The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1874-08-06
THE HARVEST OF DEATH.
Account of the Terrible storm
at Pittsburg.
An Appalling Picture.


An Appalling Picture.
We CLEAN from the Pittsburs papers OF
Monday and Tuesday, the following account
of the des ruction Of life and property BY
the terrible storm which visited that place
las, Sunday night:
From the Pittsburg Commerciai.l
The I. rrible rain storm Of Sunday evening
was the aII-absorbing topic Yesterday. 30
car az the destruction Of human lie Ii con-
Termed, this is the greatest calamity that
has ever befsllen our city. The storm Was
not accompanied by destructive winds, the
devastation resulting entirely from the sud
den precipitation of immense volumes OF
water. The foodgates of heaven were lit
orally opened, and the ordinary channels
for carrying away the wa.er were every
where inadequate. Night had closed In,
and our people were comfortably housed At
home, spending the evening with friends: or
at some nelghboriBg house ofworship. Inc
rain was descending copiously, and the light
ping's Ga N and ate thunder's rattle were IN
cessaDt; but beyond Thu. there was nothing
unusual There was no occasion for any
one to appreLend such a fearful visitation.
IL came almost rs Unexpectedly as the Mill
river disaster. Such thing rs houses hav-
ing been sep, away in fiItsburg or Allie
Rheny, as if by an avalanche, vas never
heard Of, much less anticipated. Nothing
had ever occurred la our past history,
which, even in the remo.est degree might
lead us to anticipate such a dire calamity,
much less attempt to guard against II. We
have at times, ever since the great Hood Of
1882, seen large portions Of Allegheny and
suburbs submerged; and even in a night, or
a few hours. the waters would rise and over
dow the river banks, causing much destruc-
ton of property, and even sweeping away
houses and destroying Liver. But the Hood
of Sunday night has no parallel in history:
In Allegheny the devastation was confined
10 two localities-one known as Butchers
s,,n, and the other as Woods run, being
some three miles apart The first named
locality is in the Third ward, and has for
wears been dense,y populated, mainly by
Germans. The valleys leading into this
run drain vast ares, and the natural water
courses have been materially aided by sew
ersce, SO that there had never heretofore
been any material difficulty experienced in
carrying off ordinary rains. The immense
QUANTITIES of water which were precipitated
inside of an hours time overlooked the
banks, increased rapidly in volume, ana
surrounded the whole neighborhood with
danger before they were aware Of ii. When
their houses began to fill with water, 10
move of their foundations, or were crushed
by the weight of her buildings coming
against them, it was too late to plan for es-
cape The angry waters rushed down the
streets, sweeping everything before them,
and in some places rose 10 the height OF over
twenty feet. Water rushed down eight and
ten feet deep, in streets which do not ordi-
nariIy overflow at all Amid the raging of
the storm, the topping over of houses, and
the rushing of torrents in the streets, scores
of men, women and children persisted. The
wonder il that the destruction of life was
not mnch larger.
No desc.iption of this calamity, however
graphic, to1h convey to the mind an ade-
qua:e conception of it. The horrors COM
pre- seed within that dreadful hour will never
be fully told. Those who visited the scene
saw the wrecked houses, and the
long rows of bodies carried from the ruins
who gazed upon the ghastly forms OF the
dead, and the agonizad features Of surviving
parents and children, can form faint con-
ception of the terrors of that fatal hour.
Who'e families have been blo.ted out entire |
w. In one case, father alone survives of
a family OF eleven-the mother and nine
children have perished. The father had
been absent during the night, and thus
escaped. There were scores of incidents, of
the most touching and narrowing nature,
past the power of words 10 portray.
Although the storm was. probably, the
fieroest that was ever experienced In this
city, and the loss of property, in tue agsre-
gate, grea'er than ever known, ii was only in
the new district lying at the mouth of Saw
Mill Run, on the south eide of the Monon-
gahela river-the extreme western portion
Of the corporstion-that any lives were
lost.
The loss of life at the mouth of Saw Mill
Run was indeed fearful but il would have
been as appalling as at at Butchers Run,
Allegheny. had the Il ., ne n the river been |
such IA the latter, wife eby the torrent conid |
m ~. agairs: the dwellings. From the hill
districts the sewer We e 4 cour-e in .deqnate |
10 the wo'k Il carryn g If the immense 70
uDes OF Wa er. ~hie their capaci Y was
weakened b. tie detrs tniown in.o the |
mouths Of DIR pa, thereby in many cas-s
choking them up. Thus the torrent was, in |
the man, forced upon the surface, and COW |
err d whole thoroughfares. sweeping boulders |
and earth from heir aces, filling CELLARS.
and tesr.ng from their places, and throw
ing Re ore Ii such light insecure buildings as |
might be 10 is way. The rubbish, dirt, |
boulders, etc, thus thrown upon the bottom
streets, served TO choke up sewers ard to
maxi w.t-r courses out of all natural aud |
arti6ci 'irect ons heretofore had by which |
again CELLARS we're fll-d, houses injured and
damage done generally, that, ordinarily,
would be impossible.
The slorm lasted, in full force, for an hour
and half, and during that time the thuu-
der and lightning were we'll nigh con,inu-
Gus, and the rain fell in steady torrents,
without a moments essition. There are
rumors Of much damage done nv lightning,
and 1t Is probable that to-day will Gevelope |
au hectic cases. Thus far two only arr
known. At the commencement of the storm !
a peculiarly vivid fish of lightning came
followed-by terrific |
peal OF thunder. At this time, ore man 10 |
the throny that was Fastening across the |
Allegheny Suspension bridge, was eeen 70
supp duu icfn against the RAILING oil the
bridge, while one Of his arms dropped nerv.
ou.ly BY his side. 1t appeared afterwards
that he h I'D received n stroke of lightning,
which had temporarily palsied his arm. He
soon recovered. The general impression of
those on the bridge was that the bridge had
bees struck, and sll ran away in the belief
that So alone could they escape destruction.
The Car station of the Manchester Passen-
ger Railway, in the lower part of Allegheny,
wa- struck by lightning, and damaged,
though to what extent We could no. ascer-
tain.
At the time ofthe first heavy peal of thuu-
der, Troy Hill car, bound tor Pittsburgh,
turned the corner and started down Federal
street. Tie males drawing the car were
fri ghtened py the thunder and lightning,
and stared Il ran. Their sudden move
meht snapped the brake chain, and the car
came down the Federal street grade 1t tsr-
rite r. e f speed, TO the great t,ibulation OF
the pas ngers.
From the Allegheny City Nail
IN OUR OWN CITY
and at Saw Mill Run. probatl, the greatest
damage was done. In the Eighth Ward.
Butchers' Bun. the former outlet for the wa
tiers OF the valley va. sw.lien to a great
height. Some years ago large main sewer
vas built along the run and this. II wac