The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-05-22
TERRIBLE DISASTER.
4 Reservoir Bursts and Floods the
Streams.
Greal reslrnelion q lie aad Properly.

On last Saturday morning the
Goshen reservoir, constructed for
the purPose of supplying water to
the manufactures of Williamsburg,
Leeds and Haydenville, Massachus-
etts, burst about four miles from
the last named place, aud the water
rushing down the hills carried ev-
erything before it. Mills, dwelling
houses AMI bridges were swept
away like drift wood. The flood
came upon them so suddenly that
there was no escape. Whole
blocks of tenement houses were
washed off with their inmates.
Whole families were carried over
the dams. The loss of life is very
heavy. AT tins writing the exact
number of the lost had not been
ascertained. We CLEAN from the
latest reports the following particu-
lars:
The villages which are affected
by the disaster are Williamsburg,
Haydenville, Leeds and Florence,
all situated on Mill river, running
into the latter at Northampton. In
the village of Williamsburg, Mill
river divido5 into two branches,
one of which has its rise in Goshen,
and the other at about the edge of
Conway; two large reservoirs are
situated on the Goshen branch and
one on the Conway branch, con-
tanning a total depth of not less
than six feet.
The mills on the river, reckoning
from Williamsburg down to North.
ampton, are as follows: William
Thayer's tool factory, 25 men, and
two button factories, total of thirty
hands, men and girls corset wool
en- mill of Henry James, employs
about fifty persons the large brass
! works of Hayden, Gere 81 Co. en-
ploys about three hundred hands,
and is perhaps the largest and best
appointed factory of the kind in
| the nited States. 1t was formerly
the property of The late Governor
Hayden cotton mill of HAYDEN
manufacturing company, FIVE
thousand spindles, employing
about eighty hands the Diamond
tobacco works, employing 15 OF
twenty hands; two extensive silk
mills, of Nanatuck, employing 30(
hands large brick mill or the Met.
ropolitan Brush company about Ct
or 40 hands; Cotton mill of the
Greenville Manufacturing com
panY, 5000 spindles, 70 or so hands
Northampton Cutlery company
probably 200 hands; Clement s
Hawkes. manufacturing company
90 hands; Screw 81 Nail company
70 hands; large basket factory O
the Williams Manufacturing com
paRv, about 100 hands; also, Skin
ner's silk works, 60 hands. Beside
these are some half dozen grist ant
saw mills, some of considerable ca
:. pacity, which are within range o
the devastation. The manufacture
ing capital invested along Mill riv
er and affected by the disaster, plac
ing it at low estimate, must b.
five million dollars, and the imme
date population suffering is abou
5000. The population is almos
wholly manufacturing one, which
has grown up around the dams
The heaviest loss by disaster will
fall upon the estate of the late Go V
Hayden, who died d few month
since. One OF the mills was re
Gently sold by the executors of In
estate. Sunday had been set alar
by Haydcuville for a memorial ser
vice in memory of the late Lieuten
, ant Governor, when all the mem
bers of the family expected to b.
present. kilograms from North
i ampton estimate the loss of life b,
, the flood at sixty. At Iced
twelve houses were swept away
!, AT Haydenville the dwellings no
. destroyed are turned into charne
! houses and hospitals. A boat OF
; the canal has gone out to Iced
: with provisions. Twenty-seyel
|, bodies were discovered at O'Clock
: three of which were ut Northamp
ton and fourteen at Florence. Sc
lectmen StarkWeather and Bur
!, have organized a force OF twenI,
! men st Leeds and twenty at North
ampton, to search the course OF Tia
: flood for bodies.
+; The search for dead bodies Ia
. been going on all day in Mill river
and will be continued for sewers
f days, perhaps weeks. The mead
ows are so deeply covered with de
!, bris that it is feared many dea
bodies have as yet been undiscoy
a cred. A number have been recoy
: cred to-day, and it is now though
! that yesterdays estimate of 20
: lives lost may fall even below th
9 actual truth. The extent of disaste
increases rather than diminishet
q and it is yet impossible to give
r full and reliable estimate of the los
p of life and property. At Hayden
q vile, to-day, (lS inst.) sixty familie
:, applied for aid.