Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-05-21
BRADFleLD AND ASHFlELD.
y PARALLEL.

In accounts of the Mil River disaster, read
ers may notice occasional reference to the
| "liradeld lnundation," the 'Sheilield Horror
| the "HilisbOTo flood; also illusions to the
bursting reservoir thri'!ingly described byChas,
| Reade III his novel, "put Yourself in His
| Place" All these citations point To one and
| the same dreadful occurrence, which happened
| in the valley of the Loxley river, England, on
the night March II, 1861. Mr.. Reade works
| up the calamity AS an episode in his celebrated
romance, and lavishes upon il all his wOndrous
narrative power; but that falls far short of the
| CHASTITY reality. No description could btng
| the multiplied horrors of the disaster DE lore
| the reader 5 mind. and this may also he said
| of the Mill river tragedy, AS the two cata-
| strophes are persiatcntly coupled together We
| think it worth while to take from All authen-
| Tie source (not Mr.. Reade's book a few facts
and figures about the breaking of the Brad
field reservoir in orkshlre. Ii was built to
supply water to Sheffield, eight miles be low
| The plan was to dam up the l.oXIy and other
little streams between two hills, and this was
| done by making a single embaukment ON the
Sheffield side, the embankment was made Of
earth, !, 200 ieet long, 800 feet wide AT base,
100 feet high, and l. feet across on top, and
had an inner puddle wall. The engineers and
others thought 1t " As large and strong enough
to hold The contents of the reservoir (G9l 00b.-
900 gallons) securely. sheffield had paid Ii
berally for The work. There was DO sighting
of the job through fraud OF parsimony. Tho
to The quanuiy OF materials used. and tai NIX
ing too little of the quality. The real reliance
in the Bradiltld reservoir was on The huge
mound of earth. The inner paddle wall was
mere crust, which, at best, could OILY check
the tendency OF the water to mine its way
through the vast sandy pile. AS sure as IA
musk-rat or other water yermin could dIa IN
to or through this embankm ment the water was
certain to follow aud weaken The whole atruc
ture; and, in the absence of these cauSes of
ruin, the water itself would inevitably pUrco |
late through the barrier.
Earth and stones cannot be stamped to- |
gether hv any process so hrmly as to pro- |
vent this, and when the eniDankme Is |
thoroughly sapped bv this means, the least |
unusual pressure upon II sweeps II away.
The day before tho destruction OF the rdsor-
VOir had been stormy, and the wat6r nearly |
reached tho top ot the embauk X ment. "A little
crack on the outside Was the first warning
of trouble. and tha contractor on the ground
promptly ordered the valves of Tho surplus
pipes To he opened to relieve tho pressure.
This gave relief apparently. For several
hours the crack dld not Increase and the
work men believed the danger past. Slill,
as a measure of precaution. n mounted mos
senger was sent down tho valley to warn
the people to take the high ground, aud by
this forethought hundreds were saved who
would otherwise have persisted. About
midnight, while the contractor, engineer
and work men were watching the reservoir
and hoping for the best, the embank ment
opened thirty fest, and down came the i'm
prisoned waters in "A resistIess flood.
second rash of water widened the gap 70 ITO
yards and to depth of seventy ieet. This
released the whole coutents OF the reservoir
i'll the short space OF iory-seven minutes,
and it poured down the valley at a speed OF
eighteen miles an honr. 'riS useless 10
describe the scene 10 readers. .troSh from the
story of ruined lIaydenville, Leeds, Will
Skinnorsville, anu Florence.
The two acc cunts tP'ly wonderfully in the
detail of devastation, sacrifice OF human life
and hairbreadth escapes. The parallel Is
one of the most remarkable i'll the history
of human misfortuhes The Bradield III
undation was most destructive because II
took place i'll the dead middle of the right,
when whole families who had not heard
the warning were asleep, and persons could
not save themselves or their dear ones in
the darkness. The lost numbered two hun.
dred and fifty and the value of all the prop
orty destroyed was not less than G2, ,000, 900.
An inquest found "no5ody to blame" bht the
evidence showed defects n the construction OF
tue DAM aud an insufficient mems Of letting oil
water We are curious TO sec whether the como
ner'S Jury IN the Ashiiald reservoir ailair viii be-
equally complalsnnt. The dam was uulike that
OF Bradheld III one reSpect-tho exislence of "A
stone wall rBnn'Ig through It's centie-a,d that
difference was ITS only element OF supei .oiity-
In other regards thc dam was weaker than the
Bradheld one. is only 40 feet long, leO feet
wide at the base, and sloped gradually 10 a width
OF lG ieet, having height OF 40 ieet. Had the
dam been entirely made OF earth, 1t doubtful If
1t would have stood single day after Tho reser-
N0lr was full The contractors seeIn to have been
dImly aware that artificial earth mounds were
no security against breaks - perhaps they had
read OF the Bradteld accident, which happened
about the time they began the wolk-a,d they
put III a stone wall 1Or eAtta strength This
wall was poor, huHsy thing, only live feet at |
base aud two feet across tho top, ato9 ether ina
dequale, un every engineer vi brains should
know Tor resisting the pressure CT the water
Bat IL Was the best the cohlI tractors could afioid |
we may suppose, since they get only SO 900 ful |
toe whole Work, which could not have been well
done Tor less than $4,000 to $1,000 The wall |
poor as 1t was aided by the Garth banked on each
side, did, rs by 4 miracle, keep the water in for |
nine years. Bat We undertake to say, that there
was never minute In all that time when il was
not liable to be swept away by a heavy fall OF
ram increasing the pressure oiihc water, or
washing OH part OF The exterior ombahkment
nat 1t stood up 10 May lG, 1874, Is a TACT most
amazing We hope that competent ds!uterestel
engineers may be heard at the inquest, nd The
whole ruth brought out, for the instruction of
The public and the ceDsure and moral punishment
OF the men responsible foT the dreadful slaughter
-'jolona{ Of Commerce.
DESTRUCTION OF FRUIT TREES BY BUOs.--It
.l.f a a a..