The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-05-23
The Massachusetts, Calamity.
A West Virginia Boys Observation
Among the Ruins.
NORTHAMPTON, MASS, !
NAV 1R 1874

| ANVAAhAAA AbNR u1AbAsN
May IS, 1874. !
Editors Of The 1ntCligcnecr.
The telegraph, no doubt, furnished
your paper this morning with limitet
account Of the Mill River disaster Of Sat
urday. Thinking but a very faint idea o
the magnitude Of the accident can be de
rived from the dispatches, take tbl
liberty Of transmitting an extended repor
as made up from notes taken on thl
ground Of the disaster an hour alter II oc
Cured.
Within the short period Of fifteen min
utes, Saturday morning, three thrifty
manufacturing towns In Western Mas
sachusetts were almost entirely swept
away by flood that was sudden In III
outburst, short in its duration, and ter
rible In It's destruction OF human life
The towns were Williamsburg, Hayden
vile and Leeds, all Of them situated on
Mill River, a small stream that empties
into the Connecticut q short distance be-
low this city. Two miles above VII.
liamsburg there ia an immense reservoir
filled with water TO be held In re-
serve for tho use Of the various factories
below. during the dry season. A little
after seven o'clock, Saturday morning,
the watchman OF the reservoir discovering
that the barrier was gradually giving
way, hastened to Williamsburg, and the
towns below, to notify the Inhabitants of
the approaching danger. Five minutes
after he had passed Williamsburg the
vast volume OF water from the reservoir
came laundering down through the gap
In the mountain, and by the time he had
reached Leeds, the lowermost OF the towns
that suffered from the flood, the advanc.
ing waves were in sight.
At the time Of the disaster l was in
Florence, a little town situated on bluff
above Mill river, about a mile below
Leeds. The roar Of the torrent, louder
than tho deepest thunder, could be heard
in the distance, and by the time arrived
at the edge Of the bluff tho water had
reached the "meadows" below. Above
the meadows" the flood had been con-
fined to valley, perhaps three hundred
yards wide, and the work OF destruction.
was almost incalculable; but as soon as It
reached the locality where first saw 1t,
It's destructive force was somewhat
broken. For an hour or more the
meadows" were flooded; then the water
receded to the river channel almost as
suddenly as it had appeared.
From tho amount Of debris accompany.
ing the flood it was evident that the towns
above had suffered greatly; and before
the water had subsidized a courier arrived
from Leeds and reported the destruction
OF that town and the
LOSS OF MANY LIVES.
AS SOON as practicable I procured q
conveyance and drove over the whole
section Of country through which the tor.
rent had passed. Everywhere along the
route there were evidences =olsthe dc.
sstructive power Of water. Trees had
been uprooted in the valley and tossed
high up on the hillsites; boulders weigh.
ing five or six hundred pounds had been
rolled from their beds by the iorce Of the
current; and iron bridges had been
washed by the waves hundreds Of yards
below their abutments.
AT LEEDS
the scene was saddenlng. All but eight
or ten houses, out Of the fifty that stood
by the riverside, were either entirely OBJ.
liberated or massed in ruins. Frame 6nild.
ings with the sides and ends tattered as
though they had received a volley Of
grape and canister from battery, were
lying around premiscuously over the
ground. Some Of these houses had been
washed by the current from Haydenville,
two miles above. Brick buildings, that
were exposed to the flood, tared lar worse
than the frame structures. Tho tounda.
tion stones, in many instances, were all
that was left Of them. A large button
factory, Of two long brick buildings, was
swept away go clean, foundation and all,
that 1t was difficult to tell where II stood.
Within q minute after the water struck 1t,
the walls gave way and tho building fell,
freighted with humanity. There were
about eighty operatives in the factory,
many Of whom escaped. A foreman In
the establishment told me that as soon as
he heard tho alarm, he looked from the
basement window and saw a column Of
water apparently twenty. five feet high,
approaching from above the dam. Con.
stcrnation took hold Of nearly every one,
and many perlshed because they could
not mark out, In time, q way Of escape.
A large boarding house belonging to the
factory was also carried of. -Four fthe
inmates were lost, among the number the
proprietor, who had left place Of safety
and returned to his house to get away
some worldly goods. There were fifty
lives lost OF Leeds.
AT HAYDRNv1LLE-
a silk factory, q savings bank, and brass
foundry were entirely destroyed, and
twenty private houses carried away. The
loss Of property here was greater than OF
any other point 10 the line OF the flood,
Hayden, Gere s Co., OF the silk mill and
savings bank, are out $500, 600. The brass
foundry was estimated at about 500 900.
The force Of the current at Haydenville
was simply fearful. A boiler belonging
to a 30'horse power engine was lifted
from It's place IN the silk mill and carried
three hundred yards. Another boiler,
belonging 10 25.horse power engine
dritted at least o quarter OF mile from its
station. There were thirty-fiye souls lost
from this place. Many persons instead oil
trying 10 escape remained in their houses.
In some instances they were saved, but