The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1884-06-28
STORMS AND FLOODS.
Railroads washed Out-Rriages Swept
Away-Destruetion 10 Crops, Mills, dc.

territory suffered, but on Wednesday night
and Thursday morning the whole county was
more or less affected.
Rain began falling about 4 O clock on We'd
nesday afternoon. There were heavy showers
of short duration at first, then about 6 o'clock
there seemed to be appearances of clearing
up. The cessation was not long. By 7.30
O'Clock steady rain set in, and as the night
wore on the wind increased. Between and
8 o'clock Thursday morning the wind amount
ed to gale, and the fall of rain was heavy
Windows and tin roofs ratified SO violently
that nearly the whole population of Westmin-
ster was aroused. Many thought their roofs
would be forced off, and others feared their
houses would go down. When the morning
dawned it was found no special damage was
wrought. A few chimneys lost brick or
two, tin roofs and spouting were loosened,
and few trees were shorn of some limbs and
branches. Immediately around Westminster
no damage is reported further than that the
wheat was beaten down and some corn fields
were slightly washed. The Western Mary
land Railroad suffered great damage in two
places. Between Union Bridge and Linwood
for quarter of mile the track was washed
from twelve to fifteen feet from the bed.
Part of the abutment of the railroad bridge
over Pipe Creek, near Union Bridge, was
washed away. At Barrick's station, near
Finksburg, the embankment was washed ten
to twelve feet deep for distance of forty
feet, and the bed was damaged for much
greater distance, by the immense volume of
water in the Patapsco and the heavy rain.
All trains were delayed from FIVE to ten hours.
Persons engaged in business in Baltimore who
reside here could not get down. Several
drove to Reisterstown, but learning that trains
from that point would not go down until late,
they returned. The mail from R:ltiucTe,
which should have arrived here at $50 in the
morning, was not received until in the af-
ternoon. A large number of repair hands
were put to work, and the damage was pretty
well repaired Thursday night. Trains were
ordered to run very slow at certain points
during Thursday afternoon and night-from
four to ten miles an hour-but yesterday
trains were running as usual on time. The
road also suffered from washouts in Washing
ton county, and on the Cumberland Valley
branch the bridge at Prices Church was car
ried away, and over 100 feet of track at Five
Forks. On the Mont Alto Road there was
large washout at Fayetteville.
At Union Bridge there was great destruc
ton. The Oldest inhabitants don't remember
a flood to equal it. On Thursday morning
there was water everywhere. The entire val
ley seemed to be one sheet of water. The
lOSS W 10 very great. Oul COiHSS-
pondent reported yesterday morning as fol-
lows: Lloyd Reiser is perhaps the heaviest
loser, about 25 200 or 10000 feet of lumber
and nearly 80 tons of fertilizer being washed
away from his lumber yard and warehouse.
John Baker had ten head of cattle washed
away, but he afterwards rescued them. Eman
uel Sauble lost three cows and Howard Moore
eighteen or twenty pigs. Fifteen acres of
standing wheat on the farm of Mordecai Glenn
son was ruined and Granville S. Haines had Is
acres ofcut rye damaged. A small house on his
farm, tenanted by Jerry Robinson, was moved
from its foundation and washed away, Robin
son barely escaping with his family. The
back buildings of the Union Bridge Hotel
were flooded, and the gardens of David Ogle
and Mrs. Stem were swept clean of every
thing
All the streams of the county were greatly
swollen, and all got out of their banks. The
Monocacy was very high. The buildings,
tents and camp property of the Forest and
Stream Club, of this city, valued at $500, were
washed away. The building lodged against
Miller's bridge, nearly mile down stream,
and afterwards went to pieces and fioated off.
The camp stood on elevated ground, back
from the bank 40 feet. The bank is seven
feet above mean water, and the rise was more
than twenty feet
Big Pipe Creek was higher than for IS
years, as was shown by the high-water mark
on tree, made during the flood of 1926. At
Trevanion Mills the water spread long dis
tances on either side of the creek. The 60
foot county bridge at that point was carried
away, and all the houses in the neighborhood
were surrounded by water from three to FIVE
feet deep. At 10 o'clock Thursday morning
James Warren, blacksmith, living across the
creek from the mill, and family had not got
ten out of their house. All the farmers along
the creek lost heavily in fences and crops,
and horse, calf and pig from above were
rescued in the back water on one of the
meadows. G. T. Mehring had a thirty-acre
field of corn ruined, and his fences were
washed away. Solomon Myers land was
flooded, and his wheat field covered with
water and DEBRIS and his fences were carried
way. David Fogle and William Haines, near
Uniontown, had wheat and corn fields dam
aged.
On Little Pipe Creek it is reported that
mill dams and bridges are gone. At the vii
lage of Double Pipe Creek a number of
houses were flooded.
Morgan's Run was nearly as high as on
June u. The dam at William Stubbins' mill,
which suffered two weeks ago, was again dam
aged. Fences along the Run were washed
away, and fields were flooded Whitfield
Bachman's mill, at Bachman's, was flooded
to the depth of eight inches, and the dam at
Oliver Hooyer's mill, near Ebbvale, was
washed out The new Y of the Bachman's
Valley railroad, at Ebbvale, was considerably
damaged.
The Baltimore & Hanover Railroad was
washed at various points, and no trains were
run on Thursday. The Pennsylvania Line
road was also damaged by washouts, and the
wreck was so great that transfers of passen.
gers could not be made. All travel and
traffic was suspended.
Our Union Mills correspondent writes:
Great damage was done by washing corn
fields. Small branches were swollen into
great, angry torrents, sweeping fences and
every movable object before them. Pipe
Creek was never known to be as high. 1t
spread from hill to hill on either side, and
the appearance of great river.
Fences were carried away, grain and grass
were washed so badly that it is almost impos-
sible to cut either Much grass that was cut
in the meadows, but not hauled away, was
swept away by the floods. Messrs. H. Writ
Shriver, B. +. Shriver & Co., Nelson Il.
Koontz, Henry Brown and William Frock are
among those who suffered the heaviest The
water flooded the tannery building of A. IL.
Shriver & Sons, the lower floor of the mill OF
b. F. Shriver & Co., and swept through the
canning house of the latter. Cellars and
Easements were filed with water in many
places. Much poultry was drowned. The
newly repaired bridge spanning Pipe Creek at
b. +. Shriver & Co.'S. dam is reported to be
badly damaged. The rain was accompanied
by violent wind which beat down and tangled
up the grain so as to make it almost impossl-
BILE to harvest it.
Pleasant Valley correspondent writes t.
f'The mill dam of Frederick l.. Yingling 4 Son
was broken and about 20 feet of the breast
swept away. The tale race is closed up with
mud and gravel, and it will probably be
week before th0y can resume. The meadows
are all under water and bridges and fences
are swept away. Cutters are washed three
feet deep in the solid road; the corn fields are
washed deeper than they were plowed; the
ripening grain is one tangled mass, and the
most of it is lying flat on the ground.
Our Taneytown correspondent wrote yes
terday: "About 2 o'clock Thursday morning
the dump along the railroad at Mr.. John Nc
Kellin's property gave way, and the water in