Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-05-11
SW EPT AWAY.
Great Destruction Done by the Rag
ing Waters.
The Hulk Head of the Great water
Power Forced Out with Damage of
sIOO,OOO-A Million Feet or Logs
Get Away-Thc River sim Rising.


( The most serious damage that has bee
9 caused by overflow of water in this vicin
ity, occurred a few minutes before
5 o'clock this afternoon. when the bull
/ head extending across Sylvan water fror
, Sylvan island to the government island
and by means of which the water powe
which operates the manufactures of Mo
! line, is obtained. succumbed to the pres
sure of the great volume of water abov
and gave way, and the water went owe
like an avalanche and swept down through
the slough and out into the main chanue
of the river with terrific force, carrying
Everything before it. The boom which
held the logs above the slough bridge was
snapped and 1000, 600 feet of logs hoatet
out into the river and were carried away
by the swift flowing current before peo
Pile hardly realized what had happened
The old frame warehouse at the
foot of Eighteenth street. and
owned by the st. Louis and
ST. Paul Packet company, was moved
away from its moOrings and floated down
the stream. An unsuccessful attempt
was made to capture it in the lower end
of town, but it slipped away, and the
last heard of it it was still on its Journey
to the gulf
As soon as possible after the catastro-
phe. the Rock Island Lumber company
sent men in skiffs to recover the logs as
far as possible, and also sent kilograms to
towns below here to look out for them.
The current was flowing with such
rapidIty that nothing could be done with
skitfs, and while the Lumber company
hopes to recover most of the logs, il only
expects to do so by having them picked
up further down the river. The total
value of the logs which got away was
$4,000, The old warehouse was worth
about 5000.
The greatest damage as well as the
most remarkable and unexpected. was
the forcing out of the bulk head of the
Moline, and government water power.
The bulk head was solid wall of mason
ry seven hundred feet long and thirty
feet high. 1t is impossible as yet to es-
innate how much of 1t has been washed
away. About fifty feet of the original
nj, ast .sI IL n,
strip at least six hundred feet long and
supposedly about four feet in height
has gone. The wall was built in
1869. Its destruction or partial de-
struction will suspend all work on
the government island where the ma
chinery was operated by water power,
but all the immense industries of Moline
will be obliged to reduce their capacity
in consequence. OF course all of these
institutions have steam power which they
can resort to, but the loss of the water |
power not only limits their capacity, but
Will for the time being throw great
many men out of employment.
The wall was owned by the government
and the damage is estimated at the least
calculation at 100000. 1t can only be
repaired orrebuilt through appropriation
on the part of congress, and how soon
that will be done no one can predict 1t
is safe assertion that the Moline fac
torres and the government works will not
be operated by water power again this
season.
The water has risen rapidly at this
point all day and is now registered at
1880. 1t fluctuated some about the time
The rush came through the slough, but
afterwards receded little. 1t is gaining
steadily however and as reports from
points south of Winona show no change.
II may be expected to reach the 1910
mark of 80 before tomorrow night. The
water has come through to the surface at
,he corner of Nineteenth street and Third
avenue and boys are floating the side-
walks away for RATS. The water got
over the railroad tracks in the vicinity of
Eighth street this afternoon, completely
the tracks and flooding all
he cross streets. lots. etc, as far south,
n some instances as Second avenue, and
coming up town to Fourteenth street.
Twentieth street in the vicinity of the r
!. & p. and Coal Valley Mining compan-
es buildings and the c., M. s. st. P.
building is under water.
The R, 1. & P. through its dixie con-
tructed for the protection of its embank
nent in the lower end of town, is also
aving the slough from inundation. In
ess the water gets over the embaskment.
here will be no damage there. The
Rock island Stove company have built a
lam about it's works for protection
rom the rising waters and the other in-
Iustries in the lower end are also taking
precautions.
c., B. & Q. Railroad.