Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1873-08-26
The Great Flood "a PIoch..
tFrom tho Recond. Asgast ISL


Yesterday at 4 o'clock In the Ster-
noonSan exceedingly heavy storm was
seeaapproaching from the northges
It was first generally noticedat Gdls-i
'sanee Of about five miles from town,
sweeping I'VE the plain with more Of
the appearance Of high wall Of dense
fog than OF an ordinary rain storm.
In less than ten minutes It reached D.,
The sky began to darken, and II WaS
necessary to use lamps and candles In
'houses.r@ People walking on the street
began to hurry their footsteps, team
sters put their horses to full speed, and
horsemen spurred on their steeds to
obtain a place Of shelter. Doors and
windows were closed, as a protection
front the coming storm, aud every-
thing betokened n general unesslness
andhurry. First csmea few, exceed
ingly large drops Of rain, mingled
With hail, which melted ~ soon 40 1t
touched the ground. Gradually tho
rain fell faster and faster, till In a few
minutes the air was so filled with It
that one could scarcely see farther
than 200 yards, On Main street In
about ten minutes the Whole width Of
the street was covered with q madly-
rushing torrent OF water. Hundreds
of, persons lined the sidewalks until
the ffsfng river forced them back into
the shops, stores and saloons.
Whilst the above described storm
was flooding the lower parts Of town,
another was coming Imam opposite d.
rection. The two storms mel not far
from tile American Flag mine. The
amount Of water said to lave fallen
there was enormous. 1t was so great
that some even thought q cloud-burst
had occurred. Bowlders Weighing
over two hundred pounds were carried
down with the stream. The No. z
shaft of the Meadow Valley Company
Is reported by the miners, who were
forced to leave 1t, to BIZ full Of water
to the eighth level, about loo feet from
the bottom. Miners came to the sur
face thoroughly wettcd, and far more
frightened than wet.
The damage Is almost commensurate
with Its cause. Among tile few who
have given US rough estimates Of their
losses are Ashim d Bros, dry goods
aud general merchandise, $1,000 to
$4,000; A. Flynn, boots and shoes,
g.. 500; NJ. Wilcox, boots md shoes,
81, 500 to $4,000; Colman & Tyler,
Capitol Saloon, cellar broken in. 81
200; II. F%rendenthal, bakery, $500.
But this does not at all give an ade-
quate idea Of the damage. Chinatown
seemed to be almost ready to float
away. On the lower side Of Main
street the water passed through the
Chinese dens from front doors to back,
and corrals, and hogpens were burst
through, aud the fences carried oil.
Many of the residences OIL McCannon
street, on Meadow Valley street, and
all the smaller streets back OF 1t on the
side OF Spring Mountain, on Davis
street and other localities. were also
flooded. Water, mud, and gravel
flowed into them, over carpets aud
furniture destroying furs, silks, etc.,
to an amount probably greater than
that lost by business men.
When tho storm was mt Its hight two
Indians were seeu standing status-like
upon the rocky peak Of the high hill to
the east of lower Main street, seeming
to be In the midst Of the lightning that
was continually lighting up the sky,
They looked down on the destruction
that was going OH below them with
the greatest c~omplacency. notwitll-
standing what appeared to be their I'M
comfortable aud even dangerous po-
sitlon.
A large fragment OF rock Weighing
probably $50 pounds. was carried a
distance Of 100 yards down Main street
BY tho force of the current.
Several wagons In the lower part OF
town were lying around the streets
after the storm. aud owners were look
Ing for their own, and Identifying 1t
when found.
The depth OF water in Main street.
or rather In Main river, was ut least q
foot.
Altogether. tho 29d day Of August,
1873, will long be remembered in Pi-
oche. May we never havo another
like 1t.