The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1864-04-14
CFrom the Sheffield Telegraph.
Terrible Calamity at Sheffield,
England.

A HN|HL - -..
A little before midnight on Friday last
one oftto se terrific disasters to which near.
" all the great towns In the north of Eng,
land are more or less exposed, happened at
Sheffield. The great reservoir Of the Shelf
field Water Ch1Hpany-a- reservoir nearly
100 acres in extent, and which held more
than a million cubic feet of water, suddenly
burst its embarkment and swept with the
fury Of another deluge down the arrow
gorge formed by the Loxley and Stanningion
Hills into Sheffield itself.
The reservoir which has been the cause of
these dreadful scenes is distant about eight
miles from Sheffield. The dam is a new One
indeed; scarcely cOmpleted-aAd was con.
structed not for purposes of general utility,
but for the special benefit of the mill own
ers, who are dependent, to a large extent,
uponwater power for the working of their
world-famed machinery. The embarkment
Ecrossed the valley, was q mile in length, and
presented q solid wall Of earthwotk and ma
sonry ninety feet high. Someidea may be
formed of the nor size Of this arti6-
cial basin from the tact that it was designed
to contain seven hundred millions of gai-
Ions of water. The work appeared to be
solid and good, but its appearance of mas
sive solidity was, however, belied by the
facts. About nine on Friday night, after
the engineers in charge had left, a farm la
borer, crossing the embarkment as a short
cut across the valley, noticed a crack in it.
He at once gave an alarm. and ran down
tn" valley to recall the engineers (Mr. Cur
son and another gentlcman), and he sue
ceeded in otertaling them. They returned,
bat thought the crack of little importance
in a short time, however, other signs pre-
scented themselves, ard they ~attPmpted!o
blow up a weir that crossed the dam at enc
end, in order to allow the water to escape.
While the men were engaged in laying the
charge, Mr. Cursor and his companion went
to the assure and crossed it. Gunson had
scarcely got clear, when the fissuro widenad
to a Tremendous creudSSe, and a portion of
the emharkment, ITO yards long BY 70 feet
deep, gave way at once, and the "world OF
water" rushed, with a prodigious roar, into
The valley below Tic enormous mass burst
down the hlilsides with n din like the hcavi.
est thunder, and the unhappy %cottiers in the
valley we're drowned in~stantdneously in
their houses, from which they had not the
slightest chance ofescnpe.
The full fury If the food spent itself on
the district Sing between the junction Of the
Loxley and the Rivelin and tile Necpsend
Bridge.
Solid and substantial buildings, work
shops, rows of houses, bridges, 6Vorythin n
that opposed the course Of the flood Yielded
before its overwhelming might. All we're
overwhelmed beieath tho mighty rush ofthe
waters. But the great loss ofp'operty sinks
into insigniGcsnoe When compared VITA the
awful less of hrman life. The enormous
volume Of water debouoLing from the gorge
at the foot of Loxley valley seems to have
divided itself into tao streams, which swept
With resistless force over the. hamlcts of Ma
lin Bridge and Hillsboroagh Whole fami
lies were swept away with their dwellings,,
and not u trace remained Of the thriving and
industrious artisans who sought their beds
on FRIDAY night, unconscious Of the dread
full fac that has so suddenly befsllen them.
In The darkness Of night, it could only be
guessed, from the fearful rnmors that came
from the lower part of the town, what 'he
scene there would be at daylight. The
morningot Saturday fully realised the worst
fears of the night
Further inquiries show that the number
missing exceeds any previous estimate.
There are 238 known to be missing; of these
there are l3l identified, sc not identified,
making 1877. Twelve bodies were found TO-
day in the submerged gardens i'll the town
The property owners DAMAGE by the HoGf
have held . meeting, and have resolved tt
take united action againstthe wa err com
pany. A clausein the company act pass
ed the year after the HolmfIih food, speci
6cally Fixes upon them the damage causec
by the failure OF giving way Of embanJ
ments or reservoirs on any of their works
The damage is estimated at halfa million
which is more than the capital Of the com
pany.