Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-14
CHATTANOOGA.

NASHVILLE, March IS, 1875.
CHATTANOOGA.
An Interesting Account OF the Recon
FiOOd-rhe Damage Grossly Exas
gerated-lnstde History OF the Pos
Office Fight.
Correspondence Of the Union and American
CHATTANOOGA, March 13.-The lat
Hood has not ceased to be a general topic {
conversation in the valley Of the Tennessee
river, from the Virginia line to Corintl
Miss Compared with similar ones il
past years, it was peculiar in many ne
spects. The rain was by nOmeans general
In fact, IL fell on an area Of country less il
extent than any one Of the four States partl
Affected by the storm. The heaviest raiT
was confined 70 the Tennessee valley, from
Bristol to COrinth, distance Of less thar
four hundred miles, while its breadth was
considerably les, than 100 miles. A series o
water-spOuts burst on the southern slope O
the Cumberland Mountains on Tuesday
night, Feb. %. These tremendous rain:
raised the waters in all the tributaries Of
the Tennessee TO an unprecedented
height, and carried away many bridges
mills, houses and other buildings. One Of
these local storms, on RaccoOn Mountain
Hooded Crow creek bottom on the Nash
vile and Chattanooga railroad, and dam
aged the line so as to cut off regular trains;
another sent Chickamauga up booming,
and washed out bridges, culVerts and fills
for twenty miles along that road, and car
ried away several mills and houses; still
another sWelled HiaWassee river and the
creeks emptying into it, sending down a
tremendous volume Of water, which swept
before it the temporary bridge on the East
Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia road, and
thy same rain reached the rOad-bed and
culverts on this line, breaking il in more
than forty places. These fearful dashes Of
rain were followed by a bright morning,
but on Wednesday afternoon a genelal and
heavy rain set in from the Southwest, and
continued until late in the night. Thurs
day, the 25th, the river rose at Knoxville
and from that point down to Muscle Shoals
with a rapidity unknown to the Oldest in
habitant. On Friday it was up in all the
ravineS in this city, and on Saturday Mar
ket street was covered in many places from
the river 70 Ninth street, though at no
time was all this street under water. All
day Saturday and Sunday the rise Of the
food was rapid. 1t eliminated late on
Monday and began to recede on Monday
morning.
HEIGHT or THE WATER.
The waI5r here was four feet below the
food Of 1867; at jasper il was only two
feet below; at Knoxville it was several feet
higher. The work done by the government
on the suck modified the food materially
here. Weshould probably have had as much
water here &C We had in 1867 but for the
additional channel cut at that shOal. The
modification Of the channel by dams and
other appliances for the benefit Of naviga-
ton during low water, between here and
Knoxville, probably contributed something
to the unprecedented high water at thai
place.
TIE DAMAGE SUSTAINED.
Every county in East Tennessee, the
border c0It tiles Of North Georgia and Ala
bama, aad the railroad lines passing
through them, suffered mare or less severe
". But tEa losses, direct and consequent
tial, have been ridiculOusly overestimated.
And now that the river has shrunk TO its
accustomed proportions, and We have a
chance cOOlly to look over and estimate the
actual damage il mas indicted by its IN
toward rampage, We smile at our own
Eighty judgments, rendered in the pres
ence and under the effects Of the
disaster. True, many mills, houses
and miles Of fencing we're sWspt away;
some stock has been drowned, some grain
deStIoTei, and a small area Of wheat, sOWn
on low grounds, has been flooded; but the
extravaganza Of estimating these losses BY
the millions q dollars is apparent TO any
man OF sense who saw the country before
and has looked it over since she flood.
The total direct loss in East Tennessee
will not reach a half-milliOn dollars. The
disaster will hardly shorten crops by a
single acre; tho wheat land that got washed
will be available for corn, and it and the
rest Of the bottom lands will raise a better
crop for having been OyerhOwed.
As a srecimen Of the extravaganza in the
first estimate Of loss, the city will serve as
an example, which, were not the matter a
serious one, would be amusing. At first
we were told Chattanooga was literally
ruined; the blast furnace was total wreck;
the ROane Iron COmpany's mills we're dam
aged $4,000; the Merchant Mill was "clean
done for" the large Touring mill Of Whit
ney & Co. was burned as an incident Of the
fO0d-by refugees let in BY the pUOpTietOrs.
The facts ere, IS stated By the owners Of
these various properties, that the total di-
rect injury to the whole town will not
reach 100000. The blast furnace can be
repaired for 5000, making it better than
it ever was before, and placing the hearth
above high water 600 viii cover the loss
Of the ROane Iron Company; the Touring
mill was burned by an incendiary, and the
story that it was full Of refugees was pure
invention.
As have intimated, base these state
ments upon what l learn from the Presi-
dents Of the companies, from the best-in-
formed and cOolest-headed citizens not in
terested in the various pieces Of property,
and upon a careful survey Of the situation,
and a minute, personal inspection since the
waters receded The President Of the
4 Chattanooga Iron Manufacturing Company
owners Of the blast furnaces Of Opin-
ion that $4,000 viii cover the loss to the
city. The President Of the ROane Iron
Company says $4,000 will more than put
the town to rights.
In Nashville, you heard that ChattanOO-
ga was a thing Of the past-that she had
Dctu literally spJlssC4 O4l-auu taAC IL
as a reasonable conclusion that other dam
ages, all along the track Of the food, will
shrink to as small proportions as ours have,
once cool judgment, aided by facts and fig
Ures, is applied to them.
Knoxville has suffered more severely than
this city, though not near as great an area
was Overfowed there as here.
HOW THE PEOPLE TAKE IT.
There is no sign Of discOuragement here,
and the same spirit is manifest among the
whole people Of the valley. Chicago re-
covered ron two hundred million burn;
Boston hardly realizes now that she lost by
fire seventy-fve millions but four years
back; The Dutch rescued an empire from
the sea, and East Tennesseeans realize too
well their latent resources Of wealth and
prosperity, they have too much pluck and
self respect to WhimpeT and whine and
surrender in despair, because the Tennessee
river came out Of its banks and invaded
their farms, villages and cities.
1 have met scores Of farmers who say
tn Y have gained as much by the enRiching
Of their lands IS they lost in fencing and
other property. The business men Of this
city and Of all East Tennessee, as well as
those engaged in manufacturing, have no
idea Of being at all discouraged. Never a
whimper hare 1 heard from one of the large
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