Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-12
The I,o..e. BY the FLOODS.
fBy telegraph 10 The Dispstch.l

fBy telegraph 70 The Dispatch.l
PITTSBURGH, July 1.-THE latest estimates
Of the damage puts the total loss at over
S1,000.000. Wheeling reports the damage Ia
the vicinity OF Grafton, w. Va, ut not less
than $2j0.00 and about Fairmouut at a.
much more. The loss at Brownsville. Pa.
u reported 10 be over $4,000; at Rowes-
burg, W. Va, $4,000. In this neighbOr-
hood II will exceed 100000 and 1t Is not
exaggerstiug to say that with the above ~ a
fair estimate the total win exceed $1,000, goo,
as the flooded district covers an area
OF fully ESQ miles. Al hckeesport all
the mills are closed and hundreds are
homeless and destitute. The CHARTERS me-
turatgas main. crossug the river OF that
point was broken during the night and an
immense pressure OF gas forced into the air.
Waterman OF the Pittsburgh, Mckeesport
and Youg higany railroad crossed the irestle
at Salisbury short time after and his lantern
ignted the gas, causing a tremendous ex-
plosiou. The watchmsn was fatally burned
and the bridge set on Gre, but the fismes
were extiuguished before It WIS destroyed.
Traffic has been almost suspended on the
Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston road. no
trains running south OF Peters creek, niue-
teen miles from here.
Wheeling dispatch saws the freshet was
the greatest ever known. The destruction
TO property il beyond computation, but
enough Il known 70 warrant the declaration
that nearly every house ana most OF the
fencing on all the lowlands between that
point and ClaTKsburg on the west and as far
at least as Grafton on Valley river have been
swept away. The wsier Is now falling at
head.waters and the worst Is over. Since
midnight the river at Brownsville has re-
cedsd feet. In this city there were % feet
OF water at O'Clock this afternoon, and still
rising.
A dispatch from California SAYS: During
the highest point Of the food long trestle-
work OF The Pittsburgh. Virginia and
Charleston railroad spanning Pike.Run
creek was turned over from one end TO the
other, submerging tue Western Union tele-
graph-wires.
A later dspatch from Wheeling SAYS:
From reports received from the flooded dis.
trict OF West Virginia it looks as II the money
loss by Mondays rains would reach nesrly
two million dollars. At least three lives
have been lost. The water is now falling
rapidly az all points, and II IS becoming
possible to get detailed reports from the
small towns aad villages in the mountains.
Not less than fifty bridges are gone IN Ma
rion, Harrison, Taylor, WetZel, Wood,
kltCDle. LOWS, ana aOlOlnlnB cOuhtltsy uuu
hundreds OF houses have been swept away
or are badly damaged.
All Baltimore and Ohio trains are stopped
from the East. Two tunnels between Par
kersburg and Grafton are cayed in, The
New Zanesylle and Ohio railroad IS reported
to be badly damaged. The Onio-Riyer road
was damaged to some extent below Parkers-
burg. Great losses Of cross-ties and timber
are reported. The destruction 10 property
all along the Little Kanawba and Ohio rivers
is greater than in 1881, when the great flood
came.
At Q O'Clock this evening the water was
falling, aud no more damage from the freshet
Is apprehended. The highest point reached
here was twenty-three feet, and at g O'Clock
It had fallen 10 twenty-five feet. At Browns
vile, California, md other towns along the
Upper Monongabea there were three feet
more water than ever before. The current is
still running at the rate OF nine miles an
hour. but the river IL comparatively clear Of
dejris, everything hayiDgrun out. The coal
men are now getting their cOal-tOws In readl-
ness aud tomorrow about 100000 bushels
will be started down the river.