New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-12-21
ANOTHER FLOOD.


AS TO THE CAUSE or TIE ACCIDENT.
fDY TELEGRAPH PROM srAFF CORRESPONDENT
SPRINGFIELD, Mass, Dec. 20.-The Valley OF Mill
River, in Hampshire County. has narrowly escaped .
second great disaster by food. The operatives in
tho foundery at Haydenville startled just before
noon Yesterday by o crash, followed by noise,
which they say was like that Of rushing wind.
Since the fatal flood of last May the ears Of these
people have been quick TO catch and their minds To
interpret such sounds. With accord they rushed
out of the building. AS they did so. they saw one
half Of the dam of Hayden. Gere & Co.'S
Works giving way before q broadening sheet OK
water, carrying its bosom immense CAKES OF ice,
which were subsequently found to be nearly ten
inches thick. The people in the village had caught
the alarm simultaneously with those in the
fOundery and already seeking the high
ground on either side of the stream Somebody.
however, had the presence Of mind to send messcn-
gers to the villages and mills below. and the steam
whistle of the foundery also sounded a shrll warn
ing These precautions probably saved many lives, for
between Haydenvllc and Florence there were nearly
200 children spending their Saturday holiday in
skating. The little ones took flight with a speed
born Of vivid remembrance Of similar disaster
that had made not a few Of them Orphans and al
though good many were for time missing 1t 10
now thought that not one was lost.
The food was stayed by tho dam Of the new cot
ton mill, between Haydenville aud Leeds, which
was only slightly injured by the Spring flood, and
which is said to have been since repaired and
greatly STRENGTHENED. Checked here. the waters
found restng-places in the neigaborng meadows.
and in a few hours the ponds having b1en unusually
shallow when the accident occurred. did not have
moro than their average depth. Long before sunset
the people relieved Of their anxiety, had returned
to their homes were curiousy examining the
broken dam and the track of the flood. Very little
OF the water escaping over the cotton mill dam
reached the NOnotuck Silk Mills Mt Leeds. These
works have not been completed long and their dam
was empty and their gates shut. Here, therefore.
no damage whatever done. In fact. the whole
loss by the accident viii fall upon Hayden, Gerc
Co.. the prOprietors of the broken dam. Ii is said
that their engineer accepted the work few weeks
ago. The dam cost about $3.50, aad the repairs
will cost hardly moro than $1,000.
Among the earliest visitors at the Of the dis
aster were Mr. L. C. Davis, of Northampton the
engineer who planned the dam, and Mcssrs. John
Delaney ST. and John Delaney, jr. (of John Delaney
e. Sons, Holyoke who built it. Neither of these
gentlemen seemed able to account for the accident.
Neither was either of the stockholders who
present. II was first ascribed to the greatness OF
the cement, but that theory is not sustained, be-
cause tho break did not occur wh,re tire cement
greenest, but distance from the last gap, filled
in with masonry; nor was it caused by an extra
ordinary pressure OF water for the water was hardly
as high as usual-ccrtainly not as high it was e
few days ago. The dam is built or ha;d pan; the
foundation appears to be broad and firm, and the
superstructure does not Seem oIon 70 criticism.
The dimensions given by the contractors are:
Length, li0 feet; width Is feet at the base and SIX
at the top. the material used graute. and the
finishing was a coping of cut granItr he water
side of the dam WAS faced with cement. and either
end was hanlcd by n parapet wall about eighteen
feet high. The work OF construction was carefully
supervised by m inspector socially charged by Mr..
Hayden with that duty. When completed it was
thought model job OF is Kind and only few days
ago Councillor Braxton, himself contractor of
large experience, pronounced it "wood rflL' TIE
theory now generally accepted IS tlat a ice folmea
on the dam cracked the cement aid looaened the
stones, but it is strange indeed. if there conld be
found no cement to Withstand the cod Of this hate
Winter. Anticipating this objection .ie contractors
claim that the cold cracked the stone7 rather than
the cement They say that if the ice had been kept
cut away the dam would have stood, but il is nat
urally inquired, "are not such contingencies the
ice not being cut away considered when dan is
built in q country where ice locks the streams
often?
The cause of the accident should be the subject Of
immediate investigation by experts, bnt ~ the work
was private one this is not likely to be dore. Mr..
Hayden is now in Nashville Tenn. He friends say
that 1t was his wish lhat pains should be spared
to make the dam, above al things safa 1t is prob
able that the work of reconstruction viii net begin
until next Spring. The mills Of III. den, Goge &
Co. not having yet risen far above the :ouldations.
there is no immediate demand for the wafer power.
There was great excitement in Springfield when
the news of the disaster first reached The city, and
The Repgblicaa and The Uaion Immediately sent re-
porters to Haydcnvie, and, thanks to the prompt
ness of these s-gatherers the anxiety caused by
the early reports of loss OF life was SOFA relieved
The accident would have been stripped of special
interest but for the fact that had occurred the
track of the May food, thus giving the popular ap-
plication of the old saying hat lightning never
strikes twice in the same place" To-day the ex-
element hero has subsidized entirely, and reports
from Haydenville state that quiet re:sns again in
Mill River Valley.
OTHER ACCOUNTS OF TIE ACCIDENT.
THE LOSS BY THE BREAKING OF TIE DAM ABOUT
SIOO0-PRoGRESS MADE IN THE REBUILDING OF
HAYDEN. GERE & CO.'S wORKS-riIE CAUSE or
THE BREAK ONLY To DE AsCEgrAINED BY AN
INVESTIGATION.
SpRINGrIELD, Mass, Dec. 20.-A special dis
patch " me onion from uavdenvie states that the
dam OF Messs. Hayden Gere Co. broke away near the
center two-thirds Of the structure being swept away
The large body OF water imprisoned covered with Ice
ten inches thick rushed down the stream with crack
ling noise similar that mado by the 11od OF May iass
down the sane pathway. Tnere were rs or more chi.
dren skating on the pond all of whom were saved.
Tho rebuilding OF the works Of Hayden. Gere Co
had advanced only as far the completion Of . new
budng I02 by 40 feet aud two stories HIGH
while the work the coalhouse aud pattern'shop 10
sph I'm hn In of "