The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-06-11
Storm, Floods, Fire, Rain, Hail, Snow.
Immense Destruction of Life and
Loss of Property.

| swept down the Lemgh Valley, "a, on June
3. Between Emaus, Macungie and Irexler'
town, the fields were covered with water ior
miles and the water on the roads was hiD
deep. Crops are greatly damaged. AT
Freemansburg. so much dirt washed on the
Lehigh Valley tracks that 1t had 10 De
sboyelled off to let trains pass. Several
washouts were reported along the road De-
tween White Haven and Tannery.
A heavy storm of wind, hail and ram oc-
curred at Tunkhannock, Pa, on June z,
emitting off communication with the town tor
a time, No serious damage to property was
done. =,
A heavy rain storm, accompanied by
severe lightning, passed over Williamsport,
Pa. on Thursday night of last week. The
electric cars stopped and a number OF people
were severely shocked by the lightning:
A cloud burst in the vicinity OF Oll City,
Pa, on Thursday night of last week SO Gov
cred the tracks of the Western, New l ork
and Pittsburg Railroad with debris for dis
tance of Is or 20 miles that traffic was sus-
pended Friday: A.
Juniata Valley, Pa, during Friday and Satur-
day last caused a flood in that river. Two
county bridges near Mill Creek were washed
away, a norton of Huntingdon overlooked
and hundreds of tons of grass and grain de-
The damage by the cloud burst of Saturday
afternoon. in the vicinity of Union City, Pa,
| is estimated at $lj0,0 Several buildings
in the heart of the city we're destroyed and a
number of bridges were washed away.
A telegram from Warren, Pa, says that
cloudburst occurred Saturday afternoon be-
tween CORY and lrvington, near the head
waters of the Broken Straw Streams,
| III a IL
road bridges at Pittsfeld and 1oungsville
were swept away. At Irvington the central
pier of the bridge used by the Dankirk, Allie
gbeny Valley and Pittsburg, Western New
| York and Pennsylvania and Philadelphia and
Erie. was washed away. All traffic on these
roads was abandoned.
Heavy rain storms prevailed in portions of
Pennsyyaua on Friday night of last week.
In the Mahanoy Valley bridges were carried
away and the Reading Railroad track washed
ont for distance of 100 feet near Girardville.
Shenandoah was cut off from all railroad
communication on Saturday by washouts on
the Reading and Lehigh Valley roads. A
Reading coal train ran into washout and
the engine was rolled into the creek. In
Northern Berks county roads and helds were
washed out and crops damaged by hall
In Lancaster county lightning was very
severe. The barns of John NJ. Wortel, IN
Manor township; H. H. kurtz, in Conestoga,
and Jacob 4. Wilmer, in Leacoek, were
struck by lightning and burned.
food in Ten Mile Creek, near Washing.
ton, Pa, on Saturday, covered two miles OF
the track of the Waynesburg and Washington
Marrow Gauge Railroad Company and wash
ed away six bridges.
The heavy rains in Crawford county, on
Friday night, caused washout 200 feet III
length on the Pittsburg, Shenango and Lake
Erie track five miles south OF Meadville.
The oil regions in Pennsylvania were visit
ed on Sunday by disaster of fire and water.
Oh Civ was consumed. 1t is thought that
NOT less than $50 lives have been lost Nearly
one hundred bodies have already been re-
covered, and many people are still missing.
The property loss will reach into the mil
lions. At Titusvile the loss is estimated ut
81. 500. 900; Oil City, Si,5OO,00Oi Cory,
$50, 900; Meadvlle, $l50,0O0, and surround
ing country probably million more. The
constant rains converted all the small streams
into racing torrents, so that when cloud
hurst came Sunday morning the streams were
soon beyond their boundaries. Fire follow
ed the floods, the burning oil from the tanks
causing as much disaster and rum as the
water. Sixty-seyeu dead bodies were re-
covered ut Oil City on Monday: Inc estl:,
mates of the loss of life vary from ~ TO zOu.
The section where the loss Of life was greatest
was largely occupied by foreigners. No one
knows their names, and it may be impossible
IN ever learn lust how many are missing. In
T;tnsville It is estimated that fully 100 per
sons have been either drowned or burned TO
death. John D. Rockefeller, President OF
the Standard Oil Company, has contributed
SlOO. 600 for the relief of the suffering dis
trict. Geore Stephens, PROMINENT mercnan
saws: 1.-THE fire was caused by spark ron
a nassing train on the Western, New 1ork
! and PENNSYLVANIA Railroad, which ignited
| the oil IN q tank alongside the line. The oil
set fire to every building With which 1t came
in contact, Mechanic street was knoYH Us Q
residence street for the poorer classes and
was simply swept out Of existence. Not q
vestige of dwelling on that street remains
standing. This is where the greatest loss OF
life occurred. The fire and flood combined
was SO swift in its destruction that whole
families were swept away before they realized
that there was the remotest danger"
Edgar Hale, Il lumber merchant, when
asked about the calamity, said: 81 noticed
dark cloud in the north Saturday afternoon
and while standing watching it saw 1t split in
two the larger portion seeming to go up the
river. The rain began falling, and q short
while afterward Oil creek began raising
did not think anything particularly about 1t,
as it began to recede about II o'clock that
night. It must have been about that time
that the dam at Ryeville gave way. The
1 creek rose yith terrible rapidity, and this
volume of water was accelerated by the ad'
dition Of another large volume OF the dam az
| Spartansburg.
Throughout the Country,
At Detroit, Michigan, on Thursday night Of
he inobag Of sol
fell in one hour and 10 minutes. Much dam
ace was done in the city by flooded cellars
and broken sewers.
Fhe Red river, jn Texas, is again in flood,
rising six feet in II hours at Rarjs, on June 3.
All the low lands are flooded and crops
ruined.
A telegram from Greenville, Mississippi,
says that the private leyee protecting Louisi-
ana Conca Circle, Arkansas, a rich SECTION
comprising several thousand acres of culti'
waited lands, broke Wednesday evening of
last week. No crop can possibly be made in
the Circle this year. The water will cover
the entire section to depth of seven feet.
A cyclone swept over McCook, Nebraska,
on Saturday afternoon, doing serious damage
to property and injuring many persons.
for an entertainment, was wrecked, and
several of the little ones were hurt, some OF
them, it is thought fatally.
Additional reports from the small towns
which suffered by the cyclone in Texas, on
Tuesday of last week, say that II or IL per
sons were either killed or fatally injured. At
Blasco, little child of Mrs Cullenbach was
thrown on u red hot stove and fatally burned,
and Mrs, CHllenbach and three other chill
dren probably fatally injured.
A tornado passed over portions Of Moore
field, Harmony and Springfield townships,
near Springfield, Ohio, on Friday of last
week, causing great damage TO crops, farm
buildings and property.
The Arkansas river at Little Rock was re.
| norted on Saturday to be rising rapidly, and
The relief committees we're making arrange
ments to warn all people living along the
river of their peril, At Fort Smith the river
rose 1872 feet in two days.
The White river rose ten feet in the main
channel at Columbus, Indiana, on Friday and
Saturday, by reason ofcontinuous heavy rains.
The rise in the Orange river at Tuscumbia,