Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1889-06-06
STORY OF THE FLOOD
WHAT rHE WATERS DESTROYED IN TBR
EASTERN PART OF THE STATE
At harPsrs Ferry Tie River Was gigh. Fse
higher Than IN Seventy Seysn-John
Browns Old FoH-Damage at
Shephertsown.

'fttiNt ArtqfQll To llc heglsicr
ChARLEsT0wN, W. Va, June 5.-At
HsrTecs Ferry, he JUNCTION of the
Potomac and Shenandoah rivers, the flood
has osen unprecedented and the greatest
ever known ct that place Tue water was
eight feet higb.r shan ever before. 90
Friday evening both rivers began to ri.e,
and continued until lats Saturday night.
This evening the water has fallen about
eight feet. In 1877 great flood swep.
that OWE sud destroyed muoh property,
hut the water at the present flood wss
eight feet higher than then Ga the
Shenandoah river the Baltimore snd Ohio
railroad is washed cut, swept entirely
a~sy or damaged for more than
two miles Shenandoah street OF
Hsrper's Ferry along the Shenandoah
siyor. vas submerged in water, and several
small houses swept away. The water was
up IN tbs second story o! the houses, and
ali the stores along that street, some TWEEN
81 IN numcer, were flooded, and the
-tocks OF goods soaked with water TIE
u.lu.ss OF the Potomac prevented sSiir
current ia the SheDsodoah; o herwise, sli
be houses along the latter river would
asve been swept away. The Shenandoah
Pulp Company having one OF its mills on
be Slensrdoah river. suff red great dam
= hy the machinery bsiUg submerged IN
mus.1 vatt-, and haviUg several hundred
coids Of wood carried away by the flood.
The 1cH dam across the river st Its mil
was entirely washed sway The road
bridge ac.Oss the Shenandoah river,
owned by the Harper's Ferry Bridg
Company, wss sll swept away, tx
cspt one span on the side mex
hetlwu more than one hundred dwelling
houses sloog shenandoah street were
d-od,i 90 the cecoud story, and the resi-
deuish heavily beirg unable 60 reWuys
.heir furniture AID had 10 abandon their
house. The Gait House, owned by Th0s
H.rmsn, sui situated ciC,e TO the mouth
If The railroad bridge, wss entirely swept
away with ats contents George W. Green,
proprietor of the Green Hotel. lcst heavily
The hotel beiry filled with water u The
secort story.
Along the Potomsc river, ali what ussd
% be ths Government property, nO~
owned by Thcmss h Savoy x Co.. was
covered with water over fifteen feet dep
The famous Jonu Browns fo1t 'ooi iu
water mp 20 the caves Along the Poto-
mac river the Baltimore sid Ohio Rail
read ccmpsny h.l about two miles Ct
track 90 tre,tling ard this is az di1sIe
points from ten q forty feet above the
river. Yesterday 10 Sas covered wi'h
wafer several fest deep hut to-day tie
water has fallen below II, leaving it in
suc0 q W rped ant teis'el s6te That It Is
dangerous even to Waik upon. The great
iiou bridge OF the railroad scrcss the Pc
tDmlc is tb- only structure thst did DOt
weld 90 lhe rushing water. The COM
pauy wisely ordered zen heavy -ngines
put upon it, ana their weight held
% iu p'sca Although the water was four
i-et deco upon ne floor, houses, drftwoOi,
paris Of broken bridges and canal tOats all
s.ruck H.. but beyond bending or breaking
a small portion of It's iron lattice work mp
tie sides of the bridge, the great structure
stood the test and rested firm upon Its
p'ers When "a house would strike It q
.oud crashing sound would be heard, then
the house would "a a toy in the hands of n
strong msa, break TO pieces and be swept
under the bridge When the large ware
house belonging 90 A Spencer and situated
90 the Maryland shore was washed away
aud struck the bridge 10 wss thought ths'
1; would break the great structure, but
the warehouse was only ground - piece
snd swept under. leaving the bridge siill
standing bus little damaged.
The Chssapelks and Ohio csasl has sui
fered so much damage tbst it viii proba-
bly be abandoned. At Harper's Ferry
.be causl and river we're all one, and tn
water Ws1 so high that only the tops OF
trees standing GA the to~path could ae
SEEN Island Park, belonging to the rail
road company, was submerged and every
building upon IL swept away. The pulp
mill on the cid Government prop .rJy,
along the Potomac, was greatly damaged
bT the water, and q large quantity Of
wood used for making pulp was carried
away. The lose of property Of the railroad
company 90 Hsrpsr's Ferry is estimated at
nearly one hundred th0ussd dollars and the
loss 20 residents Of the town will run above
seventy five thousand. Oae fortunate
feature of the flood j. that 10 lives were
lost
AT SbepherdstOwn, ten miles up the Po-
tomac. from Harpe-'s Ferry, the large
road bridge across the Potomac was washeo
away AID several houses on the cnal at
that pl C, we're ~, shed down the river.