The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-09-18
Earlier Accounts.
From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Sept, IA.

From the St Paul Pioneer Press, Sept II.
South of the Omaha railway bridge, in
West Eau Claire, from the Pioneer Lum-
Der company's mills to Westville, two miles
Claire and at Westville, the damage wrought
by Thursdays flood is tremendous. Along
this section the banks of the Chippewa are
low; but notwithstanding this and the
fact that the soil is sand, the people had con-
structed their dwellings, close to the waters
edge, apparently fearing no overflow. The
west side OF Shawtown, division OF
West Eau Claire, is where chaos reigna
The streets are filed with lumber, houses
turned and twisted in all ways the whole
place covered with layer of black mud,
left by the flood, from one to three feet in
DEPTH bedding, household furniture, roofs,
shingles, logs, tifteen-foot piles of wood
houses with logs driven through them; the
depot inclined at an angle of forty five de-
grees, and telegraph, telephone and electric
track and bridge are completely uprooted;
the street car tracks are buried under the
blacklist, nastiest mud that ever was formed
The city bridges are literally distributed in
out-of- the-way places - one Understandable
mass of everything that could float The
two feet six inches, the most of the food &C.
day morning: No lives We're lost
there. The main damage is to the Milwau-
kee railway, its loss certainly being over
$4,000 in that locality, while the streets
The estimated damage from Westville to the
Half Moon Lake canal, which is the northern
boundary of Shawtown, is over $25, OOO
Of deaths on the West side there
not many as near a as NH they vbe
lives near the Madison street bridge, was
trying to save his wife from the flood His
body was found Friday morning Friday
evening float passed down the Chippewa
with two men on it. According to the story
the Bailey house and the men were not seen
again ilGrossly exaggerated stories are fly.
ing around about other deaths in the vicini.
ty, but their truth is doubtful OF the logs
that have broken loose, lumbermen say not
one will reach Durand; and they
water goes down. Between Eau Claire and
Rumsey's Landing, down the river, many
farmers were found by the relief party
perched upon knobs with their families;
homes gone, fields under water, and no pro-
visions There are fears OF great suffering
between here and Durand. A careful esti-
mate made by parties resident there approx
mates the West Eau Claire losses about as
follows, and the figures given cannot be far
from correct:
Milwaukee road ..................! $4,000
Lumber firms foundry etc. $4,000
Municipal loss, bridges, etc. ........... 100000
Residents. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 10000
No outside, aid will be needed A public
subscription is being taken up in the
city for tho. aid IL to o, sufferers rs It
Claire will not exceed ST. 100000 A house
passed the city Thursday half submerged,
a woman with child in her arms standing
at the upper-story window and man on the
roof. They are supposed to have been
drowned. The river has fallen rapidly TO-
ar no ir,7o of ha
from fifteen to seventeen feet It is stated
that over 100000, 600 feet of logs have
drifted into the DelIs reservoir from north.
ern points. The Phoenix Lumber company
estimates it's damage lam &C. at $4,000 T Tn
are damned into all possible shapes
the damage to them being heavy. Reports
of house having fioated into the Dells
pond with five dead persons in 1t have just
come In Summarizing all the damage
from Chi ppewa Falls to Eau Claire the main
damage is to the mill and numbering inter-
ests, though private property in that section
has suffered Considerably. At Eau Claire the
city and railroads suffer; the mills are less
damaged. 1t is stated that over 5000 peo-
overtwenty-tive corporate firms damaged, one
of the principal divisions of great railroad
almost entirely swept away, one-ffth
of large city submerged, dozen and over
smaller places more or less damaged and a
great agricultural region turned into sea-
The flood is directly traceable to the cyclone
that swept St Croix and Polk counties The
great bulk of rain did not fall though till
after the blow of last Tuesday night, when
all the small streams in Chippewa and Bar
ron counties north of here were turned into
rivers and lakes that discharged themselves
into the Chippewa and came down its course.
No such rainfall has ever occurred in Wis
consin before since early pioneer days, and
the destruction from wind and rain is unpar-
alleled Nearly four millions damage from
wind and over three millions from water is a
terrible record
THE LUMBER INTERESTS
CHIPPEWA FALLS Wis, Special Telegram.
Sept 13.-Fred Weyerhauser, president of
the Mississippi Lumber. md Logging COM
Rany, was here again to-day looking after 4tt
there was in the Chippewa 525 600, 600 feet
of logs belonging to his company, and above
10000 belonging to other parties. Ad-
vices received from Mr.. Irvine, at Beef
Slough, are to the effect that all the logs run
in there thus far are safely cared for. Mr..
Weyerhauser thinks there is more than 1OO,-
O0O, 900 there, an equal number at the Delle
reservoir, and l5O,OOO,OO in the Paint
creek dam, and, as far as is known, even
more above Little Falls, filling the mouth of
Jump creek and the main river for some
distance up to the stream. No advices have
been received from Little Falls, but Mr..
Weyerhauser believes that everything is safe
there. The ends of the Paint Creek dam are
washed out, as is the east end of that on the
falls here. Mr.. Weyerhauser says that bis
900 on the river, and he estimates that it
will cost at least 800, 900 to make the re-
pairs. From $25, 700 to $4,000 will be
necessary to build the Point Creek dam. The
smaller dams above he thinks are pretty
generally gone, but has no positive informa-
q haIi0voS n
MOST SEVERE ON THE EASTERN TRIBUTARIES
of the river. He has heard from the West
fork and the Court d Ourelle, and everything
is alright in that direction, but the storm
seems to have been along the East fork and
the Flambeau, where the water must have
fallen in torrents A telegram from Hay
ward states that no damage is done there
A large proportion of the logs now in the
four great Reservoirs will be high and dry
when the water falls OF the soc, OOO, 900
fully 100000 900 are SO high up on the
banks that they will have to be
hauled into the river again. Little if any
more lumber will be cut on the Chippewa
this year, and there are enough logs from
Little Falls down to start the mills waiting
He believes that the winter will haye to be
occupied in hauling the stranded logs into
the river again, and that the lumbermen
will probably have to do their logging before
securing the sGOcK lOr .ne1I year he urges
that this work should be done before going
into the woods to get another start for next
winter. With the water fallen no more than
at the present time,
LOGS ARE SCATTERED ON THE BANKS
two and three hundred feet out Of the water.
and high and dry. He does not estimate
the damage to the Chippewa numbering
companys mill and buildings here at more
than B1O 600, although the yard and sur
roundings present the sorriest sort'of sight
The work Of repair of boiler and of yard has
been commenced, but will occupy several
weeks The partially demolished buildings
will be repaired Some Of the improvements