The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-05-19

the dead from this burial began &C noon az
The first bodies were picked
up. dug out from the mud or taken with diff
fculty from the overloaded ruins.
All through the valley the work
went on till night and then men
guard Soss %sse
gathered by night, ct Leeds, A. There had
been in the afternoon gangs of plunderers.
who were promptly turned to workers by no
stinted threats. The people were ready to
brain them with the first ston>. There were
fewer dead at Florence and Northampton.
lao In all, and many more are certainly bur-
led in the mud and rubbish that fills the val
ley with black heaps from Williams
burg 70 Northampton. A man on
horseback gave warning through
the upper half of the valley, but some
would not hear. and some turned TO their
houses and to the great factories tor safety
One man at Hsydenville factory saved his
life by sticking 10 the house, but he was q
marvellous exception. he ran into . closet
that stood against the great chimney OF the
factory, and when the factory was crushed
the chimney stood and this closet
against wall, with him weaving
his arm for help, out of q breach he made in
its walls. But q man and girl who ran out
at the roar of the waters TO run back tor q
haven OF safety went down under the build
ing. At Williamsburg factory and twenty
seven houses were blotted out; at Hayden
vile factory, a gas house, cotton mill, q
bank and one hundred dwellings; at Leeds
a button factory and twenty-fiv buildings:
at Skinnerville every house is gone except
Mr.. SINNERS own. Such hopses as are
here set down as gone are utterly vanished
and distributed in shreds. There Is not
piece six feet long over miles of country.
The Licking water river, as they call 1t. has
been sea, and is now trickling stream,
lost In miles of mud. The lake, hemmed In
by defective masonry up amoEg Goshen
hills, has done its work terribly.
"a VISION OF DESTRUCTION.
wooD-PRRILoUs EsCAPEs-APPEARANCE OF
h THE DEAD. lNo
From a special dispatch to the New York Herald.
NORTHAMPTON, MASS, May 16.-Not far
from s o'clock this morning the peaceful
residents of williamsburg were startled by
the appearance Of horse dashing madly
through the streets, while his rider
shouted to the people to escape
for their lives for the reservoir had
given away and the waters were coming
borne down upon them. Scarcely compre-
bending the dreadful tidings, but with the
instinct of self-preservation strong within
them, the people began to rush from their
homes while the foam fiecked animal that
had so calamity brought the messenger,
sank to the ground utterly exhausted.
Another horse was quickly secured and the
message was borne to other valleys. But
the alarm was 30 sudden that all did not
| hear it, and scores were caught by
the swift waters, and aged grand
4 DANES innocent children and strong men
.fk hal Al hw nd nv
! crushed beneath the falling walls Of their
houses. Up among the bills of Goshen there
was a large reservoir of about one hundred
and four acres in extent, whore the various
mill operators of Williamsburg, SINNERS
Vile, HaydensvilIe and Leeds were wont to
store their summer supply of water. The
people living in the vicinity OF the dam say
that it has been leaking more OF
| less for several weeks, and it is be-
lieved that having thus gradually under
mined the dam, the water acquired
a strong Roadway, and suddenly the dam
gave way and the immense body of water
poured out in its strength, carrying every.
thing before it. The torrent rushed upon
the doomed villages with a loud roar, APP
parently large advancing billow of under
brush and debris, rushing rapidly through
the deep gorges to the height of Iorty feet,
and again spreading out over wide ex-
panse of seething, angry waves, as it reached
the more open country. Reach
ing the beautiful village of Will
liamsburg. some two and a hal
miles distant, it struck small
button factory sweeping it out of existence
Next a saw and gristmill was attacked anC
swept away, not a vestige rem aiming
i Houses, barns, and shops followed liz,
grass before a scytbe, and men, women anC
children were caught and borne away, strug
Cling and shrieking in vain. On the waves
swept to Skinnersville two miles distant
oil r fao hoir laA do h.,.
boiler being cared nearly half q mile an,
! landed high and dry in Haydenville, abou
, one mile further on. The bank building
: three story brick structure. was swept away
SCARCELY ONE BRICK BEING LEFT
upon another. The money in the vault share,
the same fate. The smaller village of Leeds
between one and two miles distant, was tn
: next place to suffer. and the scene at Will
liamsburg and Haydenville were here re
pested. short distance below Leeds wer
two bridges, one of iron and one OF stone
both nearly fifty feet above the bed of tn
, stream. They were both swept away tn
former being carried bodily a considerable
distance down the stream. Here the creates
T destruction appears to have stopped, al
though, all along the river, until it emptie,
into he Connecticut, short distance below
Northampton, the banks are covered wit
all manner of debris, timber, trees, pianos
tables, chairs and other furniture. It is es
, timated that nearly. one hundred building
were destroyed, and the total loss is from
: one million to million and half of dol
; lars, although of course it is impossible 4
accurately estimate the damage. The sad
dest feature of the whole affair is the grea
!, loss of life. At first it was thought not NOR
than forty or fifty lives were LIST, but
more careful canvass of the village
visited gives the total number of missing a
nearly l20. as follows: At Williamsburg AZ
at Leeds SO, at Haydenville a. There hav
been between fifty and sixty dead bodie
already recovered, and on Sunday mornin,
organized searching parties are to go owe
the course of the fiocd in search of others
There were many narrow escapes. A butcher
named Michael Hernigan, was caught
horse, wagon and all. and carried along unit
he managed to get into the top OF ire,
| and escaped. Thomas Finnessy wa