, 1867-02-01
GREAT FRESHET.

,.rm rain, which rapidly melted the snow
=. tn. mountains and caused the streams that
80, thu Valley to raise far beyond their usual
,;,uds. The rain continued to descend all
-, uondsr aud through the night, until
-'.,,,v morning, when Mill Greek was found
assumed the proportions Of a river. Up to
80. ,;u,. hut little dAm%ge had been done be-
- III. washing away of wood Pilesand an oc-
.;o,,I out house, The rain continued to de-
"a an Tuesday, and as consequences the
h.esme more swollen. Mill Greek, about
-. ,,oo, town, ovsrAowed its highest banks,
-1,h, stream thus divided poured flood OF
1T, down along the liue Of Alder street, caus-
IA, considerable destruction OF proPer'V far re-
,,o,,A from ordinary high water. At the corr
"a, of Third and Alder streets, SO herce was the
...,, sor tims that it thrsstened to carry
.x,v Mr.. Linkton's warehouse, and with II
large quantity of grain. By great eIertien tue
..,,.nt Was turned into the bed of Alder streS.,
sga the ouIdIng escaped with litue damage oIh>
ar than the washing away of the foundations
and the consequent sinking of the structure.
Ts. only other damage of special note along the
,ios of Alder street was the filling of Mr.. VIM.
Phillips fre-prOOf cellar, in which was stored
+. stock Of stoves aud hardware, all of which is
damaged. All day on Tuesday and the greater
part Of Wednesday this portion Of the town pre-,
rented the appearance of lake, and persons liV-
ing beyond Alder street could only reach theiI
homes BY fording stream waist. deep. A tenn
porary bridge was finally erected over Alder
street, between Third and Fourth streets, which
for the time being proved great convenience.
Going back to the main channel of Mill Greek,
at AZ early hour on Tuesday morning, couple
Of small frame buildings, Immediately in the
rear Of the Court House, were surrounded with
water, and it was with some difficulty that the
inmates Of the houses were removed. Subse-
qu.utly both the buldiRgs were carried away,
l,sving the rear of court house exposed to the
full force of the raging torrent. This was the
condition Of affairs up to noon on Tuesday. As
already stated, the rain continued to descend
and As a consequence the vast volume Of water
was steadily gaining force. All along the line
Of Mil Creek out buildings were being carried
away, and the piles, which were pat down, at
great cost, for the purpose of confning the creek
70 its channel, were being forced up and drifted
away. Indeed the whole project of piling was
a useless expenditure OF moury, the piles having
proved worthless as protection. Wherever
bulkhesds had been resorted TO, as at the upper
,ud of Main street, they were found to answer
The purpose, and withstool the fury Of tAe tor
rent. The piiing which ex-Aiyor Thomas had
put down for the purpose Of protecting the rear
Of bis lot, soon gave WAY, and for time the rear
of hi' rasiierra uaa :" s-a,t d.nssr. by extra
ordinary eKer;ion, and putting in a bulkhead
composed OF gunny bags filled with gravel, the
fOrce Of the current was checked, AMI the main
building saved As it was, Nr. Thomas is a
d'aUy loser. Tuesday passed of without any
other material damage to note, although the
water WAS constantly gathering force. Through
OutTue'day night, the greater part OF our cti.
E'n' remained oa guard, expecting every mos
ssOt The bridge at the upper end of Main street
70 De swept away, and with it the deluging of the |
Business houses on Main street Fortunately the !
bridge rode out of the storm in safety, aud |
fOm this Fact the town, in great measure, |
owed Us safety. Early on Tuesday night, the |
rear part of the lot on which the Court House |
stood was washed away, and it WAS feared that
me enure building would be swept into the tor.
rent At about one O'Clock, on Wednesday
nofaing the back of the building gave way,
and the water tore through the timbers, but for
"na'ely the front held on, and thus we were
spared great calamity.
Dofing Tuesday night the bridge across Mill /
|'eekr at the intersection of Second street, was
'"eP' away, unfortunately without other dams
-Se' 10 tue course of the night the rear part
VI moneys bowling alley, which extended
ONeA 10 Mill Creek, was carried away, and with
young men who we're sleeping in the back
F'' Of the alley. The first they knew of their
ser 'nsy were floating down the stream. AS
luck would have it the wreck struck against a
N"u'OAnk' after having gone but a short dis
and the terrified sleepers. escaped without
'u olmculty. Early in the storm, the fire,
r'OO' ~ cellar Of NJ. Stevens, at the upper end of
street, was flooded, and the merchandise
'u therein considerably damaged. Nearly
P'SO's on tue OTeek 6uS-
D'u more or less damage from being flooded,
Will appear from the general statement of
s'' outside of town, we learn that all the
lge' on Mill Greek, as far up as Perkins
- were swept away The bridges over all
streams that put into the walla WaIla are
"pO''ed q, to be carried away, although possibly
''ePoft may be exaggerated. o. Wednesday
g. at an early hour, the water in the
"alla, even miles below town, marked
inches above the high mark of 1862, and
eloently,is tbe highest th lat has been known
q "s settlement of the Valley. As one of
OIS OF the fearful freshet, our mail com,
:, 'A''on was cut off from Monday to Thurs.
49,. Va Tuesday morning, the indefatigable
r., ''er' Joe Sanders, started out with the
s.. mall but was compelled to return, hav>
". s00e less than three miles from town. On
=, OAy heattempted to take the mail through
r.. ''eOack, but was again compelled to re,
on Tuesday, that knight of the whip,
A,. "A'd, succeeded in driving his stage
all