Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-07

disaster seems 10 nave been tnht tine usninE
and hunting club had permanently closed
these outlets, so as to prevent the escape Of
the fish, and when the sudden storm came
on Friday there was no way TO give the
the water should flow over the top Of the
dam. and when the overflow began on Fri
day afternoon the dam was quickly under.
mined and gave way
A coroners jury is now in session, taking
testimony as to the nature Of the dam and
the cause Of the disaster.
The Empty Lake and Broken Dam.
Johnstown despatch Of June I'd de-
scribes the breaking Of the reservoir dam
and the manner in which the water went
out
THE lake is completely dried out. The
dam broke in the centre at 3 O'Clock Friday
afternoon, and at 4 o'clock it was dry The
great body Of water passed out in one hour
The men who were building a new draining
system at the lake tried 10 avert the disas
ter by digging a sluiceway on one side to
ease the pressure on the dam. They had
about 40 men at work, and did all they
could, but without avail Whatever hap
pened in the way of a cloud burst occurred
Thursday night There had been little rain
up 10 dark. When the workmen woke in
the morning the lake was full and rising at
the rate Of foot an hour. 1t kept ON ris-
ing until . r. NJ, when it began breaking
over the dam and undermining it, Men
were sent two or three times during the
day 10 warn people below Of their danger
When the final break came at O'Clock
there was a sound like tremendous and con
tinued peals Of thunder. Trees rocks and
earth shot up into mid air in great columns
and then started down the ravine A far.
mer who escaped said that the water did
not come down like "A wave, but jumped on
his house and beat it ~ fragments in an
instant. At present the lake looks like a
cross between the crater of IA volcano and
huge mud puddle, with rocks and stump,
Of trees scattered over it. There is a SINAI
stream of muddy water running through
the centre of the lake site The break il
the dam is about 200 feet wide There j,
only small portion of the dam left OF
each side The whole of South Fork wa,
swept away not tree was left standing
4 Strange Feature Of the Floods Work
y view blh lltIhlil htHlhAi'll hhNN ANll
thing that makes the work of searching FOL
the bodies very slow is the strange wal
| that great masses Of objects were rolled int,
intricate piles Of rubbish As the foo,
came down the valley of the south Fork i
obliterated the suburb Of Woodvale, wher
not house was left nor IA trace Of one
The material they had contained rolled OF
/ down the valley over and over, grinding
/ up to pulp and finally lodging against SOM
unusually firm foundation or in the bed o
an eddy. The masses contain human bodies
| but it is slow work to pick them to pieces
| In the side of one Of them today | saw tn
remnants of carriage, the body of har
messed horse, baby cradle and doll
tress of womans hair, a rocking horse an
a piece of beefsteak, still hanging to a hook
The New York sun correspondent de
! scribes the same popularity. 1t is impOssi
! BILE, he says, to realize the full force of tn
] flood and its terrible work until one inspect
/ the 60 acres OF wreckage above the railrOa
bridge and sees the manner in which tn
stuff composing it is packed together.
! Is not heap of broken timbers lying luosel
thrown together i'll all directions 1t il
solid mass. The boards and timbers who
made up the frame buildings are laid t.
gether as closely a. sticks of wood in pill
more closely for they are welded into on
another until each stick is a. solidly fixe
in place as though all were one a curiou
thing Is tina wherever there are a fe,
boards together they are edge up, and neve
standing on eud or flat The terrible fore
of the whirlpool that ground four squar
miles of buildings into this 90 acres O
wreckage left no opportunity for gaps o
holes between pieces in the river Every
thing was packed together as solidly ii
| though bv sledge-hammer blows.