The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-10-03
FROM WARRINGTON.
Terrible Destruction Of Property
The Wharyes Submerged Prison
erS Removed from The Station.
house EOn@ Bridge Dan-
aged The Chain Bridge
rGyeta-Supp0sed
H.0Sl IF life.
Loss of life.

Loss of Life.
| ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH.1
! WASHINGTON, ID. c., Oct. 3, 1870.
One Of the greatest floods ever known in
| this vicinity has prevailed since Friday
| night, but is now slowly subsiding. 1t is
| impossible to estimate the extent of the
| loss in damage to, or the total destruction
| of, property. Along the river front of this
| city the damage is very great, the water
in many places being several feet deep in
| houses. Most of the wharves are over
flowed, and the planking to many of them
has been lifted, and will require considera.
bic repairs after the water falls to make
them safe.
The Southern mail boats wharf and Calls
| and Browns wharyeS are all under water,
some lumber and wood has been lost.
Wreckcrs arc at work collecting drft-wood
and timber.
Every house OH the line of the canal has
been more or less filled with water, and the
back water ran up and through the streets
two or three blocks. Back water from
sewers has filled cellars to the depth of one,
two, and three feet in many if not all the
houses on the south side, and numerous Gel
lars on the north side of Pennsylvania ave-
nue., between Sd and 18th streets, andin some
eases the damage is very great. The south
ern portion Of the lower market-house was
flooded.
Persons living in that portion Of the city
south of the canal, or desiring to go to or
from there, were carried in vehicles, the
water being several feet deep near the
bridges. The guard-house was completely
isolated, and the few prisoners taken to or
from it have been compelled to wade across
the well-flooded street in which the house
is located.
Long bridge, across the Potomac, is Sc
riouSly damaged, the brick abutment be-
tween the draws having been washed away,
and at one time it was feared the bridge it.
self would be carried of. The water raised
to within few feet of the bottom of the
bridge, and the current was very swift.
The Chain bridge over the river at Little
Falls has been washed away. A large guam
tity of the debris has lodged against Long
Bridge. Two men who were crossing at
the time are supposed to have been lost.
The banks of the Chesapeake and Ohio
canal have been broken, and the damage
thereby is immense.
The low lands along the river are covered
with water. The backwater in the sluices
on the sides of the river to its mouth has
devastated the lands over which it flowed,
and the late crops, which were in pros:
porous condition, are nearly all ruined.
Crowds of people gathered to look at and
watch the various objects of interest that
were endangered by the rapidly rising and
switt-running waters. the Long Bridge
being the principal object Of attention.
The damage to the Orange and Alexan-
drla railroad, as FAR as heard from, amounts
to the washing away of four bridges, ut an
estimated loss OF $50, 900. 3 ~ =
No tran has arrived from Lynehburg
since Wednesday night, but trims run
through regularly from Front Royal to
Alexandria. / ~
IT'S learned here that the bridges oyer the
north and south forks OF the Shenandoah
have been washed away, and the rise ofthe
river is more rapid than has ever been
known before. The mills and houses on Its