Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-06-12
Singular and Terrible Catastrophe.

A terrible and extraordinary catas-
trOphe occurred on the 24th April, on
the COnchO river, in Texas. Colonel
Merriam, of the Twenty-fourth infan-
try, was travelling from Ell PasO to the
Texan coast. They camped for the
night at the head of the COncho, which
is formed by the junction Of the rills
of water from several large springs,
which have been damned into ponds
by the wild beaver.
The stream at this point is so small
that a man can step across it any
where. The banks were twenty feet
above the bed of the water. Earlyin
the evening Colonel Merriam was
reused by the signs of an approaching
storm. The tent was fastened and
made secure as possible, and about 8
O'Clock a hail storm burst upon them,
accompanied by some rain and a
strong wind. The fall of hail was I'M
~pLecedented, lasting until nearly IL,
Sfe stones being Of the size of hen
dggs, and striking the tent and prairie
with a noise like near and incessant
musketry.
The Colonel, who was not Ignorant
of the sudden and extreme OverfOws
~ NLlCl LiAC AlOulAGl4 5AANSAAAD VI
Texas are liable, went out into the
darkness, rs soon as the storm had
ceased. to note what effect had been
produced on this rivulet. To his
amazement, he found in the formerly
almost dry bed of the creek, a resist
less torrent loaded and filed with hail,
rolling nearly bank full, whiteas milk,
and silent as a river Of DILL
He at Once saw the danger, and ran
back to the tent, shouting to the escort
and servants to turn out. He placed
Mrs. NJ, the child and nurse in the
carriage, and with the aid of three
men started to run with it to the
higher ground, a distance of not more
than sixty yards. Scarcely a minute
had elapsed from the time the alarm
had been given, but already the water
had surged over the bank in waves Of
such volume and force as to sweep the
party from their feet before they had
traversed thirty yards.
The Colonel called for assistance on
some cavalry soldiers who had just
escaped from the United States mail
station near by, but they were too ter
rorized to heed or to help.
Colonel Merriam then abandoned
the hope of saving his family in the
carriage, and tried to enter it in order
to swim out with them, but he was
swept down the ice-cOld torrent like
a bubble. Being an expert swimmer,
he succeeded in reaching the bank
about two hundred yards below, and
ran back to renew the effort, when he
received the terrible tidings that the
moment after he was swept down, the
carriage, with all its precious freight,
had turned over and gone roll
ing down the flood, his wife
saying, as she disappeared, "MY
darling husband, goodbye" The
tie rill of a few hours before, which a
child might step across, had become a
raging river, covered with masses of
drift wood a mile in width, and from
thirty to forty feet deep.
The bereaVed husband procured a
horse from one of the cavalry, and
rode far down the torrent, but could
see nothing in the darkness, and hear
naught but the wild sound of the
waves. So passed the long and
wretched night.
Before day the strange and mo-
mentsTy flood had passed by, and the
small stream sank to its usual size
and ran in its wOnted bed. The sad
search began. The drowned soldiers
and servants, four in number, were
found, and the body of the wife taken
from the water about three-fourths of
a mile below.
Not till three days after was the
body of the child found, four miles
down the stream, and a long distance
from its bed.
The carriage was drifted by the cur
rent about a mile, and lodged in a
thicket. The storm and flood are
represented as frightful beyond
description.