The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-09-27


Dessracsivs Fsssd In PhiladelphIa- Less 81
Lifs-Ruin or dwellings and Business Es.
tabllsAnaenss.
The fhiladeaphia papers, Of Saturday, give full
particular Of the destructive Auod that swept over
portion Of that city on Friday morning. ~ o
wards were almost literally submerged The Co.
hockslnk creek over esnowed its banks aud flooded
above thousand houses. The Press says:
Houses were thrown down, trees. lamp. posts
ure'pluGs, FENCES pAvoMenta wagons, aud vAlus.
BILE property OF every description, swept away by
the irresistible current Large masses Of lumber.
carried for squares. The wster In some places was
nearly nine feet deep The passenger cars on the
SECOND and Third streets, Fifth and Sixth streets
and Fourth and Eighth streets railroads coui.
pelied TO discontinue their trips.
In some cases the passengers were obliged to stand
ON the seats OF the cas to prevent their getting wei
because Of the maB Of water which coursed Its
way through the cara. boAts and RATS were used
In transporting the frightened inmates from the
flooded buildings to places Of safety. Ia some in
stances the police officers were Obliged t" swim Tor
their lives to get out of the way Of the moving
maas OF fnrnitare and lumber courAng its way rS
for help arose from the bubbling waters. Large
numbers of persons suffered har.breadih escapes
frown drowning, and being crushed by faliin 9
buidings The food was ~ unexpected AS its con
The origin Of the food has been traced TO vast
body of water accumulated west of the Lamb
Tavern road, In the 2lst ward and the usual chau.
mel being obstructed by the lodging of large quan
titles Of lumber in the aperture of bridge the
Lamb Tavern road. the water soon carried away
the opposing obstacle and rushing over the remain
ing abutmsns Of the bridge precpta itself with
overwhelming force through the low country lying
west Of the NorrlstoWn railroad So great ths
force Of the immense volume of water thus push
ing itself forward that In what seemed to be only
q few minutes, II hsd crossed the bridge at Broad
street, above Turner's lane, and apparently in.
creasing velocity, carried away q portion Of the
embsnkmsnt immediately west of the Norristown
railroad. Dsshing under the bridge at that point,
and speeding over the intervening space, 1t poured
forth IN irresistable current through the streets
aud byways Of the l7.h and 10th wards spending
Its remaining force along the Delaware front.
The average height of the water in some streets
was about i've feet and It's extreme height i'll many
places along its devastating course was nine feet
In many cases the ground floors Of dwellings were
covered 10 the depth Of two three feet aud when
the water had subsided, q bed of sliDy mad was
left behind, la which the lower extreu,iies of
erything, animate or inanimate, were totally in-
visible.
LOSS OF LIFE.
The Inquirer has the following:
The tsnemsnts Nos. ,s30 .:s.. snd ,,;si, N
Sixth street. were occupied respectively by Geo
Weidman, Peter Wolfe, AID Christine Seholler.~
They were three stories height, tho end ous
q Hf4) being exposed Ia The torrent " hieb rushed
down from the northeast. When the water had
entered the cellar, and commenced To accumulate
upon the door, two persons were watching its pro
gress These we're Kate Scholler. fifty years oi
age. aud Christine Seholisr, her daughter. TLs
last named urged her mother to 90 To The house Of
q nsighbor, but without success She then depart
ed Alone. Soon after the building fell with terri
bic crash. At late hour woTkmen we're seeking
tor the body of the cid woman.
The house adjoining, No. ] a32 cl',u. bled nI
al IA
on the lower hooT, having just been left by theiI
mother, no had gone TO secure bosrd for them ai
neighbors Their nsmes were Mary, Wilte
NINA, and Ere deres Volt, ana their sges respect
lively seven, ten, and twelve years. Thsif death
must have been almost instant isne0,ls although
strange to ssy, the bodies OF TWO OF them presented
not the slightest diseolorat,on hratse The head
of the third y as crushed by ia Hing door snd he
srNs broken. The coTpses werc conveyed to the
residence Of George Hinger. No 20; Sixth street
sud placed upon bed in the front room. The ap
pesrRnes Of the bodies was sngnarly natural, and
death seemed only like 4 sweet sleep which had
overfAkeu the children in their pastime. Ths
Mother was almost insane wit grief
The Inquirer estimates tbs dar1sse al 2i) 900
The Press sets it down at million of dollar
The B4llesia says
It Ii estimated thai not less in.n t~., hnndI Sd
buildings have bssn mule OF less damaged. Some
totally destroyed. while othera that sill
standing will have to be taken down Tha damage
IL furniture aud goods is very great. hundred;
of houses lad wsier from few inches to seve1g
feet in depth upon thsiT first fiooEs majority o
the dwellings, THAI were desolatai W ere occupied
by poor working psopie, and the i"ss ia!ls very
heavily upon thean
The flood soou subsidized Al ils city. leaving be
hind it bed of soft mud, " hch spread over ths
streets aud ming Sled with the melancholy wreck d
houses sud furniture. The loss the city in ian,
aged psvemsuts, eulverts, bridges lamps. and uthe
public property, will be great
The loss OF life thus Tar known was roui1iei IL
i've children-iwo drowned and three killed by Ia,
fall OF houses. Many Psopie were hurt.