The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1873-08-28
WATER-SPOUT.
Great Destruction of Property.

three O'Clock till a quarter past five, was
the most copious. To those who were iu
the hardest part Of the rain it was an en-
tirely new aud wonderful experience and
their concurring verdict is, Il never saw
anything like it before" 1t is somewha,
remarkable that the very hard rain only
visited semi circular belt of territory
about mile and half wide, from four to
six miles to the southeast of this city,
leaving Allentown with only a usual
summer rain. Below we have noted re
suits as far as it was possible to gather
them.
An eye witness describes the effect of
the rain at Guthsville, for two hours, as a
deIugiug of the village The streets were
stream of water two or three feet deep,
the cellars of the houses were flooded and
in several instances the first floors were
overhowed Fences were torn down and
washed away, out houses displaced, gar
dens and shrubbery destroyed and the
ground from the street washed out leav-
lug considerable gulches and excavations
The uuimportaut and nameess brook
! flowing through the village. was swollen
into broad stream. Mr.. Joseph Guth
suffers loss of about $4,000, by his own
estimate, in the washing of hides out of
all the watts in his tannery, aud the gener-
af>devastation of his premises The roads
between Guthsville aud Allentown with
in two miles Of the former place are wash.
ed out to great extent in various places,
and will have to be repaired at a consid-
erable expense.
At the stone quarries of Mr.. Ephraim
Siegcr, near Siegersville, the force of the
food washed stones and debris, from the
quarrics into the road running by, to the
thickness of from two to three feet aud
the distance of block aud half. The
water pouring into the quarries resembled
according to the statement Of one W no was
present, small Niagara. Near the house
Of Mr. Nathan Sieger, a portion of road
that had been Macadamized was washed
out so that it will have to be thoroughly
made over.
At half past FIVE O'Clock Tuesday after
noon, the water was So high in Cedar
Greek that the road between Griesemers
tavern and the hill this side, was impass
i6ie. The fences are down on both sides
Of the road between the stone bridge and
the hill. At twelve O'clock Tuesday night
the waters had subsided, and the creek
was down to nearly its usual proportion.
ID the afternoon between FIVE and six
o'clock, Hiram j. Schantz, ESQ. stood
above his mill at the head Of Cedar Greek,
and without any apparent cause he was
turned around twice by some invisible
force. What it was he can not divine, for
he felt no wind. A moment after he no
ticed body of water FIVE or six feet high
rushing towards the mill from above,
coming from direction where no creek
rau, and which was the water of water
spout which it is said descended near
Crackersport, and rushed across the fields
carrying fences before it. lie ran to the
mill and notified the hands to open the
gates which was done. A culvert under
the road to convey the water to the mill
was washed away and about one half of
the saw-mill, including the water wheel,
was destroyed In the house the water
covered the lower floor, soaking the car
pets The beautiful yarJ attached is com
pletely ruined, logs and lumber were wash
ed away. and the total loss to Mr.. Schautz
will reach $4,000.
The dange to the Poor House property
is iuconsiderable, the fence being the only
thing which suffered.
All the plank bridges along the stream
arc gone, and Mr.. b J. IIagenbuck, who
was out there this morning, describes the
scene as frighrful.
Solomon Griesemer's loss will be about
$3.50. The loss to the tannery of VIM. S
Young, Esq is not of much account, the
new building having been great protec,
tion from the food. The tannery, however,
suffered some damage from the overflow
iog of vats.
The store at ChapmaD's Station was
flooded and sheds were washed away. The
goods in the store were also somewhat
damaged.
Where persons build along rivers or
large creeks, they have to expect damage
sometimes from the rise of the water, but
where, on ground away from all water
courses, the people are at only moments
notice subjected to the ravages of torrents
of rush water. as was the case yesterday,
the danger extends to those on high lands
as well as those along the streams aud the
question where it is safe to build becomes
one which it is impossible to decide.
Mr.. Dorney. who has at great expense
constructed fish weirs along the Cedar
Greek, is also heavy sufererer by the
rain. His ponds were overAowed and in
some instances destroyed, and his vaua.
bic trout are gone to stock the streams
confuent with the Cedar Creek Mr.. Dor
ney's loss will amount to about SO 1000
On the right hand side of the road as the
fish ponds are approached, the ponds of
Mr Wn. Dorney, in which the big trout
were kept, are entirely swept away.
Mr. Roth, the farmer on Mr.. Jesse
Lines place along the Cedar Creek. was
crossing that stream with companion at