Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-06-08
THE Great FLOOD !!
MAY 80 And 81, And JUNE |, 1889.
HIGH WATER DESTROYS PROPERTY
AND DAMAGES CROPS.
NOMAILS and NO TRAINS
Bridges Gone, Tracks Washed.

At no time and at no place are life
and property longer secure. People
have been accustomed to reading of
great storms and floods in other places
and countries, and feeling as if such
misfortunes could not or at least would
not disturb the sense ofsafety and i'm
munity that under providence has
been guarding our lives and homes
from danger. AS long as the stricken
section is far distant, and the people
who have been afflicted with loss and
death are strangers to us, we read Of
calamities by fire, water and wind
with but passing pang ofsorrow and
sympathy, and realize very little the
extent of the suffering and destruc.
ton visited upon our fellow-men in
other parts of the country.
Not only do fatalities seem to be
on the increase everywhere, but 1889
shows disturbing element in nature
that is seen and felt in earthquakes,
cyclones and floods, alarming in their
violence and results.
The people of Martinsburg had
hardly revived from the shock of the
cyclone ut Falling Waters Thursday
afternoon of last week, in which two
lives were lost, when the greatest
food ever known here burst upon
them. The rain began Thursday
morning, May S0th, and poured down
all afternoon and night, and all day
Friday, 9lst, accompanied now and
then with thunder. From Friday
evening at six o'clock to eleven at
night, the rain came down in torrents,
some aged citizens saying they failed
to remember a heavier or steadier
downfall. The streets were covered
with water. Sharp flashes of light
ming lit up the darkness of night, and
heavy peals of thunder made the cir
cult Of the heavens.
The fire-bell rang near midnight as
an alarm that the water was high,
and when Saturday morning dawned
the work of destruction along the
Tuscarora was greater than ever
known before.
Early Saturday morning citizens
were out viewing the wrecks and aid
ing in saving what property could be
reached. Commencing where the
Tuscarora enters town fences and
bridges were taken, the stream spread
out, damned up, and washed wide
and deep. Mr.. Parks mill and the
Distillery were not much injured,
though the water got in on the lower
floors. Mr.. Stewards fine yard was
badly washed and damaged. The
bridge this side of the Distillery resist
ed while but must have given away
about 8 O'Clock in the evening.
MR.. FRAzER's BEAUTIFUL YARD
RUINED.
Mr.. H. A. Frazer's family were sit
ting on the porch before bed time Fri
day night, expecting high water but
not such flood, when low rumbling
was heard and dark object seen ap-
preaching on the water. The cry at
once arose, 1.-THE bridge is coming"
and Immediately it was upon them,
lodging against the foot-bridge to
their yard, which with break and a
tear it soon cleared away and piled
mass of obstruction against the stone
bridge of the street. The water
then spread out, and seeing it come
up to the porch Mr.. ]. G. Frazer
caught hold of carpets and furniture
and succeeded in getting the most of
it on the second story, when the water
came in below. 1t was as high as a
chair on the porch and over two feet
in the parlors, reaching around the
entire house, flooding the stable, tear
ing up the garden and fencing, and
piling mass of lumber and bridge
timbers twenty feet high in the yard.
Nearly fifty men and carts were kept
at work Saturday clearing away the
rubbish. The house near the bridge
was also badly flooded and the yard
and backbuildings swept by the water.
Mr.. Frazer's loss will reach $500.
THE WORST LOSS AT FITS.
From the stone bridge the water
reached in one vast sheet down against
Fitz's Mill and Foundry. There was
no outlet for the great body of water.
1t spread on both sides, over Miller's
lumber yard and up to the coal bins,
and on the other side up to Fitz's
mill, almost AS high as the first floor,
damaging it is said several thousand
bushels of wheat. Fitz's foundry was
full of water up nearly as high as the
lower windows, and the powerful
current being concentrated there into
narrow channel it made clean
sweep through the store house and
under the office, rendering the build
ing insecure and undermining the
pavements so that notices were put up
warning the people to keep off.
Across from FItz's foundry is two
story frame house in which Mr.. Engle-
hart and Mr.. Easton lived. Half of
the foundation supports were swept
away and the house seems ready to
fall. The first story was all under
water, and the people had to remove,
saving most all of their furniture. The
loss to Mr.. Fitz and the Crane Ma
chine Works is from $4,000 to $1,000.
1t will stop the works for awhile and
necessitate extensive repairs. The
lumber and drift-wood almost walled
the building in.
The B. & o. arched bridges stood
the pressure we'll, and there is no
damage along the shops. The flood
gate back of the shops was swept