The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1870-06-18

remained; the very foundations were TORI
up, and huge holes Of incredible breadth
and depth bored by the furious eddles.
Where were the Inhabitants?
"Ransome stood and looked, and SHOOK
1 like n man in IN ague.
Little" said he, "this is awful. Nobody
in Hillsborough dreams the extent Of thi'
calamity. Idredd tie GQNn Of day. There
must be scores of dead bodies hidden il
this thick mud, or perhaps swept through
Hillsborough into the very sea"
A little farther, and they came TO the
Reindeer" where lie had. heard the
boon.Companions singing-oyer their
graves; for that night, long before the
"cock did craw, or the day daw," Their
mouths were full Of water and mud, and
not the charley bree."
To know their fate needed but glance
at the miserable, shattered, Quilted frag,
ment OF the inn that stood. There was q
chimney, and u triangular piece Of root, q
quarter of the inside Of one second-fOor
room, with all the boards gone and hall
the joists gone, and The others either
hanging down perpendicular or sticking
up at an angle Of forty-fve. TVen on the
side farthest from the flood the water had
hacked and ploughcd away the wall so
deeply, that the miserable wreck had q
jagged waist, no bigger in proportion than
| q WlSDS. .....
Not far from this amazing rum was
little two.storied house, whose four rooms
looked exactly Us four rooms are repre-.
sented in section on the stage, the front
wall having been blown clean away, and
the furniture and inmates swept out; the
very fender and tire-irons had been carried
away; n bird.Cage, clock, and agrate
were left hanging to the three walls.
AS a part Of this village stood on high
ground, the survivors were within reach
Of relief: and Little gave policeman or
ders 10 buy clothes at the shop, and have
them charged to him.
This done, lie begged RansOme to cross
tho water, and relieve the poor wretches
who had escaped so narrowly with him.
Ransome consented ut once; but then came
difflculty-the bridge, like every bridge
that the flying lake had struck, was swept
awny. However, thestrGam was narrow,
md, as they were already muddy, to the
knee, they found place where the mis-:
cellaneous ruin made stcpping-stones, and
by passing first on to piece OF masonry,
and from that to n broken water-wheel,
and then on to rock, they got across.
They passed the COiMGr's house. 1t
stood on rather high ground, and had got
off cheap. The water had merely carried
away the doors and windows, and wash
cd every movable out fit. .
Ransome sighed. "Hoor Shi(ty" said
Ihe; "you'll never play us another trick.
What an end for man Of your abilities l.,
And now the day began to dawn, and
that was fortunate, for otherwise they
could hardly have found the house they
were going to.
On the way to it they came on two
dead bodies, an old man OF eighty and o
child scarce week old. One fnte had
united these extremes Of human lie, the
ripe shcaf and the spring bud. 1t trans
pired afterwards that they had been
drowned in different parishes. Death,
that brought these together, disunited
hundreds Poor DOlman's body was
found scarce mile from his house, but
his wifc's eleven miles on the other side of
Hillsborough; and this wide separation OF
those who died in one place by one death,
was constant, and a pitiable feature OF tue
tragedy.
At last they got to the house, and Little
shuddercd at the sight Of 1t; here not
only was the whole front wall taken out,
but part of tho back wall; the Jagged
chimncys of the next house still chung to
this miserable shell, whose upper floors
were slanting sleeves, and on its lower was
deep layer of mud, with the carcass OF
huge SOW lying on it, washed in there
all the way from Hatfield village.
Tho people had all run away from the
house, and no wonder, for 1t seemed in
credible TINT it could stand single mo-
ment longer; never had ruin come SO close
to demolition and then stopped.
There was nothing to be done here, and
Ransome went back to Hillsboroughr
keeping this side of the water.
Daybrcak realized his worst fears
between PomG Bridge and the first
suburb of Hillsborough the place
was like battlefield; not that many
had been drowned on the spot, but that,
drowned all up the valley by tho flood ut
its highest, they had been brought down
and deposited in the thick layer Of mud
LEFT by,t abating waters. -.---=,s-rs-.-
Some were cruelty mashed and man
glcd by the hard objects with which they
had come in contact.
Others wore peaceful expression and
had color in their cheeks, One drew tears
from both these valiant men. twas a
lovely little girl, with her hands before
her face to keep out the sight Of death.
Here and there, u hand or ghastly face
appearing above the mud showed how
many must be hidden altogether, and
Ransome hurried home TO get more assist
ance to disintGr the dead.
Just before the suburb OF Allerton the
ground is II dead fiat, and here the flying
| lake had covered Il space mile broad,
doing Grighttul damage to property but
not much to life, because wherever it cX-
pandcd it Swallowed in proportion.
In part of this flat gentleman had a
beautiful garden and pleasure grounds
over night they were now under water,
and their appearance was incredible; tho
flood expanding here and then contract
ing, had grounded large objects and len
small ones floating. In one part Of the
garden had landed large whcat-rick,
which now stood as il it belonged there,
though it had been built five miles oft.
In mother part was an inverted sum-
mcr-housc and huge waterwhcel, both
of them great travellers that night.
In the large tish-pond, now much fuller
than usual, tiOatCd whcclbarrOw, n hNir
mattress, an old wooden cradle, and an
enormous box or chest.
Little went splAshing through the wa
ter to examine the cradle: he was richly
rewarded. lie found little Child in II
awake but perfectly happy, md enjoying
the tluttering birds above and the buOyanl
bed below, whose trcaChorous nature was
urkrou,D IN him This incident the rc.