San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-07-31
HOW PRICES DAM WENT OUT.

A Wall of Water Thirty Feet High
Roaring Down a Nevada Ravine.
From the Casson Appeal.
On Sunday afternoon, July 6, at
about a quarter of five o'clock, Prices
reservoir, at the foot OF Slide Noun
tain, burst, and the water rushing
down the canon, submerged the V.
and II. track st Franktown, causing q
delay of the passenger train, which
returned to Carson for the night.
A convulsion Of nature had left q
hollow place that was utilized by w.
E. Price as site for water storage.
He turned mountain stream into the
depression and damned the lower
end. This gave him a lake three
miles long, half q mile wide and sew
enty-five feet deep. Below this he
made another reservoir, covering
about five acres of land, with the wa
ter fifteen feet deep. These two res
from the V. and T. track at all eleva-
ton OF about 1000 feet.
Leading from the reservoirs is ra-
vine, through which flume runs.
The fume was used for f1uming ice
and water from the reservoirs. Mr..
Prices is at the foot of the flume, and
here are his barns, residence and ice
houses. The improvements and res
ervoirs are valued at SOS, 900.
Some of PRICES men were in the
ravine at work on the flume when
they heard roar like train of cars
coming. AS they looked up the raw
inc they saw wall of water thirty
feet high and 100 feet across coming
down the ravine. From base to crest
it was as white as marble and at the
summit it carried load of logs and
boulders. ...
There were three men in the ravine
at a point where the sides were too
steep to climb, and the only means of
escape was down the path about 300
yards. The instant the wall of water
flashed in sight at the turn of the
ravine, they dropped everything and
fled down the rocky path. The water
was several hundred yards away but
gaining at a fearful pace. There was
a narrow point in its path where the
rocks jutted out from the sides. Here
Ii paused for few seconds, as the &C
emulation of logs and boulders was
caught in the jam, but the weight of
water piled up behind soon amounted
to thousands of tons, and with a
crash the temporary obstruction fell
away, and the water cleared a hun
dred feet at one leap. The three
men who were just ahead were
nephews of Price, and they think
that this temporary checking of the
downward sweep of the flood saved
their lives. They reached q point
where they could climb to higher
ground, and they barely did so when
the water shot past them with a
rush and only few feet below them.
Reaching the hill they tried to sound
the alarm to those below, but were
too far away.
At this point, however, band of
gypsies, and one who had a fast horse
was sent down to warn Price of his
danger. He had to 60 q roundabout
way OF about two miles, and reached
the ranch too late to be of any service.
Price, however, had seen the water
coming, and got his family out OF the
house in time. The foot of the ravine
is about half mile from the house,
and the water spread out as
soon as it ceased to be con-
fined, spreading over about twenty
five acres of land. 1t swept away the
barn, rose above the lower floors of
the house, went through the Ice house
and covered the railroad track with
debris for about 500 yards. The down
passenger train, which contained an
extra quota of ladies and children en-
route to Reno to attend some school
exercises, was delayed until nearly
midnight when all efforts to clear the
track failed and the train returned to
Carson.