Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1890-02-28
ANOTHER BIG DAM BURSTS.
FORTY LIVES LOST AND MILLIONS
OF PROPERTY DESTROYED.

acrOss haSra"dulpl hlV"f by the
Walnut GROVE Wac. Storage
Company TWO years ago at a cost
of 100000 gave way ,esterda,
morning under great Pressure. Of a
heavy food AID swept cyervrbinc
before it. Forty persant are
known to have lost their lives. A
the town of Wickeubnrg. thirtv
miles below the dam, was on The
same stream, great fears are enter
tanned for the safety of that town
but as there is no teIegraphic com.
munlcation no news has yet been
Obtalnable OF its fac. The ser.
vice dam OF the company. fifteen
miles below the reservoirs. and
10 miles of hume inst approaching
completion, were also swept awae
although the company has spent
over $500, 900 on the ENTERPRISE ~
steering the water. The bydrsnlic
mining machine had arrived and
they expected to commence opera.
atoms next week.
The dam which held the waters
back was ITO feet thick at the base
and 400 feet at the top. 1t was
ITO feet thick at the base and ton
feet at the top, forming a lake
three miles in length bv tbraa.
fourths OF a mile wide, and 40
feet deep. Lieut.. Brodie, In charge
of the WORK, was absent at Pbpnix
experimenting the shipment of
the machinery to the works, and
was saved.
Not the slightest doubt had
been entertained of the safety of
the dam, and numerous houses
hal been erected by miners at
various places along the course of
the stream. These were unified
by the raging waters as though
they had been cOrks, and aoated
down stream until they dashed to
pieces.
The first iutination of the an.
palling disaster was a sound re-.
sembling thunder, and at the same
instant perpendicular wall of
water fully fifty feet high came
rushing down the narrow valley
with almost incredible speed.
Fortunately there were but com.
paratlvely few people living near
the bottom Of the hillsides, and of
these Ofa large number were warn.
ed by the awful sound and escaped
to higher ground.
The valley widens above Wick.
enburg, and much OF the town lies
upon the lowlands close TO the
course Of the stream, and it Is al.
most certain that the vast body of
water which rushed out of the
reservoir has carried away
many houses at that place.
1t is believed here that full.
~ as many people were
drowned there as immedi.
ately below the dam. The
ruined dam Is cut from the top al.
most to the bottom, as though a
section had been dragged out, and
the water above is only few feet
deep.
Heavy rains have fallen for sew
eral days, and on Friday night 1t
was apparent that the water in
the lake was approaching the dan
ger line. The rain continued
throughout the night, aud early
yesterday morning the water rose
to the top OF the dam and cut
small passage near the centre,
which rapidly widened and deep
ened as the water poured over it,
until III less than twenty minutes
the little stream had become a
cataract.
Ino storage company Is blamed
for not having provided a sufficient
outlet for the water IN times OF
danger. The only wag Of letting
Of water was through the 6ume,
and this afforded no appreciable
relief. This is the first of the
great storage reservoirs projected
in the territory and 1t is believed
today's disaster will operate to
discourage the construction OF
similar dams.
No further news has yet reach.
ed here OF the loss of lie or the
damage caused by the break of the
Walnut Grove dam. Arthur Allen,
formerly in the enterprise, and
John Mcdonald, owner of the Blue
Dick mine, have just returned
from the DozOris Divide, fourteen
miles south of the town, from
where a view of the dam could be
had. Wash Waterway could be
plainly seen with their powerful
glasses high upon the side of the
cliff, while the break in the stone
work of the dam was also plainly
seen.
The break in the dam is sloped
to the eastward, leaving thu i'm.
preston that the main break was
on the east side. There can be no
accurate estimate of the loss of
life yet or of property, but the lat
ter will reach into the millions,
while th G loss OF lie, will, without
doubt, be great, as many OF
the families were living very
near the stream in the mar.
row canOns. AS the wires are now
down near prescott Junction, 1t is
hardly probable that any addition.
al information will be received to-
night.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. %
Engineer Luther Wagner today
gave a reporter sone details of the
construction of the dan, which
show that this disaster, like that
at Johnstown, was due to the