The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-09-20
THE CHIPPEWA ON A HIGH.
A Scene of Appalling Devastation as the
Result of a Sudden Rise
Two Hundred Houses Eloated OF and
Bridges Swept Away-The Damage
Placed at 81 900, 900.

The ravages of the floods in the val
ley of the Chippewa River reached their
climax On the 18th, and the waters be-
gan to recede. Both the Eau Claire
and Chippewa reached the unprece-
dented height of twenty-seven feet and
swept away bridges, dams, humber, logs,
houses-everything in their path. Every
bridge on the Chippewa has gone out
five railroad bridges and five wagon
bridges. The first bridge at Eau Claire
to go was the new bridge, built last
year, running from Madison Street on
the north side to the west side. The
bridge was the highest on the river. 1t
broke loose all at once, and thundered
down upon the Chicago, Milwaukee &
St. Paul railway bridge, together with
million or more of logs. Next came
the Nelsey Street bridge, the main
bridge in the city; then three other
bridges, two of them new, were swept
away.
In Eau Claire the loss of property is
appalling, but no satisfactory estimate
can yet be made. In and between Chip
pewa Falls and Eau Claire, the loss will
not fall short of $1.500,000 and may
greatly exceed that sum. The loss in
Eau Claire alone is at least $500, ,000-
probably more. The entire loss in the
Chippewa valley to private and public
property is estimated to be not less than
"a, 100000 The Milwaukee & st. Paul
Railroad CompanY's loss by the carry
ing away of the bridges and washouts
is about $300,000 The Eau Claire Gas
Company loses $50 tons of coal and all
its buildings, valued at $4,000. Busi
ness houses on all sides of the two riv-
ers are submerged. Only one life has
been lost so far as heard from.
At Chippewa Falls the water reached
its greatest height on the 11th thirty
feet. During the night of the 10th the
Little Falls and Paint Greek dams gave
way, letting loose 200,000,00O to 300,-
100000 feet OF logs. They carried away
both of the Wisconsin Central Railroad
bridges and the wagon bridge. The
greater portion of the business houses
was partly submerged, causing great
damage to goods. Piles of lumber
from the G. l.. & B. Company's yard
and fifteen houses and sheds were afoat
in the eastern part of the city. About
| twenty houses in French town, on the
opposite side of the river, have gone
down with the food, and number of
lives are reported lost. The banks on
the south side of the dam here gave
way sometime during the night, which
in all probability saved the city. As
the water is receding no further damage
is feared.
Reports from the southern part of st.
| Croix County are to the effect that the
| Kinnickinnic rose 40 inches higher
| than it was ever known before and the
water rushed in wild torrent, carry
ing everything before it. The bridge
on the Upper Kinnickinnic was carried
out altogether with Clapp's mill dam,
besides nine other bridges on the main
stream. All the bridges are washed
| out on the South Forks including the
| new iron structure and dam at Plumb
Burnett's race. Piles of fences were
swept away, while the damage to hay
stacks and grain is very considerable.
At Wausau the st. Paul tracks were
flooded n many places. and badly washed
out along the line. Considerable
damage is reported on Black River,
which rose to the height of IL feet.
Minor losses were sustained at Neills-
vile, Grand Rapids and Medford.