Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-07-28
PITTSBURG.

Hundreds of Houses Swept Away.
The Storm Twenty Miles in Di-
ameter.
The Destruction of Property In
calculable.
PITTsBURG, July ga storm swept
over the city last night, the most severe
and destructive to life and property that
has ever occurred in this vicinity. The |
rain came down in a perfect deluge, the
water coming down streets leading from
the hill with fearful velocity, the current |
being swelled also by water from tie |
side streets. The Union depot was inun- |
dated with water three to four feet in |
depth. The water in the Pan Handle
Railway tunnel was four feet, rem
dering it impossible for trains. Con-
siderable damage was done to prop
erty on Smithland and Liberty streets.
From all the side streets leading from the
hill bOulders were rooted from their posi-
tion and hurled to the level below, W lille
in many great holes were opened up in the
streets. Some of the cross streets are rem
| dered almost impossible and will require
large expenditures.
The food was terrible. A sewer on
Madison avenue and Vista streets bursted, |
IntsAdating the Whole Upper Part
of the city. A number of houses were
swept away on Spring Garden street, the |
water attaining a depth of ten feet, caus-
ing large loss of life. In this !
vicinity it is reported that fifty-five bodies |
have so far been recovered. The destruc- |
ton to property cannot be estimated. The |
damage to property on the south also is
great. A large number of stables and |
buildings were swept away, and several |
lives are reported to be lost.
The loss of life by the flood has been alp
palling. Thiry-eight bodies have been re-
covered in Butchers Run, district of |
Allegheny county, and as many more are |
missing and supposed to be lost. The |
havoc at Woods Run was fearful, and the |
place was perfect sheet of water.
Several
Houses Were shipped.
Nine bodies have been recovered so Ear, |
and five or six are still missing. On the /
south side, in Saw Mill Run district, eight /
bodies have beenrecovered and thirty-seyen
are still missing. A whole block of build
ings were swept away in this district. 1t /
is thought that
Over One Hundred and Fifty Persons
have persisted in the flood. For more than
mile out Spring Garden avenue, Alleghe-
nv City, the marks of destruction are visi-
bic, houses washed away and buildings |
thrown together in heaps. Some TWEEN
ty-fve or thirty slaughter houses
on this avenue also washed away. Build
ings not totally destroyed were greatly
damaged, the water rising to
A Height of Fifteen Feet
flooded the first floors of all the buildings,
and in many cases the second stories. Sew
eral houses were swept into the middle of
the street and others carried hundreds of
yards and shattered to pieces. 4 house
containing two or three families az the /
rear of Center street was destroyed, and \
the inmates are all supposed TO have been
drowned.
In Temperancevilleand Saw Mill Run the
elements made sad havoc; the fierce tor
rents of rain that descended swelled every
little tributary into boiling stream, and
the accumulation of waller rushed with
mad and irresistible fury down the valley,
sweeping everything before it.
The Track of Destruction
is marked by the wrecks of dwellings,
bridges, immense heaps of stones, large piles
of Lockwood and the torn and ragged S. DIES
of the hills when the waters surged and
gnawed into their very vitals. Seven life
less bodies have already been found, and
from twenty-five to thirty persons are miss
ing. The iron bridge, crossing Saw Mill
Run at Main, stands. Five others above
were swept away. At McLaughlin's shout
eleven miles west, and on the Panhandle
road, eleven persons are reported TO have
been drowned. Also hundreds of cattle,
horses, sheep, etc.
Night Reports.
The disaster is far greater than at first SUP
posed. 1t is now thought the total loss of
life will not be short of 200, and the loss
of property is prOpOrtiOnate. The EreniRg
Chronicle, in its five o'clock edition, placed
the loss at 142 and the names of missing |
parties are continually coming in. The /
| extent of territory damaged is not less than
| twenty to twenty-five miles in diameter,
and how the main portion of the city of /
| Pittsburg. living as it does, in the centre of
this circle, escaped without further injury,
| seems almost miraculous. The prevailing
theory seems to be that the disaster was
caused by some kind Of water spout.
A gentleman who watched the storm from
| a few miles down the river, where there
was but little rain, says that by the frightful |
flashes of lightning, he could see
A Huge Inky-BIaek Cloud,
which oyerhung the city, the narrow ends
| being lowest, while the dark parts gave
vent to an almost perpetual burst of light
ming. II is almost impossible for any one,
not familiar with the geography of this |
| locality, to form an idea of this disaster or |
hon Il q
main city of Pittsburg, as it rises gradually /
from the point formed by the junction Of the /
two rivers, has many gulches in certain
| localities which render flood Of this de- /
| scription liable to do great damage, and the /
| part known as the hill region is frequently |
| liable to suffer from local inUndatiOn. The /
| damage, however, is this time light COM
pared with other localities strictly suburban. |
| The north bank of the Allegheny river, /
upon whose hillsides and valleys the upper /
| portion of the city is situated, has, accord
| ing to all accounts, been the scene Of the |
| greatest disaster. The work of destruction |
| commenced at a point about two miles |
north of the central portion Of Allegheny /
City.
Butchers Run Valley,
at its mouth. is probably between 400 and /
| 500 feet wide, and at the point where the /
/ work of destruction commenced it IS not /
more than 80 feet wide. Between North /
avenue and this nOrtherly point, numerous
ravines empty into Butchers Run valley. |
| Along this run the houses were built di-
rectly over the natural water course, the
culGertS being made and used in part as
/ foundations for dwelling houses. The line
| of destruction followed the water course to
| the river and involved an immense number
| Of hnmEnC
| the line Of the culyert. |
| When the rain commenced, falling but lit
tie apprehension, were entertained, but
those who lived near the head of the valley |
state that suddenly it seemed as if the
heavens were opened and the water came
/ down
As if Discharged from Immense
| Pipes.
| The volume was so large that the valley was
filed with raging torrent. Frame dwellings
gave way like pipe stems, and the DEBRIS
| from the wrecks were swept down the line
} of the plank road, their weight being aug
1 r. Il. efrTpf W.