The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-05-27
Swept by Raging Waters.

proven extremely disastrous in this
County. The waters upon all of the
larger streams have been higher than they
have ever been known in the memory of
our oldest inhabitants, except in the
August freshet of 1852, and we have no
doubt that the volume Of water in these
streams last week was greater even than
in the memorable flood of thirty-four
years ago. The marks of that flood nave
been preserved largely by marks upon
trees, and some allowance must he made
for the heightening of the mark by the
growth of the trees; but the great advan-
tage of the present over that period is
that our streams have been largely clear
ed, ditched and Strengthened so that they
will empty water much faster than they
did in 1852, and hence the same volume
of water would not raise them near so
high as it did in 1852. While the water
mark was not so high as in 1852, the de-
yastation from the swelling waters was
greater, because of the large area of bot
tom lands that have been brought into
cultivation. Ninety per cent of the corn
planted has been ruined, we suppose, by
the high waters. In many places it can
be replantcd, and full crop, or nearly so,
made; but in others the washes have been
bad, and tracts of beautiful bottom have
been converted into worthless sand bars.
Il is impossible to estimate the amount of
injury from the overflow of bottom lands.
Another source of private loss is the
washing away of hundreds of thousands
of panels of pasture fencing, which has
gone at most busy season of the year,
and great deal of which has been totally
carried off, entailing great Inconvenience,
expense and labor upon the owners.
The public losses consist in this County
entirely OF bridges, as far as we havo
learned. Beginning at The lower line OF
the County, and going through the i'm
portant bridges that have been swept
away or damaged, we have heard OF the
following in this Comfy:
Cox's bridge, on Broadmouth, injured.
Broadaway bridge, at the trestle, gone.
Carpenter g. Gcer's Mill bridge, over
Broadway, wrecked.
Emerson's bridge, over Rocky River,
thrown out of plumb, and two benches
sunk.
!. Jackson's Mill bridge, over Rocky Riv-
or, gone.
Milford's upper mill bridge, over Rocky
River, gone.
McGee's bridge, over Generostee, gone.
Burriss' bridge over Six-and-Twenty,
badly damaged.
Centreville Mills bridge, over Six-and-
Twenty, gone.
The Pendleton Factory bridge, over
Three-and- Twenty, slightly damaged.
Dickson's bridge, over Three. and -Twen-
ty, gone.
Tippen's Mill bridge, over Three.and-
Twenty, gone.
The Commissioners estimate the Coun-
ty's loss, with careful management, at
from $4,000 to $4,000. This will render
the most rigid economy in the manage
ment of the County's finances necessary
to avoid heavy taxation next year.
In addition to the general losses spoken
of above, we understand that in many
instances mill property has suffered to a
great degree. Messrs. Carpenter & Geer's
clubhouse was wrecked, a gin washed
away, and about 600 bushels cotton seed
destroyed. Loss some 5000 or 500. The
rivers stood in the mill-houses at many
points, aud damaged machinery, fixtures
and buildings. The waters undermined
a portion of the railroad trestle across
Broadway, and about sixty feet of the
eastern part of the trestle fell in. The up
passenger train reached it before the fall
on Wednesday afternoon. but it was
thought to be unsafe, and the train re-
turned to Bolton, thus escaping another
fearful wreck at this point. Our mails
have been sadly demoralized, and there
is no telling when things will get straight.