The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-08-08
THE FLOODS.
= Cloud Burst Almost Ruins the Desut1.
ful Resort u watkins Glen, n. r. High
Water st PhIlape1phis.

- Cloud Hurst AImOSt Ruins the 0eoue1s
fal Resort It Watklns' Glen, n. H.-High
Water 1t Philspe1phis.
ELNIRA, n T., Aug. 2-Rumors have
reached this city Of . cloud-burst In tho
village Of Watkins, eighteen miles north Of
this city. which has flooded tho village and
done trrep rable damage. Later particu-
lars received state that about 5
o'clock Wednesday terrific storm
struck the village. tcausing Glen creek
TO rise 70 rap dy that 1t soon be-
came a raging torrent sweeping through
the beautiful and famous glen and carry
ing with It all the bridges and stairways
and otherwise defacing and destroy
ing the picturesque gorge. lseachiug
the village the crock overnowed Its banks
and swept away tho Franklin street bridge,
upon which but q few moments before .
crowd OF twenty-five people had been
standing Some Of them narrowly escaped
The Decatur street bridge was car
ried away by the Juno flood,
and communication between the northern
and southern portions OF the town is On
iirely interrupted The southern portion
OF tho town was almost entirely innndat-
ed und great CONSERVATION created
among tho residents. The Northern
Central railroad bridge, while NOT yet
washed away, IL 30 weakened that no
trains venture upon 1t. and railroad
traffic !s suspended. The wires are all
down and telegraphic communication 10
cut of. SO but meagre particulars OF the dis
aster can yet bc obtained. Nothing has -
yet becn heard from the surrounding
country, but IL II believed that
thera has been . cloud -Durst or watersp3ut
not far distant and grave fears of more
serious damage In neighboring places arc
entertained. While the loss to the village
is heavy, aggregating many thousand dol
lars, tho Watkins Glen property probably
suffers worse This IL one Of the most
beautiful gorges in the country and had
q resort
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 2-Thc water in the
Echuylkill river Wednesday attained the
highest point reached in this city for
twenty years, involving destruction to
property estimated at from $4,000 TO
e3O,UOl The park drives were submerged,
boat houses flooded and some of:the streets
next tho river banks were under
water to . depth of between four
and 1--WE feet Tho cellars Of two
paper mills and about . dozen
houses were flooded. The coffer-dam OF
the new Reading railroad bridge at the
falls Of Schuylkill was washed away, on
failing q loss OF about &5,OOO All work at
Manayunk and tho Pencoyd iron works
opposite was stopped owing to the en-
croachment Of the waterA But one fatal
accident was reported-the drowning Of
Samuel Dallas, aged "A years, who, with
three other boys. was playing in the water
ON floating shanty.
Throughout tho eastern section of the
State the rainfall was very heavy. Many
houses and mills along the Brandywino
creek, in the vicinity OF Westchester
and Downington, were flooded, and
WilliamspOrt the bridges over the
heavily laden coal cars A large
section OF the Schuylkill valley in tho
vicinity Of Norristown and Conshohocken
was almost entirely under water. Consid-
cradle damage was done, but no lives wero
reported lost in the State.
New YORK, Aug. 2-The people Of Plain
field. N. J., living along Green brook aro
very much worried over the condition of
tho upper dam at Feltville. Thurs
day afternoon 1t was reported that tho
dam was leaking badly and bulging
out In places The dam is twenty
feet high and holds back lake mile and
quarter long, from 800 to 800 feet wide,
and thirty feet deep in some places II
1t should give way Scotch Plains and
Fanwood would probably be swept out
OF existence and Plalnfield would bc
inundated The present estimate Of tho
damage done by the Hood from the smaller
dam at Feltville to the Cadmus dam, dis
tance Of Ave miles, u $3.50. COO Streets in
Plainfield are damaged to the extent OF
49OOQO