Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-07-18

on a general moving day AS the waters
encroached upon the banks, the house
hold utensils were removed farther ID
towards Water Street, and since the
rise was so very rapid a number of re-
moves had to be made in a short time.
Within a distance of 100 yards there
were no less than thirteen little lots of
moving and by each of them sat a wo-
man and few children.
williamsburg, Beck Runs, portions of
McKeesport, California, Monongahela
City, Belle Vernon, Brownsville, Fay
cite City, and other towns along the
river, are reported partly submerged
this morning. The water in some
places is above the first floor of the
houses, while piles of lumber, timbers
and drifts in many cases are damned
against the doors and windows At va
rious points along the lines Of the Pitts
burg, Virginia & Charleston, and the Bal
timore & Ohio Railroads the tracks
are under water and great difficulty is
experienced in running trains.
At 1880 O'Clock this morning word
was received that lock No. 4, located
short distance above Monongahela City,
had been carried away by the strong
current. The loss from this will be very
heavy. 1t is impossible to hear from
many points up the river as the tele-
graph and telephone wires arc down,
and there is complete cessation of
communication by telegraph or mail.
The sudden rise is believed to have been
caused by cloud burst, which covered
a large section of Southern Pennsylva-
MIA and Western Virginia. Fortunately
there was no rise in the Allegheny
River. If the high water had come
from the north also the flood would have
reached greater height than the great
freshet of 1884. AS it is none but the
lowlanders will suffer in this vicinity.
About II O'Clock saw-miIl including
all machinery, passed down the river. 1t
miles south of this city, and was owned
by Capt. Cox, who valued it at 81 900.
Early this morning a man with
wagon and team of horses attem pied to
cross the Ohio River below Saw Mill
Run in fiat. When in the middle of
the river he lost control of the flat and
it was carried down the stream. 1t is
not known whether the man was res
cued or not. The telegraph companies
report communication entirely cut off
with Monongahela Valley points. Graf
ton, w. Va, reports traffic on the main
stem of the Baltimore & Ohio road sus-
pended. Two tunnels are filed to the
top with debris.
At McKeesport all the mills are closed
down and hundreds are homeless and
destitute. The CHARTERS natural gas
main. crossing the river at that point,
was broken during the night and an
immense pressure of gas forced into
the air. Mr.. Knight, the Waterman of
the Pittsburg, McKeesport & Youghio-
gbeny Railroad, crossed the trestle at
Salisbury a short time after, and his
mendous explosion. Knight was fatally
burned and the bridge caught on fire,
but the flames were extinguished before
it was destroyed.
A Wheeling dispatch says the freshet
was the greatest ever known. The
destruction to property is be-
yond computation, but enough is
known to warrant the declara-
ton that nearly every house and most
of the fencing on all lowlands between
that point and Clarksburg, on the west,
and as far as Grafton, on the Valley
River, have been swept away. From
early dawn until dark the Monongahela
continued to rise and during that time
the channel was constantly filed with
houses, fencing, etc.
The latest estimates Of the damage
puts the total loss at over 81 ,OO0, 900.
The damage in the vicinity of Grafton,
W. Va, is not less than $250,CO0, and
about Paramount as much more. The
loss at Brownsville, Pa, is over $l25, COO,
and at Rowlesburg, w. Va, S125, 900. In
this neighborhood it will exceed $780,
600. The flooded district covers an area
of fully $50 miles.