St. Paul daily globe., 1888-07-12
RAGING RIVERS.
Dozens of Towns in Pennsylvania
and Ohio Inundated.

DOASho VA LoWhS Hu 1CnnSNtVaUIA
and Ohio Inundated.
Special to the Globe.
PITTsBURG, Pa, July 1.-THE heavy
rains of Monday and Monday night at
the headwaters of the Monongahela
and Cheat rivers, started last evening
one OF the most sudden, and perhaps
before it subsidies, one of the most dis
astrous floods since 1852. At Green's
boro the river rose thirty-two feet in
twenty-four hours. Early this morning
the water measured forty-fve feet in
the channel at that place, and is at a
stand. A great portion of Brownsville
is six feet under water, and much dam
age has already been done. AT O'Clock
this morning the water reached forty
three feet and began slowly to recede.
1t was thirteen inches higher than the
flood of 1852. From Brownsville to
Pittsburg, and all along Cheat river, re-
ports are coming in of tremendous loss
to lumbermen, from breaking booms, to
coal operators, from damaged craft and
demolition OF tipples, and to private in
dividuals, whose residences and prop
erty are flooded. Only
ONE LIFE HAS BEEN LOST
so far as learned. George Getter was
instantly killed last evening by the
parting of cable rope, with which he
was checking loaded coal barge at
Walton's Landing. Telephone and tel
egraph wires along the rivers are down
and exact information is very hard to
obtain. A report from Clarksburg, w.
Va, on the west fork of the MonOnga-
hela river, is to the effect that twenty
dwellings have been swept away and
damage to property is almost inestima-
BILE. A number of iron and wooden
bridges and several large saw mills,
together with quantities of lumber and
logs, have gone down with the flood. A
large number of people are homeless at
this place. At Monongahela City all
the lower part of the town is inundated,
and the people driven from their hOmeA
are camping in the streets on higher
ground. Early this morning the heavy
drift, in the shape of broken bridges,
barges, coal tipples, logs, and in some
instances dwellings and shanties,
reached this city. They dashed against
the bridge piers and were snapped and
broken like twigs by the overwhelming
force of the current.
At 1850 a. m. the river marks showed
twenty-One feet nine inches and rising.
Every boat and steamer on the river is
still in peril from heavy drift and every
few minutes the whistles of the advance
guard of the line Of boats sound new.
alarms Of approaching danger. A
Wheeling special says that the line Of
the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, between
Wheeling and Parkersburg, is unprece-
dentedly blocked by the result of the
heavy storm. On the Parkersburg
branch
THREE TUNNELS ARE CAvED IN.
The Rowlesburg bridge over Cheat
river is down, and other bridges have
been swept away, while the track is
covered many feet deep with earth.
All trains from the west via Parkers-
burg are using the tracks of the Ohio
river road and go east via Plttsburg and
Cumberland six or eight hours late.
Several bridges between Wheeling and
Pittsburg are badly damaged. AT Fair
mount the new iron bridge of the New
stroyed, involving loss of 100000.
At p. IN. the marks in the Mononga-
hela river showed twenty-three feet and
rising slowly. Every boat in the har-
Dor has steam up prepared for an
emergency. 1t is thought that the
worstis past. A West Elizabeth, Pa.
special says that the river came to a
stand at o'clock this morning, and at
noon began slowly receding. The point
reached was the highest ever known,
being twelve inches above the flood Of
1852. The entire town below the rail-
road tracks is from six to ten feet under
water. Travel on the Pittsburg, Vir-
ginia & Charleston railway has been
suspended indefinitely, several miles of
track are under water and number of
bridges are either washed away or
badly damaged. O'Neill q Co. lose
fifteen coal barges and loading tipple,
Weiget Bros. number of RATS, coal
boats and barges, and the Jenkins tip
pie is gone. The farmers and garden
ers along the river lose nearly their en-
tire crops. A Wheeling telegram says
that the losses from Mondays storm in
the upper Ohio valley to private prop
erty and damage to railroads will foot
up
NEARLY A MILLION DOLLARS.
At Piedmont, w. Va, the long trestle
is complete wreck. At Grafton sew
eral planning mills and thousands of logs
were carried away, involving a loss Of
s200,00o