The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-06-22
WORK or TEE WAVES.
A HEAVY LOSS TO LUMBERMEN.
MILLIONS or FEET OF LUMBER LOST
A MAN REPORTED LOST
STORM IL AND ,aogND
PITrsHs .s..s

PITrsEs .s..s.
The heavy rain storms of this
week have caused a rapid rise in
both rivers, and if the rains contin-
ue, flood may be looked for short
| ly. There has been no damage
done as yet to the property of the
coal men on the Monongahela, and
as they are well prepared for emer-
gencies, they will probably escape
without injury.
The lumbermen and others on
the Allegheny have not Jared so
well, this river having risen SO rap
idly and Unexpectedly that the
owners of the property were taken
unawarcs. There was considerable
loss Of RATS, logs and other lumber
which, not having been properly Sc
cured, were carried away but as
the lumbermen have been busily
engaged since early this morning
in rescuing their remaining property,
they do not anticipate any further
loss.
At o'clock this morning the Al
legheny was rising at the rate of
two feet per hour, and the Mononga-
hela one foot per hour, but the tele-
grams at 9 a. m. state that the river
at Greensboro and Morgantown was
stationary. while at Oil City it was
still raining and the Allegheny still
on the rise. At that place houses
were washed out of place, logs and
other distractions thrown on the
( tracks of the railroads and trains
generally detained.
The water in the Allegheny rose
to Is feet, and at present is about
stationary, but as it is still raining
ut headwaters, it is expected that it
will commence to rise again within
a few hours.
The losses Of property will prove
more serious than was at first ex-
pected. One gentleman, Samuel
Short, of North East, Pa, lost over
one million feet of lumber, valued
at about $4,000. He has boats out
in pursuit Of his property and may
succeed in saving some of it. The
lumber was moored about opposite
Twenty-ninth street. Mr.. Mcclure,
the lumberman, of Thirty third
street, lost about / 100000 feet OF
lumber. A. B. Hays, who had some
lumber tied in the Allegheny, lost
part Of it, but how much could not
be learned. Euwer Bros. also lost
some from their landing on the Al
legheny. An unknown man is re-
ported to have been carried away on
the RATS, and it is thought that he is
/ lost.
The wrecks of RATS, barges and
lumber have lodged in large quanti-
ties against the piers of the bridges
of the Allegheny, and the reports
from up the river state that more
drift is still coming down.
The water in the Monongahela
reached Is feet 2 inches at eight
o'clock this morning, and then turn
ed and slowly began to subside.
The Signal officer prophesied clear
up to-day and fair weather for this
evening, and his prediction may yet
be verified, but great quantity of
rain poured down this afternoon,
and the river will doubtless take
second boom. A heavy cloud swept
over and dipped down into the city,
and for q time the dull, leaden vapor
packed the streets and alleys, and
crawled and wreathed about the
windows so that the gas had to be
lit. About midday the clouds broke
away somewhat, although the rain
continued, and the day has some
prospects of winding up pleasantly
after all
Travel on nearly all the railroads
centering here was more or less i'm
peded by land slides. At Georges,
Lockport and Boliver on the Penna.
railroad, slides of some magnitude
occurred, and the morning express
trains were delayed nearly an hour.
Trains on the Allegheny Valley and
West Penn road were also delayed
by the high sweep of the water iE
the upper Allegheny. No serious
damage is reported having occur
red on the Baltimore and Ohio road
but the Panhandle suffered several
small washouts.
In the Lawrenceyille districts the
heavy volumes of water that poured
down the hill streets gathered in
swelling pools on Penn avenue and
Butler street. As there was not
sufficient egress for the water by
way Of the sewers, the streets at
many places were flooded, and
many cellars partially flooded. At
Thirty-third street the yellow mud
washed down from the hill above,
settled on the street car tracks six
inches deep and passing cars invar-
iably stuck fast for time. A repe-
tition Of this was experienced at
Thirty-second and Twenty-fourth |
streets. What remained of the old |
wooden pavement at the forks of
the road was rooted up and floated
into the sewers on the swollen
tide.