Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1889-06-26
FiFfH edition.


Pennsylvania Railroad Companv we
great Hood OF May 3lst would law s ,ae
heartened most any other cornars,i u,s'
besides badly crippllrg 1t tlnaucisliS
Tho main line Of the road lol0,y' IL.
banks Of the Susquehanna from Har,i.'
burg 10 Duncannon, situated at tho inna.
ton oil the Juniata with the Su.r"s
hanna. From Duncannon II is tuilt
the banks of the Juniata along its .s,j,s
course to the head waters near Jyrnh,
distance OF about 100 Mills. wiuta
which the waters of the stream s,a
crossed twelve times. Three If ,ba.'
bridges, the Gran VILE, G5 miles wei !,
Harrisburg, the Mlyes, 67 miles, and ~
Napayunk 40 miles aggregatlag 2ga
feet OF viaduct. Besides many mut, n,
track, and even the roal-bed were toay,
washed away.
On the western slope Of the Alelae,,
les the road strikes the i'calwaie,s Al
the Conemaugh, at Lilly Station, II
miles west of Altoona, and follow, us
valley of tho Conemaugh, to .Blair,yg's
intersection "a miles west of Altoona Il
can be readily understood that glart
oouy OF Water,such as swept through this
valley en- the afternoon OF MAY 3ltl.
A
line OF railroad which was buIIt unop.
anu over the banks OF the stream, and ln
many portions occupied u bed that had
Deeh cut ior IL between the river aud the
base OF the overhauging hills,
Railway bridges, built In the most sui.
stantial manner OF IRON were torn from
their piers, aud the solid masonary OF The
piers was battered and crushed BY the
logs and trees which wee dashed against
them by the reslstless current The three
large bridges on the Juniata and every
bridge on the Conemaugh except the
massive stone viaduct az ,JohnstoNn were
swept away, and thl track In many
places was torn from Its bed and carried
on also.
Large rocks, planted In the hill aides bv
the hands of the Creator, were torn ayay
and dashed to fragments by the 10.
turiatcd water, and nothing less substan-
tial stood the slightest show OF preseNl.
ton.
All communications east ard west
were broken both by rail and wire
The grand and perfect organization Of
the corporation is shown in the CeSivt,
light by the manner In which this almost
insurmountable obstruction Of tue failure
OF communications was overcome The
east was cut of from the north and west
there was q middle district with AltO0m
as Its centre, which was isolated from
every OTHER section, while the extreme
west, with It's local capital at Pittsburg,
WAS cut of from all assistance gave tia,
OF the lines wost Of that point.
The flood subsidized sufficiently by
Tuesday, and within four days four hun.
dred men had brldged the river 6nl re.
established communication with tho
West, via the Philadelphia and Erie and
the Allegheny Valley Railroads
A force OF three hundred men wefa
sent forward to rebuild the Granville
bridge. This bridge, which was over
seven hundred feet long, was no! only
washed away, but all the piers save one
had been wrecked. The site u tie
bridge was covered with substantial
trestllng seven hundred and twenty issi
long and fifty feet high in six days.
Two miles further west was the Maya
bridge, and there, In four days tresuIs
seven hundred and ghtY feet long al
fifty feet high was erected. The MsL+
Junk bridge, besides two or three mia
of track with the road bed, had VANISHED
and with force OF 200 men this gap wi
closed in nine days, the men worktg
both day and nighi.
The Couemaugh viaduct Is foW lfs'
dred feet long, seyenty-eight feet M
and Ia constructed on curve, soA
heart timber is the material, and u,
though 1t was constructed In Tie ms
rapid manner, II Is US firm and as slsi'j
AZ II made of stone.
At Conemaus Ii station was situated
| ri Inn, Gt Tli
house, where the heavy, mountain climb
ing engines were stored, aud ATTACHED
the freight trains, to aid them IN ascglt
lug the mountains. Tho flood swsi
! over this yard with such mighty !Ol,
that every vestige of building vi
swept from the face of the earth. 1hir,
live engines were almost total wrec
The sixty-ton locomotives were Carr.g
) away like chips on the current, ard le
IN various places imbedded ii sand III
dcbris.
An unbroken line of track was rec
tablshed in exactly two weeks after Il
Hood, which reads almost like a romano
go vast and appalling was the work
, took nearly live thousand men along I
line TO do this work, while large icEi
are still working away getting tho loe
motives aud cars away from the scene
the wreck. Thus by ceaseless labor, MAJ
, yelous energy, wonderful skill and UTE
sacrifice OF personal comfort en- the pa
Of engineers ana workmen, the create
work of the age was achieved with bill
liant success, ard the Pennsylvania fal
road recovered from blow which VOL
have paralyzed the energies OF any otat
railroad iu The world.