The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1874-07-29

marks eff devastation are the same. In
fact, during the long tramp which taxes
the spectator from the foot OF Madison
avenue up Butchers Run, the eye and
mind become wearied by the monotony
of destruction to be seen IN houses
torn from their foundations.
The work of devastation commenced
some two miles up the run. To attempt
to give an account of the property des-
troved would be an almost hopeless task.
Every house bears the marks of the Hood,
and whole blocks were swept away, hard
ly leaving foundation stone to mark
the spot where they stood.
The Suddenness of the Flood
is described most graphically by those
who were in its course. A few minutes
after the storm commenced, word was
passed from house to house. that the
water in the run was rising, and that the
ravne might be flooded. The next minute
A Raging Flood swept Down the
RaVine.
carrying everything before 1t, noodihg
the lower portions of the houses, destroy
inc buildings. lifting others from their
foundations. and sweeping them down
the run to hopeless destruction.
The Scene of the Disaster.
Butchers Run, as many Of our readers
know, runs in a northerly direction from
O'Hara street. The character OF the
Ground is that of narrow valley, or
rather gullv. from fifty to a hundred ana
fiftv feet in width, shut in on each side Ds
high. precipitouS hills more than TWO
hundred feet high. Along the bottom OF
the same is the creek, its course following
bv Madison avenue, which frequently
crosses the run in its course up the ra'lhe
for some miles For a considerable por-
tion of the way the run was cohaucteu
through sewers, and the entire raVlne lor
two miles from it, opening was closely
built up with houses fronting Immediately
on the street, and built up clos" against
the hill on either side.
MOI IL single Bridge ~ Left.
OF the numerous structures by when
Madison avenue crossed the run all are
swept away so completely that hardly
vcstire of them remains and had 1t not
been for the assurance Of those acqualnt-
cl with the locality that nj all these
places bridges We're built, we should
hardly have thought it possible that there
were any bridges there.
The Condition Of the Drowned.
II is noticeable that the yiolehc" OF the
food was such that in nearly every IN
stance in which bodies have been recov-
cred along Madison avenue, every par
ticlc of clothing was stripped from their
bodies When similar freak OF the
flood was narrated in Mr. Charles Reade 5
novel, Put Yourself In His Place, the
idea was generally rejected rs improb-
able and absurd. But the events of Sun
doy ui"ht have shown that water can
obtain such fearful force as to strip the
bodies of It's victims perfectly naked.
Another peculiarity Of most horrible
character is that all the bodies rs soon ~
taken from the water commenced I"
swell This is probably the result al the
bruises that were received from the mass
of tilnbrrs and stones that were born"
down the ravinc like chips, and which
probably. as suggested above. caused the
loss of lives that might otherwise have
been saved.
Horses md Cattle were Destroyed
all along the Run. At nearly every pile
uf 4sbris the bodies Of horses and cattle
were to be- seen. Some had evidently
been carried some distance, and Others
had been crushed by falling buildings.
At one place horses head protrudrd
from gap in the ruins; further on
hoof was to be seen. At one place Il half
dozen bodies of drowned beasts were to be
seen. OF course al this time it cannot
be told what the amount of damage III
the wav of destruction to live stock may
be, any more than the number of build
iuys destroyed or the value ofthc proper
tv swept away can be computed. That
is task that will take days to complete.
AT present the whole effort is directed To
saving the bodies ui'the dead.
Scenes Among the Dead. 7.
The scenes nj tho different points
where search was being made for victims
of the disaster were such a. to compel
tears from the most StOlCal. Here
mother and daughter clamheripG over
the immense piles of debris, sought with
trar->tuined faces for husband, father, son
and brother; there i strong man, with
agony depicted in every lineamcnt, turn
ed over the wreck in the sad hope ot lind
inw the remains Of wife or children. The
thousand, who crowded I" the scene
seemed tn feel deeply the weight of the
calamity which had bctallen tha cntir"
! community, and not few volunteered
aid in search for the dead.
1.-THE Undcriakcrs shop.
The doors were bcSicgcd by hundreds of
unoplr "huwed down bya weight of Woe,
/ inukinw with fearful eyes AT the rows "f
| cnrpsr,, anxious To- find the remains of
! those near and dear To them, and so sud
| denly suatchrd away from life.
Spring Garden Run.
On Spring Garden Run the storm WAS
/ not nearly 80 disastrous AS across the hill
! ON Butchers run. Yet here it WAS bad
enough i'm every way. For more than
/ mile. evidence, Of the fierce flood are
visible in the .hapc of wrecked buildings,
/ hur>trd sewers. etc. But two lives are
known to he lost, however.
Pleasant valley.
Pleasant Valley. in Allegheny, il Was
thought. would be found to have suffered
as terribly II, any region save that Of
Butchers Run, but this Npposition WA.
happily unfoundcd. The region suffered
severely and the property losses will foot
up largely. but there was no los, IF life.
and the damage to property wa> less than
in several other localities.
Outside the cities.
The news from districts outside Of the
CITY i also of distressing nature. The
storm does not appear to have extended
beyond radius ot ten miles. but in every
direction there seems Ia have been death
and destruction. We have accounts "f
loss of life. however. only from the south
west, where. in Robinson, Union. and
Upper ST. Clair townships much distress