The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1892-06-08

IITUbNlLLE, Id., Juuo " lAbuSNhbS
WAS on Sunday visited by one Of the
most appalling fires and overwhelming
floods in the history Of this country. A
conservative estimate places the num-
Der of lives lost at fully forty-fve from
fire and drowning. The loss by de-
struction of property will aggregate
fully 81, 100000 All this loss Is in this
city, with the surrounding country yet
to be heard from. A large number OF
the most extensive and prosperous man
ufacturing establishments now lay In
ashes, and hundreds Of homes and busi-
ness places are utterly wiped out, while
the streets are filed with crowd OF
hungry, homeless, weeping and dis
tracted people, mourning the loss OF
loved ones who have perished In the rush
of waters or the fiery bnlows Of flame
which engulfed them almost In the
twinkling of an eye as they were strug-
Cling in the vain endeavor TO save their
homes.
At 2 o'clock Sunday morning the dam
at spartansburg and Newtontown gave
way. A great volume of water came
down Oil Creek, overfowing its banks
and flooding the city as far north as
Spring street, extending south half a
milo and inundating a large portion of
the city. The large reAneries caught
fire, how It is not known The burn
ing oil foated down the stream and set
fire TO everything In its path. Twenty
five dwellings and business houses were
destroyed The waterworks were un-
der water and there were no means Of
fighting the flames.
At this writing the sky Is filed with
dense and pitohy clouds Of smoke aris-
ing from the smoulderlng ruins Of re-
fneries, cooper shops, furniture fac
tories, radiator works, hotels, railroad
warehouses, cars, dwellings, ETC.. while
the waters Of Oil creek are rushing
through the streets with almost resist
less tide. No tongue, no pen, no Ian
guage can do justice TO the scene of ter
ror and confusion prevailing in this
city. The Illuminating gas works, the
electric light plant and the city water
WOThS dTt III uuutI WdVoA, Nhho bht
natural gas mains has been turned off
ut Oil City. This leaves Titusville with
out water, fuel or light, at least from
the sources from which these necessi-
ties have been accustomed TO come.
Parents and children stood by with
out the power TO aid one anothers strug-
giles against the clutches OF the flood,
until eventually they went down TO rise
no more. AS sad and as sickening
scenes as ever transpired In the valley
of the Conemaugh three years ago were
repeated here, while thousands looked
on unable to avert them.
One father is maniac over the loss
OF his whole family Of wife and seven
children, one babe three days old. A
brother was rescued from a burning
building where he was forced TO leave a
sister, her husband and two children TO
perish. Many such cases, sad in the ex-
treme, are heard. Many are the faith
ers, mothers, sisters and brothers wan
dering aimlessly in search OF missing
ones who in all probability will never
be heard OF. ...
Fully one-third OF the business and
residence portion of Titusville Is in
ruins The terrible food with mighty
roar rushes through the streets never
before touched by foods, with almost
rs great fury as when the first tidal
wave broke over the confines of the usu-
ally small stream. Brave men with
ropes tied about their waists are breast
ing the terrible current rescuing the
nnfortunates who for hours have pa
tiently awaited their turn. A little 4
year-old boy, just brought ashore from
the wreck Of handsome residence was
placed in the hands of friends. When
asked where his parents were he re-
piled with sob: Papa and mamma
'bof drowned"
II is an impossibility TO give at this
time accurate figures Of the loss of life.
Fully 1000 people witnessed five strong
men perish together. Holding to q
piece of timber they were struggling 10
make the shore, and just as they
reached out for grasp at the bank
neighboring oil tank exploded, the river
OF burning oil enveloping the men.
Death came almost instantly
About midnight Saturday Oil creek
began suddenly TO rise. Heavy and al.
most incessant rains have been preva-
lent throughout this entire section for
the past six weeks. This, however
does not seem 10 have been the cause Of
the sudden rise in Oil creek, although
at first 1t was thought 10 be the case
Late reports say that the huge mill dam
owned by Thompson & Eldred, and 10.
Gated at the little town Of Spartansburg,
seven miles above this city, suddenly
burst This body Of artificial water
was one and one-half miles in length
and one-fourth Of mile wide and quite
deep. This great body Of water thus
suddenly let loose made of this valley
in the course of few brief moments a
regular inland sea.
This sudden avalanche Of water de.
scending when most Of the inhabitants
were sleeping completely at once shut
them off from the higher portions Of the
city. Notwithstanding this state Of af-
fairs, the danger to the city was under
rated, no one having the slightest idea
that the food, dangerous as II was, was
10 be soon augmented by fire. This,
however, was true, for at o'clock Sun.
day morning, Immediately following
three terrific explosions which shook
the city to its center, a great light went
up from the direction OF the Crescent re.
hnery. located on the north side of the