The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-06-06
THE GREAT FLOOD.
loss Of Life and Destruction OF
PrCperty.

40 Serious damage, except Washing away
Of fences. flJodlEg of grass, wheat ana
corn fields, and the destruction OF sesefai
bridges.
The storm was very disastrous in other
localities. At Petersburg all the bridges
Tie city we're swept away. $50 |
Iating tie Town from the ontslde worio. |
The res4l vnif broke. liundirg the streets
and dong considerable dAn*ge. hut 10
lives were lost. The passenger depot OF
the No.tol and WestelE railroad WIS
flooded with water and could only DC
reached 10y rowboass, many OF which
were On the streets in the lower part OF
The city, propelled by enterprising colored
men. who made q handsome business
transaction out Of them. The cellars OF
The stores Oh OH street and thee oaek
yards of family 1esidences on that thor
oughfare were 4 led with water TO The
depth Of several feet. fhe bridge across
the ApponattoX and The trestle bridge OF
the Richmond and PEI ersburg road went
down. These bridges connected North
and South from the city, and their loss
cut OF all eommnpieati0n. A the work
houses On the whaiyes were Submerged
and people living in Tie vicinity OF the
flooded districts moYed To safer quarters.
Saturday morning The warehouse of Messrs
Marks & Friend, on the wharf was sat on
IRE by the water Hooding the building and
getting into lot Of lime. Ehr building.
with the contents. was entirely oonsnmed.
entailing loss eff $4,000. covered by in
euranea. About midnight Friday night
the large dam wbieu supplies the city res
ervoir broke. and the water came rushing
down with "A terrible noise, flooding both
partitions of the city and many private
dwellings. Great damage was done to the
crops in the adjacent counties, the loss
is estimated to reach at least 81 000,000.
In Richmond. Friday night. the water
came up On Main street above the old mar
ket to the depth of six inches. !. Lad
s.Ireadg backed up on Franklin street to
the depth OF three feat, and persons we're
moving about in row hoats OH the corner
of Seventh and Frank lin. Considerable
damage was done TO the city water works.
'rhe city was entirely cut off from outside
| CONN nnicaJion. except over the York
Eiy' r Ing To West Point. The flood
GnaiIed those of 1870 and 1885,
At Fredericksburg, the Williams Line
Steamer IS warehouse was swept away. The
Piedmont, Fredei ickburg and Potomac
| I,r;. Il ,th
pletely inundated, and Chas. E. Hunters
RESIDENCE on Beck's Island went down the
river. the family escaping tn the high
ground except G. e. Hunter, jr.. who was
drowned while attempting TO Ieseue his
aged father from bis perilous position.
a water spout struck ,Pocahnntas. in
Southwest Virginia. suhmprging the town
end many people had to be taken from
their houses On horseback.
AT Lynehburg nearly all the industrial
damage done 10 property. The Richmond
and A leghany railroad was under water at
that point. and considerable damage done
in washing away trestle. tearing up iIack,
Sc, all alofg the line.
Similar disaster WAS experienced by the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad. A number
of landsliles occurred and the track was
injured in numerous places. stopping the
regular through running of trains.
] Jackson s River was within a few feet of
being as high as eyer known in It's history.
The fine new county bridge at G0yington,
which had just been accepted by the com
missiouers was swept away, AT Clifton
Forge water surrounded a number of the
houses in the lower part of the town, and
undermined the foot br idge which is at
tached to the Richmond and Allegheny
Hallway bridge, but did not materially
damage it. at iron Gate the damage was
very slight. The fences along the river
bank were partly washed away and about
| fifteen acres Of the lower end of the place
was covered by water, which rapidly re-
ceded as the water fell. The entire dam
age to the Iron Gate property will not eX-
rrpd $l0G. if it reaches that amount
Neither the rolling mill site nor the bust
ness or residences part Of the new town,
was in the least affected.
AT Harper's Ferry the J.oudoun county
bridge, across he Shenandoah River, was
swept off. The hotel in the place was ia
ken away, and the splendid iron bridge
across the Potomac went down before the
| gathering debris, trees, houses, &C., which
| forced it frnG the piers:
/ The storm setrned to he confined to no
section ami locality, but apparently uni<
versal. not only in this country. but in
| Enrope land China. At Jamestown, Pa,
| the reservoir gave way, and the waters
rushed over the city carrying death and
destruction in it's track. Reliable railroad
meu from Pittsburg, estimate the loss of
life at Jamestown and other tQWns along
Conomangh river, at six thousands. Hun
dreds of dead persons were seen llOating
down the angry, surging streams, as high
as zoe being seen at one point A house
with woman and two children was car
rie,l on the waters and after heroic effort
WAS made to rescue them. they went down
to IA watery grave.
FURTHER PARTICULARS
The mails partial y resumed on Monday,
bringing in papers three days old. We find the
following particulars of the terrible destruction
at Johnsiown Pal
PITTSBURGH, Pa, June 1.-The raging
storms that have prevailed through Pennsylva
ma the past few days have resulted in an APP
rAling loss of life. The scene of terrible
disaster is at Johnstown Penna, in Cambria
canaiv, on the Pennsylvania railroad and the
Con. n,augh river Two and half miles north
cas-, Of The town is a reservoir owned by rich
fishing club. 1t is the largest reservoir in the
United States, being three and half miles long
and from one 10 and half miles wide Its |
depth in some places is 100 feet. 1t holds more
water than any other reservoir, natural or arti>
fetal in the United States. 1t was held in |
check by dam. 1t is 80 feet in thickness at |
the base and the height is ITO feet. The top |
has breadth of over 20 feet. 1t was inspected |
once month by the Pennsylvania railroad en-
gineers, and their investigation shows that moths
ing less than some CONFUSION of nature would |
tear the barrier away and loosen the weapon of |
death. The steady rains of the past twentys