Morning journal and courier., 1890-02-24
FROM ALL QUARTERS. ANOTHER DAM BURSTS And A Large Number Of
 Lives Are Lost. A STORY OF lNFANTIcIDE. A Vote To Be Taken On The
 Fair Site To-day. EXPLOITS OF A BOLD RoBBER Students In A Western Town
 Have A Row.
A STORY OF lNFANTIcIDE.
EXPL0ITS OF A BOLD RoBBER
THE WALL GAVE AWAY

And the Contents of a Lake Poured
 Forth-Houses Carried Away-The
 Damage Reaches Up In the MilIiOns-
 Heavy Rains Cut a Passage in the
 Center of the Dam-Telegraph Wires
 Down and Particulars Meagre.
 PRESCOTT, Ar, Feb. 23.-The dam which burst yesterday and caused so great loss of life was considered perfectly safe and numer- ous 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 hoated down stream until they were dashed to pieces. The first intimation of the appalling disaster was a sound resembling thunder, and at the same instant perpendicular wall of water fully fifty feet high came rushing down the narrow valley with almost incredible speed. Fortu- nately there were but comparatively few people living at the bottom of the hillsides and of these large number were warned by the awful sound and escaped to higher ground.
 The valley widens above Wiokenburg and much of the town lies upon the lowlands almost certain that the vast body of water which rushed out of the. reservoir has carried away many houses at that place. It is be- lieved here that fully as many people are drowned there ss immediately below the dam. The ruined dam is cut from the top almost to the bottom as though section had been dragged out and the water above is only . few feet deep.
 Heavy rains have fallen for several days and last night it was apparent that the water in the lake was approaching the danger line: [ xlc ir1k .l early this 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 it until in less than twenty minutes the little stream had become a roaring cataract. The storage company is blamed for not having provided @ sufficient outlet for the water in times of danger. The the Hume and this afforded no appreciable relief. This is the first of the great storage reservoirs projected in the territory and it is believed to. days disaster will operate to dis courage the building of similar dams.
 PRESCOTT, A. T., Feb. 23.-No definite news has been had as to the loss of life or damage caused by the break yesterday of the Walnot Grove dam. The damage will reach into millions while the loss of life, without were living near the stream in the narrow canons.
 The wires are now down near Prescott Junction and 1t is hardly possible that addi. tional information will be received tonight. A courier who brought kilograms for the | owners of the Walnut Grove dams notifying them of their loss arrived about o'clock last night and left immediately after day. l light this morning. He could give but few particulars further than to report the num- Der of the missing, five bodies having beer recovered and identified when he left. The distance to the storage dam from Prescott bJ the shortest trail is forty miles, while thu | service dam, where employees were located, if fifteen miles further down the stream. Imms | diately on the receipt of the ne xs here Adju. tant General O'Neil started for the scene o l the disaster with two surgeons to care for thu sufferers and to superintendent the burial O
 the lower dam and ss the road does no come by the upper dam 1t was only sur
 missed that it had given away on account O
 the immense quantity of water. A nor hopeful feeling exists this evening on accoun
 of no news being received direct that thu
 upper dam had given way. It is now hoped
 that the reservoir is still intact and tn
 flood was caused by opening of the gate to relieve 1t from the threatening danger.
 SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Feb. 23.-Enginee
 Luther Wagner to day gave some details o
 the construction of the great storage dan
 across the Hsssayampa river, which show
 that this disaster, like that at Johnstown Pa., was due to carelessness and mean
 ness of the New York corporation that bull
 it. Mir. Wagner was called in to report ol
 the dam year and half ago. It was t
 have been faced with stone fourteen fee
 thick at the base and four feet at the top
 and filled with loose rock and made water
 tight with wooden sheathing. It was hal
 done when MT. Wagner inspected it. and h
 found that the stone had been file
 in carelesslY and was high in the center
 making the structure unstable. The juno tion of shesthing and bedrock was in 1 tended to be secured by thick layers of Port
 land cement, but this work was not we , done because of the cost of getting cemer to tho works. Thus a dangerous orevic was formed at the base of the dam and leak age was heavy, being 1.41 inches, wit , seventy feet of water in the dam. The lun Der was also full of knot holes. Wagne
 advised the discharge of the contractors an
 engineers as he regarded them as worthless
 but this was not done. The company, how
 ever, acting on his advice strengthened tt weak places. Wagner warned them that u
 dam would be unsafe unless some of the wo,
 was gone over and rectifed, but they woul mt 1icfan him