The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-06-04
THE MILL RIVER DISASTER.

HOW THE NEWS OF THE BREAK WAS CAh-
RIED-THE HEROES OF THE DAY-sOME
PRovIDENTIAL ESCAPES, ETC.
On the morning of May 16 the great mill
reservoir, located just above the village of
Williamsburg. Mass, suddenly broke
away, its contents rushing down the valley
below, and carrying off factories, houses,
trees, and everything in its course. One
hundred and fOrty-four men, women and
children lost their lives by the flood. Some
of the more notable incidents of the disas-
ter are related below:
[From the Springfield DIass.) Republican,
ONE OF THE DAYS HEROES.
From the reservoir the stream threaded
its way. almost directly south to the vii
lage, two and half miles away, hedged in
on either side by high hills, one of them,
High Ridge, being one of the lofty peaks
of Western Massachusetts, and hence a
survey station. When the village is
reached, the river, uniting with the Goshen
stream. swerves little to the east and hugs
the hill, and here along its banks are most
of the mills of Williamsburg village, while
the houses fill the valley up to its side. So
on Saturday morning lay the flooded dis
trict of the town-all the rich meadow
land down the pleasant street glowing
green under the frcshening rain-when
George Cheney hastened down to warn the
inhabitants of the breaking dam; he went
first to see o. @. Spellman, and, after a
little time wasted in convincing him ofthe
impending danger, he crossed to the livery
stable of. w. Belcher, where he met Col
lins Graves, the milkman, on his morning
round. IF the dam is breaking" said
Graves. after listening to Cheney's frag-
tho fnllyS lynnur IL -
and, lashing his fleet horse into a run, he
dashed away toward Haydenville, shout
ing: ''The reservoir is right here; run,
its all YOU can dO!' 1t was now quar-
ter of 8, and meanwhile Belcher and Che
ney had rung the bell of the Congrega-
tiOnal Church to further warn the village
folk. On went horse and driver, spreading
the alarm. Graves shouting all the way !;
he made directly for the manufacturing
establishments, for, said he, g the people
could hear it, but the roar of the factories
would drown any warning for the opera
tives.'' At Skinnerville the pair were five
minutes ahead of the coming tor
rent; but at Haydenville they had
but two minutes in which to spread
the alarm. Here the famous ride, which
will be sung in story and told TO the credit
of Collins Graves around the firesides of
Williamsburg forever as the salvation OF
many hundred lives, ended at the hotel ::
the horse and rider were both exhausted,
and here another herald took up the It'd
ings. Graves could hear the thunder of
the coming flood, but not fully appreciat-
ing its extent, he turned to 90 back to-
ward Williamsburg. At the ''dug-way,"
at Havdenville, the disaster which he had
predicted burst upon his sight, and he had
just time to turn off into a bank near Capt.
kingsley's when it crashed past him; in
deed, he was not twenty seconds too soon.
and, as it was, he had almost despaired of
reaching a place of safety, and had even
thought of abandoning his tired steed to
its fate. Graves, by the way, is Will
liamsburg boy, and has got pleasant
home on the hill, out of~all danger of
floods.
WONDERFUL ESCAPE OF A WOMAN.
A most wonderful rescue-and probably
flood itself at Leeds-was that of Mrs.
Mary G. Harding, a sister of Miss Marcia
Clark of this city. She was at work on
the second floor of the silk factory when
the alarm was given. and hardly had she
reached the ground when the shout was
raised. ''Run across the bridgen' She
started, leading the whole company, but
soon the cries were of another sort, and
Come back! !" and "Don't go Overt"
were sounded on every side. 1t was too
late for Mrs. Harding, thOugh-she
was Oh the bridge, and going back
was as perilOus as running for
ward. She ran as woman seldom ran
before, and no sooner had she, and per-
haps half dozen others. reached the fur
ther shore, than the immense mass of de-
bris struck the bridge, and it went down
with a crash, carrying with it six or seven
girls and women who were just a little
too late. The women kept on running for
Ross's store, and making, as she AYERS.
pretty good time, while her companion
who had crossed the bridge entered the
fated clearinghouse. She passed the lit
tie gate near the bridge, ard just got
through the larger gate below the steps
leading to the store, when the water rush
ed up, carried off the lower gate and threw
her down near the lower stair. Luckily
two men were on the bank, and she was
drawn up, but not a moment too soon. for
Just then the steps went off and the three
had to seek safety higher up the shore.
The escape from the bridge, from the de-
scending debris, from the chance of enter
inc the house as her companions did, and
lIOlll Illt Ndltl ClltI W Ill Us illdhC lldl
ding's case a most marvellous one. She
only. of all the thirteen who started over
the bridge, was saved. 1t so happened
that one of her rescuers was William Swift,
the lover of her roommate. Mary Wood
ward, who was swept away in the tide.
Mrs. Harding lost everything she had, her
property being in the clearinghouse, but,
thoroughly drenched and somewhat bruis-
ed as she was, she went pluckily TO work,
spending most of the afternoon attending
to the dead and the bereaved living, start
ing at night with friends for this city.
From the New York Sun
BOYS MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.
Mr.. Roberts left his work to warn his
family, but the surging flood was so close
that he thought it useless to attempt to
reach the high land, and decided to remain
in the house with his wife and three chill
dren. The house was torn in pieces by
the first stroke of the torrent, and all were
lost except the son, George, aged 13.
The story of the escape of the boy is re-
markable. He says that after the house
had collapsed he rose to the surface little
back of the comb of the wave amid a raft