St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1890-02-27
NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Death of Prof. e. n. ouiubv,

| Prof Elihu I. Quimby, for many
years prominent in New HAMPSHIRE
educational affairs, died at his SON S
home in New York yesterday morn
ing. Prof. Quimby was born in Dan
vile, n. H., in 1926, and graduated
at Dartmouth in 1851. He was
principal of Appleton academy. New
Ipswich, from 1851 to 1864. He
was made professor of mathematics
| in Dartmouth college in 1864 and
| held the position till 1878. He had
charge for many years of the United
New Hampshire.
Death of John Jacob Aston.
John Jacob Astor, the head of the
Astor family, died in New York Sat
urday morning. He was 6S years
old and grandson of John Jacob AS
tor who came from Germany in 1888
without a dollar in his pocket. The
latter began business at So a week
and left his descendants $4,000, 900.
The great secret of the Astor family
fortune has been in buying real es-
tate and holding it. The policy of
the family has been to hand down
their property intact from genera
ton to generation. So in 1888
John Jacob Astor decided all his
property to his only son, William
Waldorf Astor, who has been
prominent as minister to Italy and
an author Mr. Astor had been
vestryman of Trinity church for
many years. He served on Gen. Nc
Clellan' staff, and he made merito-
rious record during the civil war.
He took great interest in the library
founded by his grandfather. In
1879 he presented the library with
three lots adjoining Astor library,
and built an addition, as we'll as
raised the main building one story.
This gift to the library amounted to
over 100000. He was noted for
his public and private charities
Another Dam Breaks Away.
The large storage dam built across
the HassayamOa river near Prescott,
Arizona, by a syndicate, two years
ago, at q cost of 100000, gave way
Saturday under the great pressure of
the heavy food and swept every
thing before it. The loss of life is
about thirty. The dam was 40 feet
long at the base and 400 feet at the
base and 10 feet at the top, forming
q lake three miles in length by three
fourths of mile wide and 40 feet
deep. The dam was considered per-
fectly safe, 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
floated down stream until they were
dashed to pieces. The first inti1na-
ton of the appalling disaster was
sound resembling thunder and at the
same instant perpendicular wall of
water fully so feet high came rushing
down the narrow valley with almost
incredible speed. Fortunately there
were but comparatively few people
living near the bottom of the hillside
and of these large number were
warned by the awful sound and es-
capped to higher ground. Heavy
rains had fallen for several days, and
Friday night it was apparent that
the water in the lake was approach
ing the danger line The rain con-
tinued through the night, and early
Saturday morning the water rose to
the top of the dam and cut a small
passage near the centre, which rapid
ly widened and deepened as the wa
tiers poured over it. In less than
twenty minutes the little stream had
become a roaring cataract. The
storage company is blamed for not
providing a sufficient outlet for the
water in times of danger