The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1890-02-27
= oE1Tn-nEALlNo TORRENT.

u 0EATh.0EAltN0 TORRENT.
Y n - si,ailara9e the Jshnatown nor.
- Occurs q Arisona-A Hinge Rsssr.
voar Olives Way-The RelsaDed waters
@ Gveep 1hroo9h = vallsy, and Forty
s PeeDona Are Thought TO Have Per-
sa 1ahea-lGeogoe Ootatls. e
lsscouT, a. r, Feb. 24.-The fine,
NJ storage dam built across the Has
Esayalnpa River by the Walnut Grove
sygaAer Storage Company two years ago
6 s cost Of $500. 900 gave way this
i pIosning ct 2. o'clock under the great
,pressnre Ola heavy flood and swept
'Svery thing before it No definite news
5o1 tho disaster has yet reached this
PLACE. All that has been learned
lls that forty persons were drowned
~ the giving way Of the largo
,storage dam built across Hassayampa
river 81 the Walnut Storage Company.
&c u feared that disaster has visited
Wickenburg, thirty miles below the
dam, and that many lives have been
lost The service dam Of the company,
located fifteen miles below the reser-
yoirs, and fifteen miles of flume Just an
preaching completion, were also swept
away. OF those known to be drowned
wore:
J. Haines, Mrs. J. Haines, four children Of
Mr. and Mrs. Haines, H. Boone, two daughters
sof = Boone, John silby, Joseph Reynolds, Mrs.
Mccarthy and l. Mcmillan. ....ks =.
Although the company has spent over
300, 900 on the enterprise of steering
Water, the expensive works were swept
Away like so much chat, and nothing in
the course of the torrent offered more
than momentary resistance.
The dam which held the waters back
WAS no feet long at the base and 400
feet OF the top, and was no. feet thick
sat tho base and ten feet at the top, form
Ink lake three miles in length by
three-fourths Of mile wide and 10
feet deep. Not the slightest doubt had
been entertained of the safety of tho
dam, and numerous houses had been
erected by miners at various places
along the course of the stream. These
were uplifted by raging waters as
though they had been corks and foated
down stream until they were dashed to
pieces. ~
The first intimation of the disaster
was = sound resem bling thunder and at
the same moment a perpendicular wall
OF water fifty feet high came roaring
down the narrow valley. Heavy rains
have fallen for several days, and it was
apparent that the water in the lake was
approaching the danger line. Early
Saturday morning the water rose to the
top of the dam and cut a small passage
near the center, which rapidly widcned
and deepened as the water poured over
1t, until in less than twenty minutes the
little stream had become ragingtorrent.
The valley widens above Wicken-
burg, and much of the town lies upon
the lowlands close to the course of the
stream, and it is almost certain that
the vast body of water which rushed out
of the reservoir has carried away many
houses at that place. 1t is believed
here that fully as many people were
drowned there as immediately below
the dam.
No estimate can yet be made concern
ing the loss OF life and property. The
damage will reach into the millions,
while the number of those who persisted
will, without doubt, be great, as many
families were living in narrow canyons
near the stream. Confirmation of the
news Of the occurrence has heightened
the excitement, and more definite in
formation is now anxiously awaited.
A courier who brought kilograms to
the owners of the Walnut Grove dam,
notifying them of their loss, arrived
about o'clock Saturday night and left
Immediately after daylight Sunday
morning. He could give but lit.
tie information further than to
report that five bodies had beer
recovered and identified when he
left The distance to the storage dam
from Prescott by the shortest trail il
forty miles, while the service dam,
where the employees wero located, is fif.
teen miles further downstream. Ad.
jutant-General O'Neil has started fol
the scene of the disaster with two sur
geons to care for the sufferers and ia
superintend the burial of the dead.
The storage company is blamed fol
not having sufficient outlet for the
water in times of danger. The only
way of letting off water was through the
flume, and this afforded no appreciable
relief. This is the first of the great
storage reservoirs projected in the Tor
ritory, and it is believed this disaster
will operate to discourage the construc