hurlhlm. cnllrd ilC
''iinrkhutn Reservoir pu,c way, iu cousu.
gucuCc probably Of the heavy uu- Of sun
day. doing pteal- daInaP Pnla Iiraf4s'iy H!l-il','
WV down tu Iuchhutg, q distance of sever
al miles. At Ashhurnhnm, thc blackburn
Suuuci Wmp Min was boilJ tndhg,d thp
d5m, whcri huu~r, ,yirrri, hoiltt-toe~e, NB'i
rorrcr Of the ndl were CARVED nwHy, The
uHrhiuc- orihc Mill WIRE not much dumng.
'rd, thourh The mll WINS hndlN flooded. The
Worcester Sp, ihu- sUcuks ut the ra,agcs oT
thc foud-ui Ashhuruhuur
"'Ibo dam oi the NnukCug cotton Factory,
the first 'hrlow the reservoir, gave wHN Ht opc
cud, aud the bnru of the Curpornliou wus
swept from ilS foundation. Tho water here
rose, before the hfrHking Of tile dam, To the
height uf four or hgo feet round the Factory,
aud The iemnlr operatives we're rescued tS
icmpornty hridccs.
Below the NrUtrbg mctory, Etuuh thr Inn
merry ol Newell y Flrirhes, ,CuldwrllS Elltss
Pal Factory, the saw aud grisJ mit NJ Mr.
Day, n large chuir aud whcclwriphi shop,
The cahiuci shop, of Mr.. Horace Black,
the blacksmith shop ut &. VI. Proctor
all which were surrcssiVrly swept a.
way. Wiuchcster's chair shop was partly
swept oil, RUd Iie fohd ifom A.hhuruhhm io
Fiichhurg badly uplou, Al BHckhnrn'-
cotton factory, uilr below A-hhuruhnm
Centre, three OF four dwellng.h"usrs were
swept away, and also the Duuslcr mills, still
lower down.
Al Rockville. a yillngc Of Tichhurg, ns we
learn from Mr. Whtcomh of Bigclow's Ex-
press, the cotton and wooden mills Of Col.
lycrs Phillips were both swept AWAY, tpCcth-
&C with the cdrc-toul factory of otEdwdNhitc.
A. this f,l-t,--. ttl- there paK store occupied
hy IA Mr. Carter. There were at the time ot
the frcshct uhrcc persons in the building who
feltth flooring giving way, and llrmpcd tnf
their lives. Mr. Cutcr afterwards sGtnrncd
for his books, but, finding the flood incrcas-
ing, and the building nbout to fall, hc throw
them from him. and Jumped into The Glen oT
nn apple tree, 10y which he was saved. Up.
nn-ILr- -nlher side of the river Mr. Cnttcr's
dwelling house swcp; away, Mrs Carter just
escaping with her life.
In the lower part of Fitchburg the wntcr
was three feet deep,nnd IN some places WON
on and children were taken from the houses
in the arms OF men and conveyed TO n pluce
orsafeiv. The following letter, dated Fitch
burgh, May 6ih, Win wtdCt VIZ hUvu- br-rr
favored, will give some information ns to the
disnstCr;
Gentlemen 81 have to record a sad disaster
to our town. 10y the giving way of the Ash
burnhum Reservoir early this morning, do
ing immense damage to properly situated
upon The banks of the river below. Every
privilege is more or less a sufferer. Col !.
Philjps loses both wooden and cotton mill.
We arc considerable sufferers. Il has ear
ricd off our waste house. demolished our long
dry house, aud carried off considerable wool.
Il has carried away about twenty feet of the
cmbankment Immediately adjoining our dam
The dam itself seems secure, and the bridge
over it. is standing. OF course We can do
nothing until the cmbnfkmeut is fixed. We
consider ourselves very fortunate in getting
oflas well ms we do. Our loss is in the neigh
borhoud of $1,000.
An emhankmeqt ontho Vermont and Mas
sachusetts Railroad, n mile above Fiichhurg,
was So much quilted nv the torrent ms 10 stop
the running nflhc irnius, ;ut this damage
wns prampty rrpGis"d. aud The rond was in
GOOD order ths morning. But.Qlc IUo~t1nrl-
auchuly part olthr disaster = the loss of two
lives. IL appears thnt man named Snmu-
cl Roberts and hoy named Brooks, put out
into the swollen stream nj Fuchhurg, IN IA
boar, with view Of srNing some of the lnrge
dunutirics Of drift wood that were lnntlnc lay.
They were warned before starting of the
danger uc the attempt, but turned deaf ear
10 all rcm0TsITanccE. tfhTy hUri Trurrrtt
reached the centre Of the stream when the
waters roming down with increased force,
swept the boat towards the dam.
The scene was watched 10y numerous spec
tators from tho shore, who saw the two IN.
fartuuatrs nearing the fall despite their dos
pcraIe efforts 10 arrest their course. Se'eFal
persons went to u jntting point amt HttrrrrTrr-
ed 10 arrest the progress of tho boat, bur IN
whit went over the dam, turning bottom