Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1889-06-14
THE BREAKING OF THE DAM.

The Pittsburg Commercial prints
the following account Of the break
of the dam, from the lips Of John
G.. Parke, jr., a civil engineer who
was engaged on the ground Of the
South Fork Club:
"On Thursday night the dam
was in perfect condition, and the
water was not within seven feet OF
the top. At that stage the lake is
nearly three miles long. II rained
very hard Thursday night. When
| got up Friday morning could
see there was flood, for the water
In the lake had risen until It was
only four feet below The top OF the
dam. | rode up TO the head Of the
lake and saw that the woods were
boiling full of water. SOu'h Fork
and Muddy Run. which emptied
into the lake, were fetching down
trees, logs, cut timber, and stun
from saw mill that was up in the
woods in that direction. About
1880 o'clock twenty two Italians
and q number of farmers set TO
work on the dam. A plough was
run along the top and earth was
thrown in the face of the dam to
strengthen il. At the same time a
channel was dug on the west end
of the dam to make a sluIceway
there. There was about three feet
of shale rock through which it was
possible to cut, but then we struck
bed rock that it was impossible to
get into without blasting. When
We got the channel opened, the
water soon secured down TO the
bed rock, and stream twenty
feet wide and three deep rushed
out on that end of the dam, while
the weir was letting an enormous
quantity on the other end. Not
wthstanding these outlets. the
water kept rising at the rate OF
about ten inches an hour.
"By 1870 1 had made mp my
mind that it was impossible to save
the dam, and getting on my horse,
| gallOped down the road TO south
Fork to warn the people OF their
danger. The telegraph tower is a
mile from town, and | sent two
men there TO have messages sent to
JohnstOwn and other points below.
| heard that the lady operator
tainted when she sent OIL the news,
and had to be carried off. The
people at South Fork had ample
time to get to the high grounds,
and they were able 10 move their
furniture, too. In fact, only one
person was drowned at South Fork,
and he while attempting to fish
something from the flood as it
rolled by. IL was just II o'clock
when the telegraph messages were
sent out, so that the people of
JohnstOwn had over three hours
warning.
"AsI rode back TO the dam |
expected almost every moment 10
meet the lake coming down on ne,
but the dam was still intact, al.
though the water had reached the
top. At about | o'clock the water
was three inches deep on It, and
was gradually eating away the
earth 90 the outer face. As the
stream rolled down the outer face
1t kept wearing down the edge OF
the embankment, and ! saw it WAS
merely a question of time. At a
rough guess | should say that there
we're O,000,00 tons of water in
the lake, and the pressure OF that
mass of water was Increased by
floods from two streams pouring
into it. The friction of the water
pouring over the dam gradually
| NOIo IL away nun tho buA'i i"N'
until the top became so thin that
it gave way.
"The break took place at q
O'Clock. 1t was about ten feet
wide at first aud shallow, but II
grew wider with increasing rapid
ity, and the lake went roaring
down the valley. That three miles
of water was drained ont in forty
five minutes. The downfall OF
those millions Of tons was simply
irresistible. Stones from the dam
aud bOulders in the river bed were
carried for miles. Trees went
down like you might cut a mullen
stalk with a swish Of your cane.
"The dam was made of about
half earth and half rock. The riT
rapping was merely a skin on each
face with more or less loose sprauls
mixed with the earth. The dam
was - feet above water, and u
feet wide on top. Rock throughout
was about one foot below surface