The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-07-12
THE PITTSBURGH END.
Losses Incalsulnble-Scenss that Bsggar
Description.

most unprecedented and great damage
has been done to river craft and pro
perty along the river from the head
waters to this city. The suddenness oi
the rise took the river men entirely un,
awards and they were not prepared
when the great volume Of water burst
upon them. Millions OF feet OF lumber,
scores OF coal craft, fences, outhouses
and coal tipples have been floating down
the swift current for the last eighteen
hours. The river at this point is still
rising with 81 feet o inches on the marks
at o'clock, but it is reported as sta
tionary with 40 feet at Greensboro, u
hundred miles above here.
At every point betw cen Greensboro
and Pittsburgh the lowlands are under
water and the residents have been COM
PEELED to live in the upper stories OF
their houses and in some cases to seek
the hills for safety. Many had time TO
remove their goods as the water rose at
the rate OF foot an hourand at Green's
boro SO feet OF rise was recorded in less
than twenty-iour hours. The damage
to property cannot be estimated ut pres
ent, but it will reach way up into the
thousands.
A solitary barge which broke away
yesterday caused over 5000 damage
and this is but one little item. So far
but one life has been reported lost, that
OF man named George Getter who was
struck by u parted cable and instantly
killed. The scene along the river front
this morning was one OF
GREAT EXCITEMENT.
The banks were lined with people
watching the debris as it was swept
down the swift current. The river and
coal men were on the alert fearing that
their craft would be torn from its moor
ings. As fast as one cable would snap
in twain it would be replaced by an
other. Occasionally a floating boat barge
or tipple would strike one OF the piers
OF the Smithtield street bridge with q
loud grating sound and sink from view.
Again the helpless craft would pass the
bridges in safety and continue on its
journey to Cincinnati.
The greatest damage to river craft oc-
Cured between | 80 o'clock this morn
ing and daylight. Shortly before .
o'clock large number Of barges belong
ing to jenkins & Co. came down the
river from the second pool and struck
the Smithield bridge, the huge barges
turning end over end, breasting the
towboat Barnard in against the steamer
Jacobs. Every whistle on the river
sounded the alarm, and as the livid
rays OF the electric lights swept from
side to side across the turbulent flood it
presented
A WILD SIGHT.
Logs, barges and fuel boats were dash
ed against the piers of the bridge and
snapped like twigs by the over-whelm-
ing force OF the current. Half of one
OF Jenkins boats lodged against the bot
tom Just below the Monongqhela bridge
and the water dashed over it, throwing
spray high into the air, while the Drift
wood crushed and cracked over the
wreck, with the grinding noise which
adds to the horrors OF flood. About
fifteen minutes after the broken barges
came down, n number OF pieces OF wreck
age tloated past, in the middle OF which
shanty boat was swept along with a
light on board. The rivermen shouted
and the whistles screamed to get an an
swer from any persons who might be on
board, but no reply came, and if the
owners were on board and asleep, rs
some OF the rivermen thought, they
,parn swnnt dnwn IN
INEVITABLE DESTRUCTION.
Later, the steamer George Wood broke
her moorings above the tenth street
bridge and came drifting down the river,
but was finally caught and towed to a safe
harbor. The ropes which held the half
sunken Cincinnati wharfboat, which the
owners had been struggling for twelve
hours to save, parted about this time,
and the cumbersome craft was quickly
swept away. A few minutes later lot
OF 0'Neil's barges and twenty.six pieces
belonging to Joseph Walton & Co. were
cut from their moorings and carried
down stream. "Polishtown," located
along the bank Of the Monongahela
river, between the foot OF South Twen-
ty.second and South Twenty.fourth
streets, was u sorry plight. There are
nearly seventy.fvc shanty boats at that
point, occupied by over l50 families,
aggregating Il population ot more than
800 people. All Of these, with the ex-
ception of about dozen families,
camped out last night. Early yesterday
morning
TIE TROUBLE BEGAN.
All day, men, women and children were
busy pumping water out of the boats
and removing their goods to places of
safety. By night ten boat houses had
been sunk or capsized and several car
ried down the river. The families who
moved out piled their goods up along
the Lake Erie railroad and then the
men did the best they could to secure
the shanties, while the women watched
their possessions by the light OF wood
fires. Little children crawled under
pieces OF furniture and slept on, in
blissiul ignorance OF the flood and its
incumbent cares.
On both sides Of the river from the
point DrluSe 10 IuT ADoNe tIe 4chtIi
street bridge, scenes OF the iyeliest
description occurred. Many incidents
are ludicrous and laughable, and some
serious enough to those who were COM
PEELED to be the actors in them, but for
tunately none ended in catastrophe.
From the Smithtield street bridge to o
considerable distance above the Balti.
more & Ohio depot were u number oi
boat houses occupied by families. The
sudden rise OF the water found these
occupants
TOTALLY USPREPARED,
and a goodly number OF these amphibi
Gus dwelles were forced to make
hasty retreat to dry land. The out
houses that had their foundation on the
wator or in the mud rode the freshet il
safety and kept the feet and possessions
/ = ,lr,, hat thnan WhiRl