The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1874-05-21

/ ing accommodations from the fret ul
Jaae 10 the Grst Of October. A Fcdgc.
( uoa ofprires can Gully be accomplished
by leuEtheniuE the season.
rEKRIBLE nIsAsTEH-FEAHt-t Loss
o. ITFE.
: The Most terrible disaster In the an.
uals Of Massachusetts occurred 10
Hampshire county on Saturday Tho
/ Williamsburg reservoir. covering over
one hundred acres gave way carly ia
the forenoon, precipitatirg tue vast
mass ofwater5 il contained three miles
down a steep aud narrow valley into
the thriving manufacturing village Of
( Williamsburg. and thence further down
the valley through the villages oI
( Hayaenyille, Leeds and Florence into
Northampton meadoos. where the
stream cmpties into the Connecticut
river. The huge torrent dashiug into
Williamsburg with resistlcss power,
swept away in moment the manuiac
turing establishments and dwellings,
causing an enormous destruction Of
property aud terrible loss Of human
life. The lower villages suffered only
less awful.
The latest figures 1.-THE loss o { life
make the total IA, divided as 70 lows;
Williamsburg, GO; Leeds 40 Hay,
denyille, So These figures only rep.
resent tue persons whose loss is posi-,
lively known, though the bodies Of all
are not yet recovered. Bodies are con
stantly being found, and in some cases
those Of persons not supposed to be
lost. so that it seems perfectly safe to
say that the total loss of life will cx.
coed $50, if indeed it does not more
nearly approach 200. 1t is utterly i'm
possible, as yet, to give a detailed es'
innate Of tho losses Aside from build.
ings destro, ed and damaged. bridges
have been carried away, roads ruined
aud hundreds of acres of meadow land
rendered almost valueless. The total
loss must far exceed one million dollars
and will probably come nearer two mil.
lions, ...
Mill river is a tributary to the Con-
necticut river and empties into the lat,
ter at Northampton In the village Of
Williamsburg Mill river divides into
two branccs, one of which has its rise
in Goshen and the other at about the
edge OF Conway. The two large res
ervoirs are situated on the Goshen
branch and one on the Conway branch,
containing a total area of not less than
athousand acres, with an average depth
fof not less than six feet. The reservoir
dams were all substantially constructed
The manufacturing capital invested
along the river aud affected by this dis,
aster, placing il at low estimate, must
be five million dollars, and the popula.
ton affected thereby is about five
thousand Williamsburg manufactures
cotton, silk, hollow ware, buttors and
brass work. 1t has two post Offices
one being at Haydenvile. The pop
ulation numbers about . 500 The nun
Der Of dwellings houses in both villages
was 425.
1t appears that serious doubts as to
the safety OF the reservoir had been en-,
tertained ever since it was built, nine
years ago, though less for the last year
or two than in its early history. The
gate keeper has several times express
ed fears to his employers, calling spec
ial attention once to the point where
the break occurred, but examiners
always reported everything safe The
direct cause of the disaster, aside from
the general weakness, must remain tho
subject Of speculation. The gate keeper
detected no sigu Of danger when he
examined the situation at early dawn
aud what the last straw was that broke
the great back Of the reservoir car
never be definitely known perhaps
As satisfactory a theory, as any, is the
one advanced, by a man familiar with
the case, that frosts had started the
earth so that the water found numerou,
little courses through it which finally
carried off the first mass Of earth at
urday morning, and at once prccipi
tated the catastrophe. The gate keeper
I has at various times feared O break
from the fact that q stream Of wateI
flowed constantly through the bottom
Of the gateway, while there were alst
number Of small streams, some o.
them quite minute, along the bottom
on either side Of the center.
If some man had been present wher
the water FIRST made the breach in the
wall it would seem that the loss Of liic
might have been prevented. The his
tory Of orr own state presents a paral
lei case. Runaway pond in Glove
burst its barriers and cut a ehanne
sixty feet in depth. letting a vast vol
ume Of water into the valley below
sweeping everything before IL. Som,