Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1874-05-23
A FRIGHTFUL DELUGE.
Mills and Villages swept Away Over
Two Hundred Persons Killed
or Drowned.

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of Haydenville, Mass, burst about
eight o'clock on the morning of the
10th, and the water came rushing down
the hills, carrying everything before it.
The flood struck the south. eastern Dor
tion Of Williamsburg, village two
miles north of Haydenville, CARRYING
away large number of dwellings. As
It came raging down the valley, it dug
up the houses and swallowed them in an
instant, leaving no trace Tree butts
and great stones came down with the
flood. The mountain of water, roaring
like thunderstorm of hail, reached
SkinnerviIle and lifted the silk mills
upon its shoulders before shredding
them into bits. At Leeds it came down
a wall Of water faced by an abbutti3 of
timber, trees, and iron boilers, which
struck the village in the full front. At
first no water was visible, but a seem
ing wall Of driftwood, about Thirty feet
high and several hundred feet in width,
was seen sweeping down the valley at
the rate OF twenty miles an hour
An AWFUL SIGHT,
There was an hour and a-half of flood,
and then ebb and at noon those who
had escaped came back in crowds to see
the ruins, 1t is an awful sight. Houses
are twisted like crumpled paper. Trees
are stripped of their bark and limbs,
even where their roots have clung to the
soil. The beautiful valley is q waste of
mud and muddy water. laden with dis
torted and strange shapes. Great boil.
ers have been carried hundreds of yards
and left crushed and buried. A man
was picked from tree upon which he
had ridden six miles on the torrent,
cheering and waving his coat. The
poor fellows mind was gone. No less
than eight cases Of insanity followed
among those who have lost relatives and
friends by this terrible calamity, and
three were committed to the asylum in
Northampton. Everything was ground
fine. When the food was past, the tim
bers were in toothpicks and scraps of
iron, bricks and great stones nearly be-
came boulders, and here and there a
corpse OF a piece of corpse. All the
windings of the valley were file with
the debris, a terrible picture of waste
and death in the most beautiful valley
of Massachusetts.
SAVING THE DEAD.
The gracious work of saving the dead,
from this burial, began at noon at Skin.
nerville. The first bodies were picked
up, dug out from the mud, or taken
with difficulty from the overloaded
ruins. All through the valley till night
and then men with lanterns, seeking
their dead, stood guard. At Hay.
denville forty bodies were gathered
by night and at Leeds, forty five.
There were fewer dead at Florence and
Northampton. There were one hun
dred and forty in all, though many more
are certainly buried in the mud and
rubbish that fill the valley with black
heaps from Williamsburg to Northamp.
ton.
ESTIMATES OF THE DEAD.
The latest figures of the loss of life
by the Williamsburg reservoir make the
total number 149, divided as follows be-
tween the f ur places: williamsburg,
6l ; Skinnerville, 4 +; Leeds, 40; Hay
denyille, 35. OF those at William. burg
forty-four were women AMI children at
Skinnerville two at Haydenville twen-
ty-four, and at Leeds thirty nine. These
figures only represent persons whose
loss is positively known, though the
bodies OF all are not yet recovered.
Bodies are constantly found, and in
some cases those of persons who were
not supposed to be lost; so that it
seems perfectly fair to say that the total
loss of life will exceed 100, if indeed it
does not more nearly approach 900
LOSSES AGGREGATING TWO MILLIONS,
1t is utterly impossible as yet to give
detailed estimate of losses; aside from
the buildings destroyed and damaged,
ridges have been carried away, roads
ruined, and hundreds of acres of mead
Ow lands rendered almost valueless.
The total loss must far exceed one mil
lion dollars, and will probably come
nearer TWO mllll0nS,
CAUSE OF THE CATASTROPHE.
1t appears that serious doubts as to
the safety of the reservoir have been
entertained ever since it was built, nine
years ago, though less the last year or
two than in its early history. The di-
rect cause of the disaster, aside from
the general weakness of the dam, must
remain subject of speculation. Per
haps as satisfactory theory as any is
one advanced by man familiar with
the case, that the frosts had started the
earth SO the water had found numerous
little courses through it, which finally
carried the first mass of earth Saturday
morning, and at once precipitated the
catastrophe.
NARROW ESCAPES.
There were many narrow escapes. A
butcher named Michael Hernigan was
caught, horse, wagon and all, and car
ried along until he managed to get into
the top of a tree, and thus escaped.
Thomas Finnessy was carried some two
miles, floating on some timber, until he
finally escaped. Ira Dunning was in
like manner carried over half mile.
Chas. Brady, after riding in imminent
peril for mile, escaped to tree. DIR.
johnson warned his wife in season to
permit her to escape in safety but in
trying to save his three children he was
caught in the flood, and they all four
perished, in sight of the agonized wife
and mother.
THE DISASTER INCREASING IN pRoPoR-
TIoNs.
The search for dead bodies has been
going ON all day in Mill Run Valley,
and will be continued for several days
and perhaps even weeks. The meadows
are SO deeply covered with debris that
it is feared many dead bodies have yet
been undiscovered. A number have
been recovered to-day, and it is now
thought that the estimate of 200 lives
lost may fall even below the actual
truth The extent Of the disaster in
creases rather than diminishes, aud it
as yet impossible to give areliable esti-
mate of the loss Of life and property.