The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-11-21


river had risen foot yesterday up to the
tin,eyhen left and was still rising"
AT O'Clock Black river was still rising
| at the rate of three inches an hour, and
| the water was running over the track
north OF the junction. If this rise con-
tinued washouts between there and tho
| city were likely.
Yesterdays rise in the Black and the
Duwamlsh rivers seems to have been en-
tireiy due to the freshet in Cedar river for
the following telegram from the Kent cor
respondent of the Posr-ISTELLIGEYcER
shows that the water in the White river
| has subsidized:
KENT, Nov 2o-fSpecial. The water has dis
| appeared from the streets. Little damage was
done to crossings or sidewalks The river was
considerably higher than last year. but has in
hicted less loss here and on the ranches for tho
root crops were harvested and the stock gath
! cred in, the flood being expected. The fences
have suffered, and hop poles were carried away
in some cases Many ranches were benefited by
| the flood deposits. The Kent citizens will de-
| mand aid from the county commissioners in
building levee ut the lowest point of the river
| south OF town. Kent will then be safe from
| any possible freshets.
| A party of prospectors returning from
the headwaters of Cedar river and the
Snoquaimie valley brought the explana-
ton Of the former streams swollen con-
dition. They say that it showed for
three days up to Wednesday. twenty-five
inches falling in one period of twenty
four hours. Then it began To rain
and rained for two days, with o warm
wind which melted the snow. The re-
suit was that the river became raging
torrent, overilowing the bottom lands and
carrying all before 1t. All the ranchers
| along its banks had to move to the high
ground, some of them in the night, so sud-
denly did the flood come upon them.
Probably the wrecks of houses seen float
ing down Black river came from some of
these deluged ranches. Cedar lake. the
source of the river, is nine feet
higher than usual, and four feet
higher than ever before. 1t was impossi-
bic to follow the river banks all the way,
tor In many places great slides sloped down
to the water, and they had to climb over
these and sometimes over tongues of
mountains. They came down by the Sno-
qualmie and found that stream falling,
having done no damage except to wash
away the Office aud cook house at the Sno.
| quamie mill.
The railroad officials only got as far Is
ascertaining the extent of the damage to
| the exception of the Lake Shore. That
was the only road which got all it's trains
through, the Great Northern and North
ern Pacific being out of it for two or three
days. The Columbia & Puget Sound and
Seattle & Northern are in about as bad
shape. The wires on the Northern Pacific
were down from s o'clock on Saturday
night to yesterday afternoon between
here and Tacoma, SO that it was difficult
to get information before the latter hour.
On the Northern Pacific the main line
was cut in two by the washing out of the
Green river bridge near Palmer, and it may
be that when that IS repaired the dam
| age son the east side of the summit
above Cle-Elum will delay the resumption
| of operations. Particulars of the damage
east of the mountains are given in q dis
| patch in another column. The efforts
| of the local officials were confined yestcr-
| day to restoring communication between
Seattle and Tacoma, in which the princi-
| pal break was at the Stuck river bridge.
| This was repaired temporarily on Satur-
| day night and an engine and caboose
! passed over, but shortly afterwards it was
| washed out again. Hopes were enter
tanned that it would be repaired by IL
o'clock last night, in time for the Portland
| train to pass over, but no train
went out in the evening. The only
train which went out over this
| line all day, besides DR.. Askam's special,
left about noon and transferred passengers
| at Slaughter. A culvert near Kent was
washed out. but has been repaired, and
| others which were damaged have proba-
bly, been restored. washout 80 to 200
| feet long occurred on the Belt line near
| Renton. Perishable freight and express
matter was brought to Tacoma on the
| steamer City of Seattle. No damage oc-
| CURED between Tacoma and Portland to
| interrupt traffic.
| The Great Northern is in as bad shape
! on the coast lines as the Northern Pacific
on its main line. Early yesterday morn
ing great body of water forty feet deep
| swept through a dry gulch and carried out
trestle go feet long and so feet high eight
miles south of Fairhayen. The bridge
| gang Immediately went to the
scene and will have it repaired in
| two or three days. Two and half
miles of track between Sylvana and
Stanwood were under water and are badly
| damaged. The washout on the shore
line near Mukilteo and slide at Desmond
have been repaired, and the telegraph line
| to New Westminster has been repaired.
| All Tie rivers north of here began falling
| yesterday morning, and no further damage
is feared on the coast lines.
| On the main line the greatest danger
was to the Snohomish bridge, but this was
| diminished as the water fell, though the
| jam was still pressing against it last night.
| The grade has been damaged by washouts
and slides all the way through from Lowell
| to the summit, as the whole Snohomish
valley is under water and the Skykomish
valley is doubtless in the same condition,
but definite information has not been re-
| ceived
| The Lake Shore was in better shape than
| any road, for the danger to the Arlington
| bridge passed away as the Stillaguamish
rapidly fell, and the washout on the Pill.
chuck was easily repaired. New trouble.
| however, came from the jam at Snohomish.
| The immense mass of drift had turned the
current out of the channel and across the
| flats towards Backman's mill, where it
| washed out a culvert and flooded a mum.
| Der of ranches. the water rising to the
| second stories of the houses. Passengers
| were transferred at this point, but the
| damage was repaired during the evening.
| The damage to the Columbia & 1Pupet
| Sound consisted Of two slides, seventy to
| eighty feet long and three to six feet deem.
| in a cut little west of Franklin: another
| slide 100 feet long, Just west of the Frank.