The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-31
The Bursting Of the Great Reser'
yOir In Leicester, Mass.
WORCESTER'S WATER SUPPLY GONE,
Devastation in The Villages between Lay
side Brook and The gity.
RAILROAD TRAFFIC INTERRUPTED.
Strong Brick Mills Crushed and
Trees Twisted Like Straws.


water has burst It's barriers, and In less than
three hours 7OOOOJOoO gallons OF water that had
teen stored away among the hills OF Leicester
In anticipation of the needs Of 0fty thousand
persons in the approaching season. devastated
the valley of kettlebrook, carrying ruin and
CONSERVATION, and prosttating at one sudden
blow the Industries that had made tho valley
the b1de OF peace and plenty.
Tue reservoir WAS situa'ed In the town Of
Leicester, about i've miles by carriage road
from tho heart Of the city. and con-
tained seven hundred million gillons Of
water. Tue Il I'm was erislndlly butt In 1868,
but was rebuilt and raised some twenty
feet III 1870, and was one Of the most substantial
character. Unfortunately, almost from the
first - sm u leak has existed In the arched pas
sage under the dam. In which the outlet pipes
were liid. aud James u. Francis OF
Lowell. who employed soon after
the Min river disaster to inspect the
dam, said that he thought the weak
est part Of the structure was this very
Place On account Of the want Of suitable in
yerted orch to the gallery, which was omitted at
the time Of building because of the great influx
Of water from rings. l Is probable that these
spings have been imperceptbly undermining
the dam for the past i've years. until at length
the water from the reservoir itself found its
way through into the ch lmber, and on wsdnes-
DAY atf 'fnonn was observed WORKING through
the ton of the arch.
The leak gradually rc'sed in volume until
st assumed so thrc teuing an aspect as to lead
the authorities t. give warning to the people
living In the valley blow. Asa result there wss
an almost universal moNin; Of furniture out OF
the houses and Of stock out of the mills. and
during wednesday night the peorle were
trophe.
In the meantime the authorities were not in
active. but by means OF 2 eat bags Of hav
weighted with stones. sought to nll up the
breach and STOP the leak. hut IN vain. The omi-
nous stream steadily gained In size. and ere
long poured In torrents from the door and win
d."s OF ne lower gate house having burst
slightly decreasing bulk OF water encour-
aged tho workmen TO believe that their
their cxefions Pine trees trees We're @ feed nS and sunk
Into the hre. X, and cart load after cart load OF
stones and gravel were emDted by their side,
while hundreds Of b@gs Of hav were sucked into
tho boiling and sectuing current. daV long
the work went On Al enc time the flow Of
water t@efuei to decrease, but soon " ber-n
with rcjoubled force, and about o'clock tho
water began flowing once more out OF the door
and windows OF the lower TO house.
IL was thought IN At possibly a large amount Of
damsae could he ayerted 10y tapping the TN in
another place 50 that portion OF the water
might be diverted from the more thicky popu-
lated VALLEY, ana accordingly worhmen began
cutting at ench through ihe east dam, and AZ 4
O'Clock cut three feet wide, about ATTY feet
long, and seven feet deep was completed. and
stream two feet deep began flowing through.
But this eNpcdieni proved Of little avail, as the
leak steadily gained, and at five o'clock TIE wa
ter began bubbllnf NJ OUT Of the ground just
above the lower Z te, and in a few moments
another stream began flowing a I W feet on the
Ilgat. and moment later "a third one made its
uupeGrdnce on The left.
The work uen were ordered 20 cease their
labo'-, as il was evident the dam was doomed.
Hnd there was danger Of the whole giving way ut
A. soon as the first new break made its ap.
pearan, e. messenger, were sent to warn the ueD.
pie In the valley. and the hundreds who hfd
congregated in the vicinity Of inc dam stood i'm
III pNpggtufIgn 10
rush down the valley In \ sold body ste diiy
and rapidly the. torrents increased in size, and
ere long the three uf red In one huge volume
that cut away the gravel bank that formed tho
iareest portion of The dam. Huge trees shot up
out OF the seeihing current, and rapidly sped
down stream. Bg stones and bag, Of hay hpated
along borne downward hy the same Irresistible
power. lmmense quantities Of earth suddenly
fell away and disappeared, and s,ili the waters
ca! their way backward toward the pond.
At6oclock nothing interviewed between the
volume. OF water and the valley below hut tile
mass Of solid stone masonry laid in cement ten
feet thick, and the water was rushing through
the ten-foot arch with Irresistible force. In a
moment the arch crumhled, and the Great
blocks OF granite were carried down the sire
a. though mere pebbles. Soon the lower gate
house, that had stood firm against the immense
pressure Of the water, succumbed and with one
grand crash fell.
lie breach gradually widened and deepened
until II was nearly eighty feet wide and twenty
feet dcep, The solid masonarv wall stood well.
aud Il 2 o'clock the water pouring over It
III torrent six or eight ieet deep bul appaT-
envy without making an Impression upon S
ructure At that hour thu uDg ger 2 to hOlse rs
standing, but rumor saws thet II fell soon after
ward. lhe water in the reservoir covering one
hundred ana forty acres fell some sixteen feet
IN ihe course OF and hour and h. II, ana as Il
ilke plpe stem, and oouldels rolled and tum-
bsd along as penll les n the hand OF giant.
About mile below the dam Lvnd brook emp
Us into Kettle brook, at the village u Cherry
hlei, and here was where the hr-t damage to
hd 'g52 sa1o was o GSor THe 1v dwelling nogis
N the path OF the Hood, and the waters
Hiled tne barn from Its foundations and
flA hFu aNE Nlta.r
poured through the dwelling iIself, carrying
away hall Of tho front Of the building. Inc
ROAD 10 Leicester and the bridge WIS swept out
o. existence, and on the west side OF the stream
nali dolen or more dwellings were hlled with
Malef. smiths pond speedily rose several feet,
,nl nnl a numher 81 tenements on the south side
James A. Smiths two-storv brick mill below
.ue d ma was al ost surrounded by the raging
toIfrnt anu the main portion crumbled before
IKE zee i.ling over a cataract. Wright Bot
aplhlsy lwo.story frame mill was the next
sttlciure that was swept away, and its dIm
shared Ike fate. A. f. Smith leased tho mill,
huu ohlN d lew weeks ago effected an insurance
upon IL but as the the pOllcY covers only loss
nl uFe' the Insurance Will do Mr.. Smith little
Tie nood had now reached the confines OF
"uI,estrf' .hd the Tour story brick mill OF Ash
OF the man building was ruped on, and the
house, and ~. house were swept awav DarlInP's
%""Heh Hlll' small bIlcA structure, and the
u1e hhl Kicker houses fell victims to the
bh'ld{ iull Of B-nidmID James, which was
SM lled down with the food like feather and
uIshea e9 TO pieces, lne three story Duck wollen
0me-iUuflh ~ mile below, was gutted aud
hou wan sand the dam carried away, nd
nsMhoie premises devastated. The water after
M ,M'aNus GAINESVILLE, followed the stream which
-. t,s ,nto @ we town of AunuTn. The river banks
teCtluns. ~" 'N''~" 'N"N'" :" 'N' ~
oa,t o. H'9hrFille, IN Auburn. 4. located the large
dan q, unu ui g. ". x j. l.. Smith, with lar
Ss Ssn s'e ap.'e The damage at this place innot
ROADS s1; esainy1 ,a, o%'ns 10 all Of the bridges and
from htuneylle The ryrr rstI,rss ,ta coursa
wien and vealer' Al eight O'Clock the Nor
Bddge. ivo " "1toester Hallway from Saltwater
tmlle az t w." lle' nut Of The city to WITHIN ono
,uepth Of ~ f,ouplrn Auburn alton. was Inundated TO
araIn wnt'h 'n i,ohe one u SIX feet aud the boa:
SVmieled 70 ietutu ~ ''H"' ''i"0A was
Eestrvoi% " ofoest'r some ten miles from the
o'oloek nvaa mP M,ler came with a rush about .
HV-I V'pIhOWlng sysels and aoodlnR build.