Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-02-12
MONDAY MraHra aronM.

| MONDAY NIGHTS 8TO6M.
Great Damage Done by Floods 4
the BrRudywine, Rca Clay, Chri'
Giana, Chester and Other Greeks.
From Every Evenlng Of tuesday.
Few persons living in the heart {
the city have any idea OF the cond
ton Of things along the Brandy
wine to-day, and indeed few livin
on the outskirts halt appreciate
the result Of last nights fearful storr
until late this morning. Last night tn
placid waters OF this picturesque strean
lay for miles, covered with ice and snow
To-day they rush and roar in awful tor
rents over places that have not been inun
points from whence yesterday the streau
below looked insignificant, TO day ar,
covered half way TO their tops and lashet
In fury hy the swollen waters daAhipl
i Wives
Abou. midni ht the waters began e
grow turbulent, and there was genera
breaking up Of ios. By O'Clock thii
morning the greater part OF the ice hao
melted aud with the rain hEd swollen the
stresm 10 euoh an extent that for many
miles between the high hills on either
side there was just one wide spread oi
rsgipg water which swept with greai
rspidity on toward the mouth and whep
1t reached the dams, and came In CONTACT
with the many rooks, dashed high In the
air and IoAred like the breakers Of al
ocean.
A gentleman residing along the creek,
who has kept . record OF the wRter't
hight in flo ds for the past half century,
is authority for the statement
that at daybreak this morning
the flood touched the same
point as the great freshet In 1889, which
is between four and 1--WE feet higher thar
has been reached since that time. Ite
natural fall gave the current great force,
aud its power to overcome resistance was
greatly increased by the great foes Of ice
1t carried with surface, battering down
every thing In it's course
At Rising Sun the water coon swept
over the road along the creek leading to
the mills, and orept well up on the mill
before daylight. Several dwelling houses
wers inundated, and the terror. stricken
inhabitants RUSHED to the second stories
A large tree which had been torn up by the
roots, struck one dwelling house knock
ing the corner out Of II and placing lite
occupants 10 imminent peril. Many fiat
boats and skiffs were lost In the flood.
The water on the floors of the mills IL
several feet deep, necessitAtinR general
shut down.
The floors Of the mills In all the
duPont's powder yards were flooded, and
many Of the huge powder tubs were lost
The water rekohed depth Of two feet Oh
the floor Of tue mills OF Joseph Bancroft &
Sons early this morning, and the ma
chinery had TO be stopped. The cel-
lars Of the Augustine paper mills
were flooded as early as 3 o'clock
when they shut down and began dAming
the settling pond to keep 1t from the fast
rising flood. The floors Of the mills Of
the William Lea & Sons Company were
flooded to the depth Of only three inches
bat the machinery was stopped for some
time. The coal yard here received
thorough drenching and seme Of the
stone wall was washed away. Innumer-
able incidents Of miner Importance took
place along the line Of the sweeping flood.
THE B. P. BRIDGE DISASTER.
The greatest disaster of the food was
he sweeping away OF the middle spar
I'D iron-wOrk OF the mammoth bridge Of
ae Baltimore & Pbiladelphis railroad
4 persons who viewed II with admiration
snd awe on Sunday and yesterday and
he large force Of workmen who labored
'Or Its completion, little dreamed thai
io.day only its tall piers Of solid
stone and the trestle work Of the Ap-
proaohes would bs left standing, while its
iron span Of tremendous weight would be-
buried In the waters OF the little stream
that lay peacefully between the cliff like
hills. The story Of the disaster ia ex.
trsmely interesting Rarly last evening the
engineers saw that II the storm did not
abAte, the bridge would be In great
danger, because the iron work Of the
span, which was being put together to be
placed In position, was resting only on
temporary wooden trestlework, and did
not touch the stone piers ct oil. Every
preoaution was taken to make the trestle-
work IS staunoh as possible, aud watch.
man was stationed to do ali in his power 10
Sllsviate any strain that might be
brought to bear upon 1t. All during the
night through the drenohing rain this
watchman ipoassantly paced the suspen.
sion bridge just below the mammoth
structure, and watched with an eager
eye while his quick and anxious ear
o6uyht every cIeak OF the wooden trsstle
amid the bowling winds and the roar Of
the angry waters.
AT IL O'Clock the Ice at Rookland
dam broke, sweeping everything b4fore
It in Its rush down the creek towards its
mouth At this time the water began to
rise with great rapidity. Shortly
after midnight the fret Of the
huge blocks Of ioe reached the ruined
bridge aud hundreds OF cakes Of great
sise and thickness followed with great
velocity, soms striking the trestles with
u crash, while others passed swiftly
underneath to the dam below. For over
two hours this continued, IL the mean.
while large amount Of the ioe having
ooneregated at the bridge, the trestle
work having acted as barrier against It's
passage rs we'll as support TO the span
lhcve. At 2 45 O'Clock the crisis came,
when by the dim lights Of he Auglsi Q
mills and the wAtohman's lantern
were discovered two large trees heading
a perfect seA of ice which
swept everything before them. It was
then realized that the bridge WAS in im-
minent peril. In few eecords, "aId IL
less time than it takes to think" Rs ore
man EXPRESS 1t, the solid mass struck
the trestle.w ork. In az instant there
was . breaking sound, as II tn.
whole structure was rocking, fol-
lowed by tremendous orssh
was heard for miles around, and brought
the employees Of the mills with white
faces to the scene Of destruction. The
trestle work WAS swept from its founds
tious, and It with the iron span and q
fiat car fell away from the sus
TOO from destruction. The iron rails
which had been laid were snapped In two
like strRws, while their ends were left
hanging from the piers. The iron.work
WAS swept 100 yards d wn the stream,
where this moroiDe the waves washed
over It, while the woodwork was scat
tered far and wide and split Into fra2-
ments. Division Engineer Richardson
said this morning to an BvERY EVENING
reporter that had the storm been 80
hours later the plscine Of the span would
have been completed, and IL would
have been swung safely beyond the
harm Of the elements. The loss amounts
to 200 tons OF iron worth s35, 600, en-
which there ia large salvage. Most Of
the iYonstoo IL recoverable. The loss q
the wood work amouI Ia TO 81, 900, while
the total loss to the company will moi
much excsed 100000.
THR SCENE OF DESTRUCTION.
Every body 10 familiar with Rattlesnske
run aud the picnto grounds Immediately
bslow It. To day Rattlesnske run Ii