The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-03-13
Current News.
swept by Floods.

southern California in years, and the
damage and destruction caused has
been found TO be general throughout
the southern portion OF the coast.
Bridges were washed away, orchards
flooded, houses washed down stream,
rivers changed their courses and cut
new channels through valuable agri-
cultural land and a number OF people
were drowned. The downpour was
accompanied by heavy windstorm,
something remarkable and heretofore
unknown.
At Duarte family named Wells,
recent arrivals from Iowa, started 70
seek safe place when the flood came
upon them about 6 o'clock Monday
evening. For three hours the husband
and wife struggled to keep themselves
ard their child above water, but at
last their strength gave out and they
were drowned. The bodies OF two
Mexieans were recovered at Duarte.
It is supposed they fioated down from
Azusa.
The Santa Fe bridge one mile and a
quarter from Duarte gave way, and
with the accumulated debris created
dam which turned the water into
Duarte. At Compton rancher while
driving some cattle to safe point
and while fording the river was car
ried of from the back of his horse
and lost.
At Downey the flood was so great
that many residents were Obliged TO
take 10 the roofs OF their houses, and
number OF them were washed away.
The work of the storm in the vicinity
of Downey is something terrific to
contemplate. On Monday afternoon
Joseph Gilbert Of Laguna, with sew
eral employees of the ranch, succeeded
in building a boat and were just in
time to rescue Mrs. Grider from
drowning. They had no sooner got
the lady out of the house than il
parted in the middle and went floating
down the river.
The new and old San Gabriel rivers
broke from their course and flooded
the country, sweeping everything in
their path.
At Yuma late Saturday night fears
began Of trouble from the rise in Gila
river, which empties into the Colorado
near town. The work OF strengthen
ing the levee at once began and was
continued with energy Sunday morn
ing. The levee was old and weak.
No work had been done. on it since
the flood of 1884. At noon Sunday the
best-informedc citizens said that every
body must go to work. All men were
pressed into service.
The river kept rising rapidly at the
rate of foot an hour. Shortly after
noon the convicts in the penitentiary
the efforts OF the citizens redoubled.
At O'Clock the leading merchants
said the levee must surely go, and
began banking up in front of their
stores. On Main street the work was
suspended, and the people in the
threatened districts began moving to
higher ground.
The levee broke about 4 o'clock.
Within an hour and half the town
was under water A hastily con-
structed levee on the west side of
Main street stopped further spread.
Sacks of -four, bran and meal We're
taken from the stores and piled up
with the dirt to form the levee. The
houses of the town are mostly adobe.
The air was filed with the noise of
falling walls and the screams ofwomen
an children. Houses went down,
melting like sugar, the water ten feet
deep in places. Many people had no
time to get out their furniture and
lost all. One hundred houses were
ruined One family was at supper
when the water rushed in at the doors,
and was up to their knees before they
could get out. A man in n saloon
named Gus Lee was drowned. There
was no other loss of life.
The railroad and telegraph offices
were flooded out. The levee on the
Colorado side was cut and the water
inside was thus kept from rising. The
flooded district was mostly inhabited
by Mexican families though there
were some Americans. Itcovers some
$50 acres.
Every business house was destroyed.
The loss of property and livestock
in Gila valley was immense.
There is but one bridge left whole
ON the Santa Ana river, and that is
the Santa Fe bridge on the Redlands
branch. The Southern Pacific bridge
on the Santa Ana river is partially
destroyed. The Santa Fe bridge on
the road to Riverside is gone. The
motor bridge on the line to Riverside
is gone also. The wagon bridge,
within fifty feet of the big flnme, is
gone. The flume is over 6000 feet long.
The pipe line for Riverside's domes-
tic supply of water was damaged also.
The American schoolhouse on Lytle
creek went down with the flood. Sew
eral houses and barns along Lytle
creek were washed away, and many
acres of valuable property. The
county hospital grounds were washed
away very badly.
All the families between San Ber-
nardino and Lytle creek, south of the
city, left their houses and moved into
town, some moving during the night.