The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-05-26
The Western Massachusetts Flood.

now some particulars which all will
wish to know.
Mill river is small stream, not more
than ten miles in length having its
source in the Goshen hills. IL has two
branches uniting in the village OF
williamsburg. To supply all the fac
tories mentioned above, with water,
reservoirs were built on these branches
The one known rs the Williamsburg
reservoir, was situated on the eastern
branch, about three miles above Will |
iamsburg. This is the one which gave
way causing the devastation. 1t was
situated at Il high altitude above the
factories which it supplied with water.
It was constructed about seven years
ago by company styled the Mill Riv-
er Reservoir Corporation. 1t covered
an area of 104 acres, and at the time of
the disaster the water was fully thirty
feet deep at the dam.
Those having it in charge had long
had misgivings about it, and when the
disaster came their worst fears were
more than realized. Mr.. Cheney, the
gate keeper discovered evidences of the
danger and opened the gate to relieve
the pressure, then ran to the stable,
saddled horse and started down the
valley to give the alarm. He went
shouting through the streets to arouse
the people, and by taking his warning
many escaped.
Fifteen minutes after the embeS X
ment slid away, the wall of the Dam
burst out and the waters of the reser-
voir poured out and down the valley in
q white wall, roaring and kissing with
the force of an avalanche. The opening
made in the dam was about one hun
dred feet long, the wall TO its very base
being swept away by the tremendous
volume which escaped. The torrent cut
out the bed of the stream from twenty
to thirty feet below the natural bed and
carried the boulders, great and small, ,
of which the dam was composed, half
a mile below where they were left in
meadow, now buried several feet deep
under stone and gravel The reservoir
emptied in about an hour, leaving
black and muddy bottom covered
with the half decayed trunks of trees
which grew there before the basin was
formed.
Before reaching Williamsburg the
4 torrent swept away bridges, farm hous-
es, and human beings. The Hood swept
into Williamsburg on the northeastern
side, and instead of following the course
of the stream it cut across one corner OF
the thickly settled portion and poured
down the very heart of the village, car
ryinC everything before it. Dams 4,
bridges, factories and dwelling house
, were mingled in the general destruc-
lion. to which was added the precious
,, wealth of human life.
Only two buildings in Skinnerville
small valley between Williamsburg
and Haydenville, remain intact The
factory of Mr., skinner was literally
wiped out. Even the cellars of the
} houses which have gone floating down
. the Connecticut as drift-wood are filled
with rocks and sand. The loss of life
in this place was not large, only four
persons being drowned.
: Just three claps of the bell in the
, village church was all that the people
of Haydepville had to warn them of the
e approaching danger. The alarm and
= flood came close together. The large
o substantial brick buildings of Hayden
Geer & Co., were in its course. -These
buildings, six in number, were on a
5 bend in the river, and on an angle that
= presented the upper end directly to the
i current now sweeping across the basin
= above. The flood engulphed it, and
= the great structure trembled in its
Y mighty grasp. In the brass mill of the
, firm above mentioned there were two
hundred and fifty workmen, all but
= one escaped. Many of the fine resi-
y donces in town were built just above
If the height of the torrent, and hence
= escaped. Dwelling houses v&are under
|
o 1t Is impossible to describe the devasta
Y ton wrought in the track of the torren
= between the villages. Houses were
picked up and carried along on the tol
y of the flood Green meadows were con
Y verted into gravel beds. Men wer,
It suddenly stripped of all their posses
q sions and often of wives aud children
The report of the devastations n
3 Leeds have not been exaggerated. Onl.
n thren houses remain in their orrigina
= positions, on the east side oil the rlvel
:. The silk mill boarding house was total
u ~ wrecked, all the inmates except tw'
n escaped. These lost their lives by re
V turning for valuables. The old woolel
: mill was next crushed. The iron bridg
Z was carried away and from this pOin
/, the water poured down into the village
le House after house crumbled in Al
~ instant. The village chapel followed
- and two or three double houses. A
re Florence the damage was principal
al on farming lands which were covere
with logs and stones, and sand. y
person lost his life, yet the scene on tn
meadows was appalling. AS compal
oil ed with other villages, Florence ma
to be said to have escaped serious damage
D. The Bay State Village escaped seiiou
:. injury.
IL 1t is not possible to give full STATE
en ment of the losses. One hundred an
I'd forty-siX persons were drowned. Fl
teen bridges are gone, twelve factori'
ne and seventy-iive dwellings were swel
al away, and 400 people left homeless
H. Hundreds of horses and cattle wei
,lt drowned and thousands of acres Of Ian
y covered with debris. The town
'e- Northampton loses $30,0 900 in brdg
re, and roads.
ID,
ty The WESTERN CRops.-Returns fro
at numerous districts in Illinois, Indian
h. Wisconsin. Iowa, Minnesota and Mich
"a gan represent the condition OF grown
~ crops as very promising. lndicato
No are favorable for an abundant yield of a
i the cereals. The acreage of wheat
iuily up 10 'uat VI lusI yoai ohu 'nc Hoi
Nv generally look well. The corn is not {
81 planted, but the area will probably equ
al that of last year. Other crops are loo
'p- ing WE'LL The St. Louis Republican
lal tho 10th says "The wheat crop appear
be so far, to be without any serious Diet
tut ment yet prevalence of rains, with t
'ge warm weather now the rule, may possib
hs produce some i'll effects, At the prese
asst time it would seem that farmers and t
ct world have hopeful prospect" 1t ad
nd that peach and apple trees are in f.
bloom. The National Crop Report
records an increase in the acreage SOY
with oats in the States of Indiana, low
iV Kansas, Ohio and Wisconsin, the avera
lon increase being little over 5 per ce
L