The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-11-21
Tales of Disaster by the Flood
Still Pouring In.
DuwAMlsH sHvALLEYAoREAT LAKE
Rain, Snow, Wind and Tide Combine
to Break All Flood Records.
All the Railroads ParaIyzed by Slides
and Washouts-Cedar Rivers Sudden
Rise-Three Train Wrecks and Two
Men Drowned-Bridges in Danger.

Fuller particulars of the food which be-
gan on Friday night show it to have ex-
tended from the Sound to the eastern
foothills of the Cascade mountains, and to
have been the worst in the memory
of man red or white - living on
the Sound. The whole Duwamish
valley is great lake, the
farmers have been driven from their homes
in that and the tributary valleys to the
high lands; the Northern Pacific road is
cut into segments by the washing out
of the Stuck bridge, the Green river
bridge and bridge on the Gle
Elum, where construction train
was wrecked. The Great Northern
is in a similar fix, with two and one
half miles of track under water and long
trestie washed out, while the longest
bridge on the main line is still in peril;
the Columbia e. Puget Sound is blockaded
by landslides and whshouts; the Seattle 81
Northern is washed out and both its en-
gines have gone into the water, with the
loss of one of their firemen; the
Lake Shore gets off easily with one wash
out at Blackman, and is the only road
running trains on something like schedule
time. The Duwamish county bridge is Ii
able to go out at any moment, having n
thirty-acre jam pressing against 1t. Such
are the salient points of the great flood of
1892, with more returns to come in.
Instead of falling, as was expected, the
great flood in the White and Duwamish
river valleys and their tributaries con-
tinued to rise yesterday, and the whole
district from Van ASSET on the north to
the Stuck on the south is one great sea.
The ground floor of every farm house
is under water varying in depth
from a few inches to foot or two;
cattle have been driven to the foothills;
the railroads have suspended operation;
the telegraph lines were down the greater
part of the day and boats and canoes are
the only sure means of communication.
The rivers to the north of here are falling
and incoming trains bring reports of fur
ther damage to the railroads. This is the
worst and most disastrous flood ever
known on Puget sound.
All the elements seem to have combined
to aggravate the evil. The heavy rain of
Wednesday and Thursday was accom-
panied by snow in the mountains to the
depth of four or five feet. This was fol-
lowed by strong Chinook gale from the
southwest, accompanied by rain in the
mountains which melted the snow and
brought it down in a deluge. The gale
caused an unusually high tide which
backed up the flood water in the rivers.
and thus the immense volume overfiowed
into the bottoms. The melting of the
snow accounts for the continued rise of
the waters yesterday, for the freshets from
the head waters of the rivers were only
just coming down.
The worst part of the flood is in the
White and Duwamish valleys, for these
streams are swollen by the Cedar pouring
its volume through the Black river, and
by the Green river. The whole valley
drained by this network of rivers is one
| vast sea, ten to fifteen feet Deep and ex-
tending in width from the ridge on the
west to Renton on the east, a distance of
ten miles, and from Black river junction
for miles to the south, distance
of over twenty-five miles. Every
stream is pouring its volume of water in
to this sea, bringing with it logs. trees.
fence rails, hop poles, roofs of houses and
barns. drowned stock and wreckage of
| every description. The stock were driven
or swan to the high ground or the foot
hills and food was carried to them by boats
or RATS. The Duwamish. filling the whole
valley and rushing along at the rate of
ten miles an hour, carried down a floating
mass of debris, two frame houses passing
the junction at $3.50 in the afternoon
After remaining stationary for short time.
about 8 o'clock in the morning it began to
| rise again and rose all day at the rate of
three inches an hour. Frank Kimball had
a large force of men hard at work all day.
trying to hold the threatened break in the
dixie at the head of the Duwamish farm, one
mile north of Black River junction. but
| late in the afternoon the river broke
through and about 500 feet of the dixie
went out, through which a raging torrent
Of water is now rushing, flooding the
| whole county to the north.
Renton was under six feet of water and
all the residents had to take to their upper
stories. On Saturday night the water
broke through the leevee on the bank of
Black river to the farm of Dr. o. Z. AS
kan, miie and half east of the Juno
ton, and rapidly rose until at / O'Clock in
the afternoon there were three inches of
water on the floor. Mrs. Askam and her
1S-months-old boy and her parents,
Mr.. and Mrs. J. H. Rengstorff.
were at the farm and took to the upper
story. The child had been seriously ill
with pneumonia for the last three weeks.
and Mrs. Askam telegraphed TO the doc
tor. He chartered a special train on the
Northern Pacific road and went out to
bring them in. The house is close to the
Belt line track, and the family was brought
in boat to the train and returned to the
city about 3 O'Clock. Conductor Long said
| of what he saw:
The whole valley is under water from
| Renton west. | pulled hog out of the
water near Belt line junction, and laid
| him on the bank. The farmers were
swimming their stock To the high ground.
and there were little punches of them on
| every knoll. Two canoe loads Of Indians
! came down White river with two beaver
| some rabbits and a lot of cabbage which
| they had picked up in the water. On Sat
| urday night Chinarnan got off the train
/ at Christopher; we heard a yell and a
| splash and that was the last we knew of
him; he must have waded right into the
water
Fred Gasch. the county Commissioners
| returned last night from the Duwamish
river bridge. where he had been working
| all Saturday night and ali yesterday trv-
ing 10 save the bridge by blasting the
| great jam which had collected against il.
He said Of the situation there:
I'VE cleared away the jam as far as we
could, but the drift is continually coming
| down in great masses OF a quarter TO half
| an acre, so that II was impossible TO keen
up with H. There are about thirty acres of il