The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-07-12
RAGING WATERS.
The Awful Torrent Of the
Mad Monongahela.
MILLIONS OF DoILAEsDaaAGE
A curr~nt Of Stae Miles an Hour
A Rise of - Feet In One night
Ls.. Of water Gran. Hsus~s. Crops
and Human Life.

f1If<EN Ess. <zss s4--t 2E AfS-1scs u tAr
Noaonzxheis ysser is aimess unprece-
denied, and great damage has bccn done
70 .sver craft ard property all siong the
river from ske hesdxss<rs 70 this city. Tie
sadsenness Of the rise took river rnen en-
isrely unxssres. and they were net pre-
Pared whsa the eres: vo,urae Of water
burst upon shera NIisioas Of Zee; Of lHm-
bsr, scores Of caal rrsif, fenees. osEthousss
and ccas tiprses have been 1oAtiuy down
the swift eurreaf Tor the last Is hon-s-
The rsyer AZ thls rsisss is stili rising. with
Il Feet nine Iactles on the marks, 81 ?
c'eiaeks but IL is reported as stationary,
with Is ieet, 8, Greensboro. fn miles above
this city As every pofnt setwesn Grern--
bcso and Fisrsbarg sfse low lands are under
water, aud residents have been compelled
to live "a the upper stories Of their houses
and in some eases 30 seek The hills for
safety. Many bad not time 10 remove
their goods as the water rose =; the rate Of
.sae fesos an hour. and al ti-eensboro g.
fs-.rf rss<s WAS reported il less than "A hoazs.
30 fa4 but one fife has been reported lost.
Tts. scene Aitsag the aver frolf this
ufsfninr n a. one ef great excitement. The
banks we're iizcd with people watching
the debris IS i was sSeF, dovs the ssaft
the eiert, festins trat fheir RATS would ~
torn from their rso0Fiugx, and as fast as
one cable would suap in twain i would be
replaced bs another. Occasionally Ecat-
ing boat. barge OF sipple would strike one
Of the piers Of the bridge and sink from
vicw. Again a helpless ctafl would pass
the bridges IN safety aud continue GA rs
Journey to Cincinnati.
A WILD SEINE eF Brgs.
The creates. damage 30 river craft oc-
Cured between ! % oieiock this morning
aud daylight shortly before , O'clock
large number of barges came down Tie
river and ssrgek the hridge,the huge harges
turning end oyer end. Every whistle on
fhe river sounded IN alarm and ss the
10 side arrass the tur5Eleat flood II pre-
sentesi & Wild sight Logs. barges and fuel
beats were dashed against the piers OF the
bridge. and snapped like twigs by the over
whelming force of tho current About ID
minutes after the broken berges came
down. number of pieces oi wrer sage
foated past in the middle OF which
shaniy boat was swept along with light
on beard. The river men shouted and
whistles sarcay2ed 10 ges an answer from
any person who might be on the boat. but
no reply came. and ii the owners were on
board and asleep they were swept down 10
inevitable destruction
fBt-srHARAN REEs
Polishtoau. located along the bank 81 the
Mouonyabeis river, was in a sorry plight to-
day. There were nearly .5 shanty boats at
that point occupied By over 80 families,
sggregatiug population OF more than 800
people. Al OF these, with the exception
OF about dozen families. camped oui last
night. Early yesterday morning the
trouble began All day men, women anu
children were busy fsuraping water out of
the boats aud removing their goods TO
places OF safety. BY night 10 OF the boat
houses had sunk or eapsizet. and several
were carried down river.
DAMAGE AT OTHER POINTS.
Adarnshurg, Beck's Run. portion of
Mekcesport. California, MonongahclaC City,
Belle Vernon, Brownsville. Fayette City
and other towns along the river ere re-
ported partially submerged this morning,
and various points along the line OF the
Pifgsburg Virginia Il sharlestown and
Baltimore & Ohio railroad sraeksare under
water. and great difficulty is experienced
in running trains.
At is:an woid was received that lock No.
4, located q short distance from Aoncnga-
hcla City. had been carried away, The
loss FROM this viii he very heavy.
The sudden rise is believed ia haye been
caused hy q eioedburst which covered a
large section Of southern Pennsylvania
and West Virginia.
4 MILLION DOLLARS DAMAGE.
Wheeling reports the damage IN the VI
einify of Grafton. W. Va. at not less than
s2so, ,01o: at POuiebnrg, $4,000; in this
neigh horbood it viii exceed $1,000, and II
il not exasgerafing to say that with the
above estimate as q fair estimate II viii ex-
coed u .e51.so. as the fooded district Gov
ers an area of 20 miles
At MeKeespogt all the mills are closed
and hundreds are homeless.
A SINGULAR ACCIDENT
CHARTERS natural gas main. crossing the
river at that place, was broken during the
night and an immense pressure OF ga.
forced into the air Mr.. Knight, the watch
man at the Pitishurg, Mekeespori 4
Youghiogheny railroad. crossed the trestle
ct Pittsburg shortly after, and his lantern
igni.ed. causing tremendous explosion.
Knight Was fatally burned and the bridge
caught FIRE, bat the flames were extin-
guIshSd before II was destroyed
Traffic is aIrnoss suspended oa the Pitts
hurg virginia & Charleston railway. No
trains are running south Of Peters creek,
II miles south OF here.
A Wheeling dispatch says the freshet
was the greatest ever known. The de-
siruciion to property Is beyond computa
ton, but enough Is ascerfaiued 10 warrant
the declaration that nearly every house
and fence In the lowland between Wheel
ing and Clarssburg on the west, and as far
east MS Grafton. in The valley OF the rive',
has been swept away.
The water IS now falling at the head
waters and the worst Is perhaps over.