Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-05-19
The Recent Freshets.

inhabitants. The high temperature Of Mon.
day aud the warm rains Of Wednesday night
and Thursday morning, suddenly melting the
SHOWS that still fingered on the hills and
mountains of Northern Vermont and New
Hampshire, poured such volumes Of water
into rivers already greatly swollen that dis
asters we're inevitable. We learn, also, of
similar freshets along the Ottowa and Kenne.
bee. In this state, the chief damages oc-
Cured in the valleys Of the Connecticut,
Passumpsic and Moose rivers though the.
Missisquoi, Onion, Lamoile and Otter Greek
as we'll as Lake Champlain threatened dis.
aster last Friday. Much injury was done
to the farms located near the banks Of these
rivers, the Central Vermont in that vicinity
escaping with little loss. The chief losses
and the greatest disasters occurred along the
valleys of the Connecticut and Passumpsic
From Bloomfield to Springfield it was one
long series Of washouts, breaks and overAows.
Communications were interrupted from Thurs.
day morning till Monday over the Passump-
sic. Mails from the south were brought to
this place by private conveyance from Lit
Teton or came by way of Montpelier and
Morrisvlle aud a general suspension of
travel took place during the last Of the
week. Bridges were swept away, dams
broken, fumes washed out, and booms de-
stroyed.
The railroads that suffered especially, are
the Passumpsic, the Portland and 0gdens.
burgh, while the Grand Trunk which follows
the course Of the Connecticut from Lancaster
to Stratiord, n H., as well as the Connect.
cut valley line and the Wells river road,
must have sustained serious losses. 1t is
impossible yet to give even approximate
figures for the amount Of damage caused by
the freshets. The water in the Connecticut
rose over forty inches in twelve hours, at
tanning at Newbury and McIndoes Falls a
hight not reached for twenty years. 1t is
safe to say that the Passumpsic rose on an
average between four and Eve feet, in many
places reaching a much higher point.
No sooner had the water subsidized than
repairs were begun on the Pas,umpsic and
p. & o. roads, and upon the former conuec.
tons between here aud Wells River were
completed early Monday OF this week, by
transferring passengers and mail at the wash
out at Passumpsic. Travel has not yet been
resumed on the p. & D. from here eastward
All the bridges on the river road in
Bloomfield aud Brunswick, except two, were
swept away and several hundred feet Of
dump on the Grand Trunk railroad at STRAIT.
ford was washed out. In all, the Passumpsic
road had ten washouts between Barton and
White River Junction, the one at Passumpsic
being fifteen rods Of twenty feet dump. The
amount of the Connecticut and Passumpsic's
road bed, submerged under three feet of wa.
ter, must be reckoned by miles. Aside from
railroads immense damage was done to high.
ways, bridges crops, etc., wherever the Con.
necticut rose above its banks. Two toll
bridges, one at Bradford and one at Pier.
mont, were swept away. The Hale farm o.
200 acres in Newbury was completely sub.
merged, boats were used on street at Welli
River, cattle in several instances had to be
taken to the scaffold while millions of feel
Of logs, released from booms, went dowE
stream to crowd against the piers Of bridges
aud increase the general destruction.
The p. Il D. lost several hundred feet o.
dump along the Moose river, besides having
two Of their engines crippled, one of which
still lies in the river at East st. Johnsbury
where it fell last Saturday. The upper high.
way bridge at West Concord. also the True
bridge and three dams above West Concord
village, were destroyed.
In Orleans county considerable damage
was caused by the overflow of Barton
river, the water at Barton Landing being a
one time three feet deep in the streets
Willougbby aud Black rivers also rose 4
food hight, carrying away a few bridges
invading grist mills and undermining cul
verts. The most intense excitement pre-
vailed in Glover, lest Stone Pond should
burst its limits and repeat the delugo of Long
Pond, drained in 1910. We learn that the
people of Glover had their trunks packed
and stood ready to flee on an instant's motto,
from the wrath Of uubridled waters.
1t is, of course, as yet impossible to pre-
sent all ofeveu the important details of damag,
and incident OccasiOned by these freshets
Fortunately no lives were lost save that o
one man at Bradford. Possibly, however
other cases Of drowning during the flood
will yet be reported,
George Il, Leonard, mail agent, is entitled
; to no small credit for the effort made to GO
his mails north TO their destination. Find
ing it impossible to get by the many break
in the Passumpsic railroad, he went from
White River Junction with the northern
mails to Concord, then took the b. q. & M
railroad to Littleton, N. H., and came from
there by coach to 81. JOhnsbury on Satur
day, where = train was in waiting to g
north.
BY dint of persistent will and by various
modes of locomotion, like pedestrianism
boat ferry, car and stage, Hon. j. l.. Ed
wards succeeded in coming, somewhat al
Millions hero traversed chaos, from Welli
River to this place, using tho most of tvs
days in making his trying passage A SINH
lar experience awaited Bishop De Goes
BRAND, who consumed over three days il
coming from Newport to st. Johnsbury