River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1876-04-06
DESTRUCTIVE FLOOD.
The Terrible Effects of Another Dam Dis
aster.


The Terrible Effects of Another Dam Dis
aster.
The Lyndebrook reservoir. at Wor.
ceSter, Mass, gave way on the 30th
ut, delusing the valley below for nine
miles with T60, 000,0 900 gallons of water.
and had II not been that notice of dan.
ger had previously been given the loss
of life would have been very great.
The water rushed down the ravine
with a terrible roar in solid mass
twenty feet high. First in the line of
the sweeping food was the stone waste.
gate house, which was tipped over
bodily and not even stone Of it re-.
manned. Down through narrow ravine
a hundred feet wide and one mile long
the food swept on. The sides were
fairly dug ont clean in an instant for
fifty feet, until the edge Of the enbank.
ment was almost perpendicular.
Through pine woods on one side of the
rayine the waters tore. The largest
trees were twisted around like straws
pulled up by the roots and carried on.
ward down the decline. The flood tore
out everything in the Tavine, and rush.
ed onward toward the highway below
After destroying several houses the
Hood strucka brick wooden mill, crumb.
ling it IN ruins. \ short distance be.
low was wooden structure about fifty
feet square, and stood below dam
which held the waters of a pond above.
When the waters struck this it gave
way, and the waters of the pond served
to still further increase the vast
amount which was already sweeping
destruction before it. The mill was
next struck and lifted bodily to the
top OF the rushing waters. On it was
swept at a terrific rate. whiring and
turning in all directions until il struck
Ashworth & Jones mill. This was the
best mill on the stream, and one of
the best in the country. 1t was a sub
stantial brick structure, four stories
high, with an J. for boiler-hOuse.
The Bottomly mill struck this i with
terrific force, knocking it to pieces.
The BottOmly was as completely de-
molished by the shock as if it had been
blown up with dualin, and nothing
more was seen which could be recog-
niZed as mill standing but q moment
before. The boiler house of Ashworth
Jones mill was ruined in an instant,
and one end of the main structure was
swept away. The boiler was taken up
and carried along as though it were a
Shlngle III mill-StTeam. Soon an eX-
plOslon was heard above the roar of
the flood, and stream of water was
thrown several feet above the surface
OF the current. Another explosion
followed, and another, until five had
occurred, and the boiler was blown to
pieces. Mr.. Jones also lost large
barn, which was crushed like an egg
shell. At Stoneville the dam gave way
and the course of the food was through
a narrow valley, and the roar of the
rushing water was distinctly heard for
a mile.
Spectators who were standing near
the depot say that the water was thir-
ty feet high when it approached the
track. With one tremendous crash
the railroad embankment gave way,
opening gap 400 or 500 feet long and
twenty feet deep. just before the
water mountain struck the railroad EN-
hankment at GAINESVILLE a section of
the stream forced its way on TO the
line of the road and passing on both
sides of the depot rushed ten feet high
down the track, carrying devastation
before it. The grade being quite steep
at this point new impetus was given
to the water, and i'm its course it lifted
rails and ties bodily from their road
bed and turned them tOpsy-turvy For
more than mile it rushed headlOng
and at last, just before reaching the
stone arch bridge at Curtis Pond, it
bored hole down into the road-b bed.
and made gap about eighty feet long
and torty-iive or fifty feet deep.
The flood reached Leesville about
two hours after the dam broke, and
struck the Satinet mill owned by Al
bert Curtis with terrific force. 1t gave
way, and erumbled into ruins. and the
dam was carried away The course of
the stream from the reservoir through
other villages Is nine miles, showing
that the water advanced at the rate of
three miles an hour. The first mile.
however, was made in three minutes.
a large number of other manufac-
tories and property of various kinds,
including railroads and bridges were
destroyed in the course Of the food.
and an estimate of the whole loss can
scarcely be made.