Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-07-12
The Wild Monongahela
It Bursts All Bounds and
 Works Destruction.
HOUSES WHIRLED DOWN STREAM

HOUSES WHIRLED DOWN STREAM The Greatest Overflow for Years-The Damage to Property wMl Reach Into the Mnlions-Railroad Bridges Carried Away, and 8 Tunnel Collapsed - In Pittsburg Harbor.
 PrTrsBuRG, July 12-The loss by the Monongahela flood in this smmediate vicinity is about $50, GOO, and in the near towns and surrounding country about S1OO,OOO more. The worst is over The scene along the south shore of the Monongahela is the most curious one witnessed for years Everything close to the river has been revolutionized, and chaos has taken the place of order. Here and there the people driven from their homes by the water presented pictures of what Irish evic- tions are supposed to be after the bailiffi have performed their work. Goods were piled up in heaps or thrown about in con- fusion. Disconsolate looking women sat OH trunks nursing their babies, while half dressed and frightened children wandered around them. The wharves and bridges crowded with spectators.
 Desolation reigned in the vicinity of the shanty boat colonies Polishtown, at the foot of Twenty-fifth street, was completely wrecked. Some of the seventy-five shanties were dashed away, the rest were turned up side down in the water. The 5jO inhabitants gathered together their household goods and moved across the Pemicky railroad track and pitched their camps to await the subsd ing of the water. The swift current filled with debris. Escaped coal barges enormous logs and millions of feet of lumber, overturned Shanty boats, floating sawmills, driftwood, haystacks and household fu.: niture were carried away i'll the current. The most disastrous accident ill the harbol occurred early. Phillips & Mittenzwsis fleet, consisting of ten barges, were nf4srsC just below lock No 1. The lnoorings sqR3px 1 and the whole fleet was whr.el into the'cur rent. The Eagle dashed into pier at th Tenth street bridge, smashing her smoke | stacks and Staving iu her bulkhead. Tho damage amounts to about S1.OOo. Just be | low the bridge wus moored the flee, of Jenkins & O., consisting of ter l barges and two flats The escaped barges struck the flat a"d tore it from its moorings Three bargeS were sunk just above the Smithfieid street bridge One of the barges struck the upturned flat lying at the par tially submerged Cineinnati and Louisville | landing, and both weFe swept out into the current, Just b,low the Point bridge they collided with Gray's fleet of slack boats, held | by the Resolute, Iron Duke and Iron Age and swept them from their moorings. They escaped the landing, collded with Brown's fleet and carried away one of their barges | Near Davis Island dam three of the barges 1 were sunk Thirteen of this fleet were re- ported to have passed the Beaver bridge all right. The Resolute fortunately had steam up, and all of Gray's fleet was rescued Part of the fleet dashed into Sneathen and Wilson's fleet and sunk barge and loosened | hNot ioh hor ,ohf Davis Island. The George A. Wood was torn from her moorings, just above Lock No. | 1, with two coal boats and a coke barge. She passed over the dam safely, but collided with the Tenth street pier, sustaining slight damages and sinking the coal boats. She was caught and secured at McKee's rocks | by the Joseph w. Gould.
 | A fleet of twenty six empties belonging to | O'Neil 6 Wood broke away in the first pool About half of them were secured undamaged, while the remainder were smashed and sunh. A saw mill, with shafting, saws, lathes anl all machinery, floated down the river II was the property of Capt. Cox, of Belle Yer. non. The wharf boat at McKeesport broke loose and sunk.
 A West Elizabeth (Pa.) special says that the river came to a standstill and shortly afterward began slowly recedlng. The point reached was the highest ever known, being twelve inches above the food of 1859. The | entire town below the railroad tracks is from six to ten feet under water.
 Travel on the Pittsburg, Virginia and Charleston railway has been suspendei in. definitely. Several miles of track are under water and number of bridges are eithe, washed away or badly damaged. O'Neil a Co. lose fifteen coal barges and weighing tipple; Welgel Bros, a number of rafts, coal boats and barges, and the Jenkins tipple ia gone
 The farmers and gardeners along the rives | lose nearly their entire crops of grain and vegetables.
 A Wheeling telegram says that the loss es from Mondays storm in the upper Ohio val ley to priva:e property and damage to rail roads will foot up nearly $1, GOO, ,0O0.
 At Piedmont w. Va. the long trestle is a complete wreck.
 At Grafton several blaming mills and thousands of logs were carried away, involv ing a loss of $2O0, ,00O.
 At Brownsville, Pa. the Knobb Coal com pany lose their tipple and several coal boata Axton's boat yard and several valuable raft CTS were carried away.
 At McKeesport, Pa, the damage to prop erty along the Monongahela and Youghio gheny rivers will be nearly double that evel before experienced from the same cause, anc
 
 iron mills are almost entirely submerged anG will be damaged about s25, 900. Fifty ol more dwellings are full of water almost te the roofs, and more than 100 families have moved out, many of them losing all of theil goods No loss of life is reported.
 At Braddock, Pa, a considerable portion of the town Is under water. the homeless families camping out on the hillsides Tht water works are threatened with destruction The twelve inch natural gas main supplying Carnegie's Homestead mills Is broken anc the supply of fuel cut off.
 From Rochester, Pa the report comes Twenty-Five feet and rising. The river | full of debris and no boats passing"
 At Steubenviile, O., river twenty-one feet rising twelve inches an hour. Tuesday eu,n ing it was scarcely six feet No serisu damage has been reported.
 Six coal barges and 8 tipple, opposit. Steubenville were wrecked during the night
 BALTIMORE, July 12.-Reports of damag done by the storm in western Maryland ane West Virginia are coming in. No. tunnel l on the Raltivpora and Onto roiro,d rao,