The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-06-08
Cumberland Submerged,

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The rainfall that began Thursday
night about II O'Clock and has con-
tinued with slight Interruptions eyer
since, drought down the Potomac
and Willis Creek yesterday an un.
precedented flood of water, and gave
the city the most tremendous deluge
it has ever known. The waters of
these two streams were high at eight
O'Clock yesterday morning, but from
that time they began to rise with in
creased rapidity until at dark last
night they had reached the highest
point ever known. Then both river
and creek began to fall somewhat.
and in the course of several hours the
latter had dropped nearly foot, as
carefully measured at the Cement
Mill bridge, During the night the
course of both streams was slightly
downward.
1t was shortly after ~ noon when
the waters of Wills Creek that had
been swelling rapidly rose to level
with the sides of the boiler plate truss
bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad
near Baltimore street. They mount
ed higher and surged against them
with full force, pouring through and
over it. The bridge stood the shock +,
but the waters thrown back by this
obstacle, turned by the flank into
Baltimore street and were soon pour.
ing down Mechanic street in a tor
rent, swirling around the Hotel Ell
bernon and making stretch of mum
dation to the postoffice corner.
The leap of the water over its
banks near Baltimore street crossing
was quickly followed by breaks else
where. A great tide came pouring
into Mechanic street through the
grounds of the Cooperative Soap fac
tory and made lake of that thor
oughfare as far down as the Viaduct.
Below the Viaduct there was an ugly
rush into Mechanic street and a per-
feet torrent swept into the mill race.
The first floors and all the cellars of
houses in this neighborhood were
filled with water, ard at this point
on Mechanic street, that is just below
the Viaduct, its depth was in many
places fully two feet. The depression
on Mechanic street near John Norris
sey's residence, offered the swollen
creek just the opportunity it wanted,
and regular river broke through at
this point deluglng everything from
there to Baltimore street with two
feet deep current, overlooking Mill
street to the same deLth and sending
bouncing stream down Liberty
street that made it one bed of running
water from Mill to Harrison.
The waters kept swelling the
whole afternoon and at dusk the stu
alton could be summed up as follows:
Baltimore street from the Lutheran
church corner to Central Station was
one sheet of water, being about two
feet in depth in front of the Reynolds
block, with the first floors of nearly
all the business houses on the east
side commencing with the postoffice
flooded with from ten to fifteen inches
of water, and some of the first floors
on the west side. Mechanic street
was practically an open stream from
/ the Vladuct to Harrison street. Lib.
= erty street was rushing stream from
2 Mill street to Harrison, and in some
3 places the water was fully three feet
| deep. Harrison was submerged from
: Centre to Mechanic. There were sew
/. eral ugly places on Centre street. The
g first was from Polk to Hanover
] where the water backed up from the
f race and entered dozen or more
houses. Another ugly place wasjus
on the east side of the viaduct, an(
still another on the fiat near thu
Payne Spring tannery. The waite
reached its greatest depth of inunda
l' ton probably on South Mechani
3, street at the factory of LandWehr 4
n Click. Cumberland Ne1Cs, Saturday
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