The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1874-07-31

Mr.. Winkler remained in the house,
and iii less than five minutes the water
filled all the lower rooms. Mrs. Wink
Ter called for assistance, but before il
could reach her the building gave way,
and she was engulphed.
Further southwark was a dwelling
occupied by Mr.. Shearing. As soon as
the waters commenced rising Mr.. Shear
ing moved his family, consisting Of his
wife and twin boys, aged four years, to
the hillside, in what he supposed to be
a place of safety The children were
sleeping Soundly, but one of the little
fellows was aroused BY the storm and
rolled over an embankment into the an
erv food below His body was recov-
cred this morning.
The extensive glue works we're next
to succumb to the action of the water,
and were totally destroyed. A short
distance below these works was a small
dwelling occupied by Mr.. August Ry-
koff and family, embracing his wife and
two children. The family were unaware
of the destruction which was sweeping
down upon them. The building was
carried from its foundations, and the oc-
cupants with il. Mrs. Rykof, bruised
and bleeding, was rescued from the tor
rent several squares distant, but both
children were drowned.
4. IL ...s,,1r, e L'a-t - rac4 and Mad
iSon avenue the waters seened TO devi-
ate. In triangular-shapedh house, nj
the intersection Of the streets named,
resided Mrs. ConIon, widow, who had
1 Eve children, One boy and three girls,
q Young man named Arnold, and anoth-
er, a cripple, named Roger, we're in the
house at the time The entire number,
with the exception of Neil Conlon, were
lost Young Arnold had gone into the
! house to rescue some of the inmates, but
fell a victim to the destroying element.
About a block below the intersection
of Madison avenue and East street, the
torrent again united. and swept down
with redoubled fury to the low lands,
embracing Concord, O'Hara, and por-
! ton of Chestnut streets.
The course of the food was probably
two hundred feet wide, and buildings,
frame and brick, fell before the devasta-
ting element as though they had been
sand.
Dwellings, stables, workshops and de-
bris of all kinds mingled together in one
confused mass, making it absolutely i'm
possible for the spectator to discover
even the street lines. In some instances
houses were literally turned upside
down. On O'Hara street the dwelling
of Alderman Bolster was reduced to It's
original elements, and one his children
drowned The rest of the family escap-
ed. On the same street family named
Fuchs, consisting of Jacob Fuchs, wife
and one child, and Joseph A., brother OF
Mrs. Fuchs, were lost. In another
house almost adjoining resided Jacob
Metzler, wife and two children; all the
family except one child were lost. The
bodies of the three were found this
morning. On Chestnut street, at the in
tersection of Spring Garden avenue, the
water attained depth of fully twenty
feet, but the buildings withstood the
force better, and in only one instance
was any serious damage done.
A large frame building occupied as a
! s,- IL
tions and hoated directly across the
street, completely obstructing the way
1t is estimated that in this district
about seventy dwelling houses were de-
stroyed, hui no estimate has been made
of their value. \ large number OF
people are missing. 1t is thought many
bodies are still in the debris. As fast a.
recovered they are taken 10 various un-
dertakers in the city, and thir weight
are now known to have come from this
district.
: Spring Garden avenue lies 10 the
south of Butchers Run, and is separated
by a high hill. In this valley the same
scenes were enacted On a smaller st ale a:
regards loss Of life 1t would be inpos
sible to give anything like a detailed
account Of damage done To dwelling
houses in this vicinity Those roi ;o-
tally DESTROYED were very gr,ati, lam,
aged.
Beyond Cedar arenue. ivrt"Hately
! there we're but fe9, live io,t--at l.s,-t 4
far Is can he asccrtained, some two ol
three are reportod. \ man named Mich
ael Slaughter was in a tavern. Ah"nt
o'clock, when the danger became ;.ppar
ent he seized a child in his arn.z an6
rushed through the door into the street
He and the child are supposed Ia have
been drowned.
At the foot of Spring Garden Run the
loss of life was fearful. Here on Z.ntel
street, parties who appeared with & sllif
discovered man hanging on to the roo
of a house. At that time the water on the
street was some fifteen feet high. They
took the skiff under the place where tht
man was hanging, and told him to drop
the heighth being small, as the skiif wa
nearly on a level with second-story win
pws. The man jumped, and was we'd
. He then told the man in the skis tha
his family were back in the house, con
t sisting of his wife and three OF foul
children. He had got on the roof, ant
jumped from that on to another roof
when be reached Center street. Tht
u house was destroyed, and with ii were
lost a mother with three or four child
, ern; the children of another family also
! making in all, ten souls.
On Chestnut street, in Casper Rane'.
saloon, among others, were Philip Hes.
constable, and Henry Schaffer. They
rushed ont of the saloon and into tbs
street, and that was the last seen Of them
alive. Hess body was discovered this
, morning clinging toa fire plug with one
. hand. Schaffer's body has not been re-