Middletown transcript., 1873-08-30
Local and State Affairs.
THE GREAT STORM

THE q r e AT STORM.
The Summer Of 1873 will long be remembered
BY the citizens Of Niddle,own and vicinity A. the
ye = of the ''Greai $ orms." Never. within the
recollsctioa Of living racrinl was this section Of
county visited with such = fear IL scourge as
that which fell upon us on Wednesday night
week. For more Than a week rain had been all
ing In copious showers every day, until the earth
was literally sntura ed with water. ard the quc.-
iion was being asked tom lip 10 lip, "wili It
never quit iaininG?h The Storm Of the i2th inst.
had done considerable damage in the b. king
Of mill-dams. and the washing away Of bridges
and tearing out ofcniscrts. but the grand climax
Was reached on Wednesday afternoon t2osh).-
Then the great
"cLsAaISe rr suowwn"
came. Rain commenced falling heavily about 3
o'clock increasing In violence until 5, when the
hood-gRies OF the Heavens seemed to be broken
up and the rain poured upon us in perfect TOT
rents. Some idea Of the violence of the s,otrn
may he obtained from the testimony OF gentlemen
who declare that IL rsined so hard ,ha, They could
not see houses, barns or other objects nj dis
ssnce OF 80 or 40 yaids. Rain con ,inued 10 ,al
In this way for = little over two hours, and in
that short space of time so much water tell upon
the earth that the damage caused by the swollen
streams must be rcckoned by millions.
Tms LIMITS or rmE srosx
The s,o,m does not seem TO have ex tended over
q very wide limit but confined It's violence and
ravages to a narrow belt OF country Of which
Middetown seems 10 have been the centre. From
short distance above the canal 10 little below
the Sassairas river, and from tho Chesapeake TO
the Delaware seems TO have been It's boundaries
and within that small space the injuries 10 prop
erty 10 almost incredible
ALL rnE MILLS doSE.
Everr m III. a. ~, waa traL.n anI .x..- ,n.l
was d'nined, with the exception we ARE info, m
ed. Of a small one a, Blarkbird) iniie,ing heavy
losses upon their ow sers; in some few instances
almost irrepainble. The loss 10 the country
through the damage done TO the mills cannot lie
rcckoncd in dollars and cents. We ar. now
wholly without means Of grinding the grain and
IL will be several weeks and pc haps months he
fore the dams can he rebuilt, aud the ponds filled
The distress and Inconvenience 10 which this
will doubtless subjcc! many farmers is incalcuia-
BILE.
Loss TO rnx rEAcM GROWERS.
The suspension OF travel and freigbtine over
the Delaware railroad has been n terrible blow
TO the iru, growers OF tho lower portion of the
peninsula. Many thousands ot baskets Of excel
lent fruit that was picked and ready for ship
ment beside that already On the trains was
ruined, and los, for the want OF transportation
Efforts were made 10 find other means Of getting
the f,uit 10 market but the mos, adequate means
fell fat shor OF the demand. Boats were sen,
down 10 Lewes from New York TO meet the ears
ut tina, point, and the bel. Il, Il Co. ran special
trains over their road and the ] A H. n n 10
carry the fruit ,hither boats were also run from
various places TO Perr"villc To meet traibs sent
thither over the i. W. K u. X r. and much
fruit was also sent from different points along the
Chesapeake TO baltimore until tha, market was
completely gluied. But all these routes fell lar
short of bein. sufficient TO take the fruit to mar.
Ike, and vast quantities pcrishcd.
SUSPENSION OF THE NAILS
The suspension Of the mails caused a great deal
Of annoyance and inconvenience II not some loss
to the business portion OF the community For
three days, from Wednesday morning TO Satur-
day night We were completely sba, OF from .ll
postal communication with the rest Of the woild
This fell particularly hard on Middlciowu We
were hcmmed in on all sides. We could COM
munica,c with neither north nor sonth AT last
news came TO us on Saturday that the mail was
to be sen, TO us In coaches from kirkwood AT
the time this telegram reached us, number Of
eilizchs were getting up puf SC to send III vais
carrier for the mail About dusk, IL came. and
large and anxious crowd gathered around the
post office TO awnit iis orsang, ou'Y. however
10 be disappointed, for when the contents OF the
mail bags were distributed nothing late III N
Nednes.lays papers were obtained I'm Nom
day, however, We were better supplied and sinre
y
piYfircLriEs IN TRAVELLING
The Inconvenience TO which persons were sub.
jeclcd IN travelling 10 the cities gave them a
temporary opportunity 10 appreciate the adyan-
iages OF railroad. Many persons were com.
need 10 drive miles and miles, taking cntie
days 10 accomplish what is ordinarily done in A
lew hours. The Odessa stage was brought into
requisiion in a, least one instance TO carry a
party, IN ROUTE Philadelphia, TO Per, Penn, 10
meet The Pilot Boy In other cases person.
we're forced 10 drive 10 Elk,on aud other places
on tho Z. ". 4 b. Il. n.
rnE pAxAoE TO rnE CANAL.
The "hig break in the canal. and the dam
age sustained by the bursting oil the feeder neat
kirkwood, seemed 50 terrible 10 many persons
that they thought it would hc utterly impossible
TO repair the canal again, and rumors were rife
OF an intention on the part of the company To
abandon II. The cost of repairs, and or clean
ing out were sarously estimated at from $500
900 TO 81 500, o0o. aud some thought the latter
sum would not put the canal In working order.
The sight "A, that point, to INEXPERIENCED eres
was certainly appalling, and We are told tha,
man! OF The company were indeed much dis
conraycJ nj the first, but N heiier feeling took
hold upon them after wards and the work of re-
pairing The canal WAS commenced with altnos, ns
much activity and energy as the work on the
rairoad. large force of men were nj once sell
u.
another force 10 digging ou, the sand n, Kirk
wood
now rHx CANAL WILL nK REPAIRED AND rHs VS.
SKIS rLoArEp RACK.
The Comm,reiai gives the following informa-
ton, which II claims 10 be official, In regard TO
the plans of the company for accomplishing this
work the canal company has maiured its plans
for the repair and reconstruction OF this great
work. They will first fll In the breaches be-
tween 81 Georges and Delaware City, in the
lower level, aud pumping In water from the
eastern end will float out the boats lying in the
canal east OF the locks. This accomplished,
they will then repair all The breaches in The
banks Of the upper level, or west of ST. Georges,
except those which are necessary TO form pns-
sage for the boais from The meadows into the
canal, and finally the roadway, or dam, which
connects the ,wo ends of ST. Georges will he re.
built the water will be admitted, the meadows
will be flooded, the boats will be got into the
canal, locked through and then sert on TO their
destinations. In the meantime the rargocs will
he removed aud the vessels lighicnrd up that no
greater flooding may he made than there In me-