Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-02-19
FURY or TIE FLOOD,
Temporary suspsnsion Of the 1sls'
graph and the Railways.


graph and the Railways.
A Third Of the City Under
Water for Hours.
washouts, Caves and Dsmolished
Bridges and Dwellings the
Order Of the Day.
Southern California Up to her
Ears IN Water.
Scenes and Incidents and Z Partial
List Of the Sufferers.
The seventeenth day Of February will
long be memorable 10 the annals Of Los
Angeles county. Our people, who had
been reading with interest the dis
patches which related to the devssta.
tions Of the foods in the Ohio and Mis-
sissippi valleys. were destined to have 9
taste Of this malign dispsnsation them.
selves. The almost uninterruptsd rains
Of the past three weeks had led many Of
the wssthsrwiss to sugur III Of the Inn
mediate future. Chimerss dire, in shs
shape Of foods, haunted the imagination
Of the more msrcurial Of our citizens. In
addition to an unprecedented rainfall,
which was poorly represented in tho re-
turns Of the Signal Service Officer uf the
United States. who gathers his data at
entirely too high an altitude, snows had
accumu .atsd in the moantains to depth
which eslipssd the recollection Of the
oldest ilhsbitant. In many portions Of
the Sierras and Of the Sierra Madres, in
the immediate neighborhood Of Los An
gelss, SNOW was reported to depth Of
fifteen feet or more. The copious rains
Of Saturday prepared our people, in
view Of their continuance and Of the
warm. south-sast brsesss, for possible
disastrous developments. As . conse-
qusnce, although the showers were
heavy and scarcely intsrmitted, multi
tudes Of Angslehos assembled upon old
Fort Hill, which h now grassd BY the
popular Busns Vista resort Of Herr
Jasob PhilIippi. On Mr.. PhillippiS
ample verandshs many Of the spectators
took their stands. and very shortly glass
q Of ell kinds were brought into requisi-
ton.
That . food Vas insvi table the mosi
Inexperienced observer knew, though it,
probable extent was the subject Of much
speculation. Long before noon the pro-
digious swell Of the waters from the
Arroyo Seco made it very probable that
most Of tho bridges would fall sacrifice
TO the fury Of the torrent. The Railway
people appreciated the gravity Of the
situation and gangs Of workmen were
noted lsboring to strengthen their bridge
below Chavez street. the west side Of
this structure having early shown signs
Of weakening.
THE Work ov DESTRUCTION ISAUeuRArED.
Towards noon the sttsntion Of the
spectators Wa directed to Chaves street.
The roaring waters, whose impstuoua
courss wss ohscked by the railway
bridge. backed and began 70 pour into
Chavez street, past the Chemical Works.
II was seen that II they failed to opsn
another channel for themselves their
course would be towards Naud's ware
hsuss and thence to Alameda street.
The nsxt point Of interest Was Macy
street, down which considerable stream
began TO pour, which ultimately invaded
Also street and finally, somewhat after
nightfalI. discharged . food that ran
like mill rscs down the south side Of
Alsmeda street, resehing - fer - the
south rail Of the railway track.
Tho frat break in the bridges wss
about 3 o'clock, when the Aliso street
bridge broke il two. considerable SOC
tion Of it lodging against the First street
bridge. The east end Of the destroyed
structure was crowded, at the tina, with
. lot Of foolhardy people who did not
sesm 10 care whether or no they wsrs
whelmed to watsry grave, and who
maintained thsir psrilous positions for .
good while with stoIid indifference 10
danger.
From this time forward the watchers
wsrs rewarded for their patient II NOR
bid curiosity by seeing house after house
sway. toppls and either 60 to pieces or
float of against the bridges. The food
rushed in on Macy strsst in constantly
accslsrating volumes, and the few vehi-
clss that attempted to force their way
through the turbid waters were in up to
| the wagon bods. From this stage for
ward II was useless 10 attsmpt 10 gaugs
the situation from the hills. What hap
pened in the submerged portion Of the
city being related In another portion Of
this article, suffice il to say that Sun
day's fury Of the foods IVES 90 well sup
plsmented Monday morning that the
First street bridge had yielded like the
Also bridge. large section Of the rail.
way bridge bad been carried away and
the covered bridge on Macy street had
sunk at least four feet and II was re-
| sarded to Be in such prscarious ccndi-
tisn that heavy vehicles were mot a.
lowed TO cross il.
HAVOC TO THE RAILWAYS.
" sstsrday evening the only portion Of
the Southern Pacific railway which wa
in working order was the Santa Monica
branch. Wilmington, II was thought,
would BE- connected again last night.
From Lancaster station to Seven Palms.
on the Desert, the washouts ere 20 nu'
merous that Il is mot worth while 10 1t
tempt to snumsrAts them. Eight hun
drsd feet Of the approach to the Sar
Fernando tunnel from the north eavsi
In, and there was also . oonsidsra
bio cave on tho south end, but ths tun
mel itself y intact There is no sxaggsrs
ton In saying that fulIy week mus
elapss before The trains on the various
brsnchss Of the Southern Pacific will b
in complsss running order aeaia. Fan,
three niles Of The track. including I
! good many heavy iilla, have been vsshsd
away near the Tuiungs. Col Hewitt
hss taken the proposition Of reconstruct
lng the tsssk visorously in hand, end
has svsa ssut 70 Sea Fnnsisoo for sddi
tipna1 u1le driven. vhlch viii ooma by