Los Angeles daily herald., 1890-02-28
THE SCENE OF DISASTER.
A Graphic Description of the Flood
by Survivor.


THE SCENE OF DISASTER.
A Graphic Description of the Flood
By u Survivor.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD
PRESCOTT, Ariz., February 27.-The
second courier to the Journal Miner ar
rived late this afternoon from where the
dam which caused such disaster used
to be. The roads are sill in such bad
condition that it is almost impossible to
travel them. The courier interviewed
Captain Hunt, recently of the United
States army, who was on watch with
Superintendent Brown when the dam
gave away. He stated that the water
had been rising at the rate of foot and
half an hour all day Friday, and all
the men that could be secured, about
twenty in all, had been employed in
blasting the waste waterway to increase
it's capacity. All the other gates for
allowing the escape of water were wide
open. Even after the water reached the
waste waterway, the bottom of which is
several feet lower than the top of the
dam, there was no perceptible decrease
IN the rise of the water.
HOW THE WATER WENT OUT.
At 9 o'clock it commenced to 90 over
the top. and by midnight sheet of water
three feet deep was pouring over il.
Captain Hunt said the sign of the break
was the swapping of the large steel cable
connecting the tower in the middle of
the dam with the bank. This occasioned
loud report, and he said it seemed as if
ball of fire was shot from it. At first
Superintendent Brown and himself, who
were standing on the bank within
twenty feet of the water, thought some
giant powder had exploded. The next
instant the tower tottered, and it seemed
as if the entire dam, containing 10000
tons of rock, all moved bodily at oncs.
The roar of the waters and the grinding
of the boulders was perfectly deafening.
SAVED BY HIS HAIR.
F. M. Packer, a placer miner, living
about mile below the dam, has long
hair reaching away down on his shout
ders, to which he says he owes his life.
When the roof of his cabin, to which he
was clinging, foated into the tide, his
hair caught in some bushes, and unlike
Absalom's long hair, proved the means
of saving him instead of causing his
death.
The messenger sent to warn those at
the lower dam, and who failed to do so
on account of getting drunk, has not
been seen since
THE STORY OF A SURVIVOR.
The first of the survivors to arrive in
Prescott was this afternoon, when John
Hardee, Ed Davis and w. M. Russell
came in, all of them being more or less
bruised and skinned from climbing q
steep hill among the cactus and sharp
rocks, to escape the food. John Hardee
gave his experience as follows: "1 was
camped on Barren creek, in tent with
three others; went to bed at 10. Some
time after midnight was awaken ed by
deafening roar, when jumped out of
bed and yelled at the others: The dam
has broken get up and run for your lives. ,
We were all dressed only in our under.
clothes. Under my pillow were nv
pants with about 5000 in the pockets, and
my vest containing two fine gold watches,
but l had no time to stop for either. We
all ran as fast as we could for high
ground. AsI reached little rise 1 fell
down, when the water struck me, but l
managed to ruiz on my hands and knees
for quite distance, when got up again
and, looking around, saw a wave at least
gone. The distance between the bluffs
at this point is about 200 yards. and the
water filed this space sixty feet deep.
THE BOONE FAMILY's EXPERIENCE.
"Ihe first person saw was Tom Boone,
who had his little sister in his arms,
having carried her from their tent and
saving her life. Mrs. Boone came up
and said her husband had been lost.
He had been the first one to hear the
coming of the avalanche of water and
had awakened the others. While he was
still in the tent the boy (Tom) rushed out
OF the tent, and, seeing his little sister,
grabbed her in his arms and ran, his
mother following. When Mr.. Boone
came out, not knowing that the girl was
safe, he went around the tent to look for
her instead of running direct to the hill,
and in doing 80 was overtaken and
drowned. Mrs. Boone was knocked
down and narrowly escaped being thrown
into the food Her daughter, aged IA,
who started with her, was lost.
HUGE BoULDERs WASHED AWAY.
ga huge boulder. weighing hundreds
of tons, in front of our tent, was swept
away, and next day l went down the
creek five miles in search of bodies and
saw no trace of it. At the upper dam
the ompany had twenty horse power
upright boiler and engine that had been
used in running sawmill, and not even
a bolt in it WAS to be found. AS far
down the stream as Wickenburg, thirty
miles below, some lumber had been left
on high bluff near the lower dam
which was not reached by the water.
Coffins are being made of this and then
foated down stream to where the
bodies are found The latter are being
buried where found.
MUTILATED CORPsEs.
"The bodies found have all been badly
mutilated, some even beyond recogni-
ton, excepting that of the little two
year.old baby of Mr.. Haynes. 1t was
found at Wickenburg, thirty miles below
where the family we're when the water
struck them and swept them all out of
existence. This little baby when found
was perfectly nude, but beyond few
small scratches was without marks, and
looked as peaceful and calm as though
asleep. Thirty-seven bodies in all have
been recovered"
The survivors who have arrived speak
in terms Of praise OF Adjutsnt- General |