The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1886-05-19
HOW xENIA SUFFERED.

! CINCINNATI, May l3.-Aenia Is IN
a scene of death and desolation.
About twenty-five lives--the number
may exceed thirty-have been lost
in last nights food. Hundreds
of people are homeless, and the de-
struction of property in general is
great.
The disaster somewhat resembles
that of the breaking of the Fall river
Dam several years ago. The Little
Miami Railway runs north and south
past Xenia and the city is wholly
on the west side of the road. mostly
on a plateau, but the ground slopes
down gently to a little stream which
coming from the east, passes through
a culyert under the railroad and
Immediately north of the depot on
the west side of the railroad. This
stream, passing under the road,
flows northwesterly, diverging slight
" from the road. Streets are laid
out and houses built down to the
very edges of the stream, which is a
very insignificant brook. The road
runs on an embankment past Xenia
and on the east side of the road is a
wide depression along the front OF
to IN, which is the mouth of a ra-
vine, the latter extending for nearly
two miles along the east size of the
railway running northward.
Witcher, or Shawnee Creek, as 1t
is sometimes called, brought down
a great deal of debris at the very
beginning of the sudden rainfall and
completely damned the culvert I'M
der the railway. So heavy and con-
tinuous was the fall of water that
millions of gallons were collected IN
a great reservoir formed by the "a
vines and bend of the stream east
of the railway. The embankment
held this food back till it rose to
the level of the road and o%vertiowed.
THE EMBANKMENT GIVES WAY.
Then about 9 o'clock, when an
extraordinary clap of thunder SEEM
ed to open the gates and the rain
fell in torrents, and when the people
had been driven from the streets by
the storm, the railroad embankment
gave way and let loose the pent-up
waters on the valley portion of the
town, sweeping away scores upon
scores of houses.
The people living Oh Water street
escaped by every way. The spout
seemed to vent its fury or that por-
ton of the city. For a stretch of
$50 yards the Little Maimi Railway
was destroyed, and houses in Water
street were torn to pieces as If they
were shells. A resident of the street
states that within two minutes after
the clap of thunder he stood in wa
ter to his waist, twenty-five yards
from the creek. When the waters
reached the residence of Aaron Fer
guson it was carried off with nine
inmates and lodged against a bridge,
where they were afterwards rescued.
The next damage was at the coal
ward of Samuel Clark, in which vas
located a tenement house occupied
by a family named Powell, nine in
number. None of these have been
heard from. The next point of de-
struction was in what is knows as
the Bottoms. A dozen houses, oc-
cupied mostly by colored people,
were here swept away.
One family by the name of Morris
went with the rushing flood. The
last seer of them was at the Mania
Street Bridge, when a man was seer
at the window by the terror-strcken
crowd, waving a lamp. The next
instant the house collapsed and they
were gone. Only one, a boy of -,
has been found.
SOME OF TEE DEAD.
The work Of recovering the vic
Tins has been going on all day and
is still in progress. The Mayors
Office has been turned into a NOR
que, and there are now twenty-five
bodies there. The scenes are heart
rending. Whole families lie dis6g-
ured on cots. The following is a
list Of killed so far as known:
Mrs. Lindsay, colored, Mrs. Casey,
colored, Mrs. Anderson, colored, a
child named Anderson, Mrs. Corco-
san, with, a cripple named Corcoran,
s. Dundon. Orrin Morris, wife and
five children, white, William Paul.
colord, wife and five children, Vim.
Adams and wife.
The loss of property is very great.
Whole lumber yards and all the
bridges are gone. Forces of men
are busily engaged in clearing away
the debris, and hundreds of people
surround the places. Strangers have
begun 10 pour into the city from
evely direction. The Council has
appropriated $1,000 for Immediate
use in the burial of the victims. A
private subscription has already
reached into thousands. A commit
tee is canvassing the city for cloth
ing and bedding. The rink has
been turned into q refuge for the
homeless, who are many. All aid
possible is needed from every source.
LATER.-Two more bodies have
been found, being children. They
are not identified. The complete
number of victims whose bodies
have been recovered is twenty-five,
with eleven persons missing. The
gasworks are flooded and the town
is in darkness and terror. The cries
of the people in the flooded district
were awful to hear. Many acts of
heroisn in saving tho drowning are
reported. Bonires were lighted and
the people worked all night. Many
horses were lost, and railroads lead
ing out of the city were SO wrecked
that it is impossible to hear from
outside points. At least q dozen
trains are here and within a few
miles of the city. Telegraph wires
are down and business has been sus-
pended.