Telegram-herald., 1890-02-25
APPALLING.
A Death Dealing Torrent Sweeps
through an Arizona Valley.
IoHssrOuyS DISASTER REPEATED.
a 64zs Esssrsoiz sarsts snd Forty Per-
ssas are s~ld - n@ss bssa Drs~zsa
-Y.<iO@s ExPlss1sns ALL
Number Of People.

1kHAt AD1s " LIZ
PEEscorr, A. T Feb. 2s-The .ns,
laFgs storage sam bgiit across me Has
sayamps River by the walnut Grove
Water Storage Company two years ago
AZ cost Of ssoo, ooo gave way Saturday
morning a. o'clock under the great
pressure OF heavy food and swept
every thing before IL No definite news
of TIA disaster las yet reached this
place. Al that has been learned
10 tAas forty persons we're drowned
BY the giving way OF tho large
storage dam built across HsssayamPa
sivsr by the Walnut Storage Company.
Is u feared thai disaster has visited
WiekeRb0rg, thirty miles below the
dam, aud that many lives have been
lost Ths service dam OF the company,
located tftssn miles below the ressr-
voirs, and hftesn miles of hume just ap-
proAching completion, were also sweps
away. OF those known TO be drowned
wers:
Haines Mr.. J. Haines. four children Of
Ar sss Mrs. Halnes. II. Boone, t~o daughters
Of n Boone John SiIoy, Joseph Reynolds. Mrs.
Mccarthy snt l. NcAilAn.
$500, 900 on the enterprise OF steering
water, the expensive works were swept
away like so much chan, and nothing IN
the course OF the torrent offered more
than momentary resistance.
The dam which held the waters back
was 10 feet long at the base and 400
feet az the top. and was 10 feet thick
AZ the base and ten feet at che top, form
ing lake three miles in length by
three-fourshs OF a mile wide and 10
feet deep. Not the slightest doubt had
been entertained OF the safety OF the
dam, and numerous houses had been
erected by miners at various places
along the course Of the stream These
were upliited by raging waters as
though they had been corks and ioated
down stream until they were dashed to
pieces
The first intimstion OF the disaster
was a sound resen 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 il 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 small passage
near the center, which rapidly widened
and deepened as the water poured over
10, until In less than twenty minutes the
little stream had become aragingtorrent
The valley widens above Wicken-
burg, and much OF the town lies upon
the lowlands close 10 the course of the
stream, and IL is almost certain that
the vast body OF water which rushed out
OF the reservoir has carried away many
houses st that place. IL is believed
here that fully as many people were
drowned there as Immediately below
the dam.
A courier who brought kilograms 70
the owners Of the Walnut Grove dam,
notifying them of their loss. arrived
about 9 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 been
recovered and identified when he
left The distance 70 the storage dam
from Prescott by the shortest trail is
forty miles, while the service dam,
where the employees were located, is fif-
teen miles further downstream. Ad
jutant-General O'Neil has started for
the scene OF the disaster with two sur
geons 10 care for the sufferers and TO
superiutend the burial of the dead.
The storage company is blamed for
not having a sufficient outlet for tho
water in times of danger. The only
way Of letting of water was through the
fume. snd this afforded no appreciable
relief This is the first of the great
storage reservoirs projected in the Ter
ritory. and IL is believed this disaster
will operate to discourage the construc-
ton Of similar dams.
PHGSfx A. T., Feb. 24-The news
of the break in the Walnut Grove Com
pany's reservoir was received here by a
messenger. whose horse dropped dead
as he entered town. The courier says
the VALLEY below the dam for miles was
swept clean. Immense rocks were car
ried away as though they had been
chips There are many prospectors in
the country. and this fact makes IL i'm
possible 90 even estimate how many
are lost. As a rule they are in the low
lands. and would be swept out of
existence without a moments warning
The messenger was some distance below
ths dam when IL broke, being in a side
gulch. bat he says that from the sound
the most n tho huge fabric must have
given vay before the millions Of tons Of
ratsr almost simultaneously. There
Vas a. awful crash that seemed TO
shatter TIA air. followed by surg
ing and roaring as though 4 hundred
Nisgarss we're tearing their way
through a mighty mountain range. He
ran Immediately 50 the top OF the hill.
whers .he valley was visible. and b. de-
scribes ths scsrs "a something awful
The valley was filed with fosm-capped
water .hss seethsd and bubblsd "a IL
spread itself over the valley and into
The side canyons. Where he saw the
valley the water was . mile wide and
not less than ffty feet deep. Monster
srses wers cut % by the rocks and water
ike reeds Nothing living vas visible.
MsvT KILLED AND ISJUREo.
OMAHA. Neb. Feb. "a Three men
we're killed outright seven others 20
bsdlT injured that they vii probably ?
T de and many more Burned Or wounded
h7 an explosion Saturday morning a.
I the south Omaha paokinz-house ~
Armour & Cudahy Greas hoies wers