Smyrna times., 1873-08-27

AT THE RAILROAD BRIDGE.
The break at the railroad bridge is fearful
breach, and was caused by the giving way OF
the dam of the feeder, near by. The feeder
which is to supply the canal with water, is, or
was formerly, a mill pond, holding an i'm
mense body of water. 1t was mile long |
When the dam gave way, about midnight. the
water poured out with terrible velocity, sweep |
ing everything before it. The canal was liter |
ally filed with sand and completely obliter
ated, so that it was difficult to tell where 1t |
had been. A large area of solid earth, COM
prIsing several acres, was swept away, carrying |
with it the abutments of the railroad bridge |
on the north side, together with several hun !
dred feet of the road itself A portion of two
cOrnields, the railroad embankment, ties and
rail, trees, fences, and everything upon the
surface, were swallowed up. The earth was
opened to within few feet Of dwelling which
stands we'll up in the field, and occupied by
Mr. A. G. Lum. The bridge tenders shanty
was carried down the canal. A dog, belonging
to Mr.. Sparks, the tender, was IN the shanty
at the time of the disaster, and was carried
down by the raging flood, but strange to tell
made her escape and found her way back to
her master on Friday morning.
IN THE DEEP CUT.
The Deep Cut, at Summit Bridge, is al
ways troublesome, by reason of dirt and de-
canal But it has never undergone such a
disaster as befel it Wednesday night. Whole
trees were washed down into it, and the filling
up was so great that only about three feet OF
water is left in the canal at this point. A tug
was caught among the floating debris, and by
! land slide, or in some other way, turned upon
its side. But the damage here is triAing,
when contrasted with the sad appearance Of
things at the railroad bridge or at St. Georges.
AT MIDDLETOWN.
At MiddletOwn cellars were filled, yards,
gardens and lawns were covered with water i;
debris of all kinds foated in great masses
through the streets, and the entire lower pOr
tiOns of the town assumed the appearance OF
vast stream. At the National Hotel the scene
was almost beyond description. The wide
space between the Hotel and the railroad was
completely covered the railroad track was
buried from sight, and when the train came up
it plowed its way through water over foot in
depth. The hotel cellar was filled in few
minutes. At the rear of the hotel the wal
which leads to the kitchen gave way before
the force of the rushing waters, and fell IN
with crash that startled the inmates of the
hotel, especially the ladies', who imagined
that the foundation was being undermined.
The waters poured iutO the kitchen an flood
; ed everything therein, extinguishing the tirt
and running the provisions prepared Tor th'
; table, consequently no breakfast could be got
ten for the guests next morning. On MIR
u Morton, the proprietor, the damage fell YER
severely. His cellar being flooded, his barrel
of liquor and groceries for the table were float
{ ed and broken by being dashed viOentl
i against each other, and the water ruined thei
contents. MIR. NJ. estimates his loss at owe
six or seven hundred dollars ln the cOuntr
:; round the damage is greater than in the town
{ The bridges on every road leading to the tow
u We're washed away, and not single mill
q left to grind corn Tor the hapless people. Th
u damage done to Mr.. L. &. Murphey's Boht
mia mills was terrible. The dam and caus,
&c way were utterly destroyed the mill race tor
~ out and one side OF the foundation wall Of tn
~ mill was broken down, and great fears wei
u entertained lest the entire structure would tai
ID Barton's Brick Mill, two and a half miles fro
y Middletown, had its pond drained, and an OI
u stone milk house which had stood near tn
G. dam for some fifty or sixty years washed ava,
X DrummondS S dam was also carried away. III
Ih current from St AIMS branch poured into Il
'9 pond striking the dam with such force as
iu tear it to atoms creating an immense breaC
e' and carrying terrible destruction in its pat
q way. 1t will require between $1,000 and S3O'
nc to repair each Of these dams. Besides the
y three, Freeman'S mill on Back Greek, al
ne those of Messrs. Kennedy and Drake, on Sa
~ safras river, are gone, HarmOn's and Smith
= were destroyed on Tuesday two weeks, al
~ SilcOx's last winter, and has not been repalre
Ie' The railroad culverts near St. AIMS Chur
AZ were washed out, and the road broken III thr
III places. The engineer of the peach train VIII
y came up but a very few minutes before I
NJ culverts broke, endeavOred to reverse his {
tu gine, but finding it impossible to do so in til
:" to prevent running upon the crumbling bar
~ he dashed forward again, and succeeded
en carrying his train over safely, and in less th
y? three minutes afterward, the culverts were
VI blown out and the road in ruins. The accu
uu ulated waters then rushed forward with te
Tic full violence, and striking the culvert a
up bridge on the public road leading from NJ
i detown to ST. AIMS Church carried eve
az thing before them, leaving an immense 6
Il y from sixty TO one hundred feet in width, {
III failing a loss upon the county of upwards
ny $1,000 or more. AT tenant house on Mr.
Ine Il. COchrans Reading farm, the waters r.
~ 50 rapidly that the inmates were compelled
o'c take refuge in the second story, the fl
I having come high up above the first foOr.
tLe AT DELAWARE CITY.
ose In the neghborhood Of Delaware {
severe losses have been sustained. They
tho gregate about $25, 800, and are the result
No SO much of the disaster of Wednesday night
no of the first break in the canal which occur
rho two weeks ago William Beck = farm Of ;
the acres IN eutlTety uuuCT WdJ6T1 WIFI Tue exc
ant ton of about 80 acres. Twenty-fcur acres
roar corn, IS Of timothy and clover, and $50 of
,eIs. grass have been flooded so long that the C
hat is dead and the roots of the grasses have
the killed, so that he not only loses his pasture
the this year but his hay crop for next His Fl
inIv is fine grazing one and he keeps about
that head of cattle and 100 head of sheep. He
ems, SO loses about 100 tons of hay. His loss is
ood timated at $4,000. Of Arthur Colbum's ia
mn. l2O acres of corn and 800 acres of meadow
the submerged He loses 600 tons of hay, and
now loss is estimated at $4,000. IT, B. Eng
the loss is estimated at from $4,000 to $5,(
of Nearly 100 acres Of corn are flooded, and
n of his pasture land. He keeps 60 head of cat
Zenos p. Longland has about 10 acres un
nd water, and loses all his corn and hay. His
eral is estimated at from $4,000 to $4,000.
for understood that this disaster is attributed
,atb the negligence of the Canal Company,
and that in the event damages are refused s
els will be instituted to recover them.
ar of
over SHIPPING THE PEACHES. Thurs
l.. Il IL,