The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-08-07
RESERVOIR BURSTS.
y Persons Meet Death in Its
Seething Waters.

PORTLAND, Me-. Aug. THE great
crvoir Of the Pcc..'end Water company,
lhc Ea5tern premenace. burst yester-
~. letting loose its co.0co. 900 gsalons OF
rtor in the short space of about Is min
- The iumense mass OF water, thus
ddcniy lccseped. dashed with mighty
1Wor upon the two houses occupied by
v families OF Michael Lappin and Dennis
Conley.
The buildings were crushed as IL they
IA been made of cardboard. and four per-
us lost their lives. Mrs. Dennis M. Con-
~. Miss Agnes Conley, aged IL years;
LIS Mamie Conley. aged Is years; James
|oselcy, aged 1S Under the walls of the
servoir were two small houses, each
Ith small barn attached. The one
2xt to the reservoir stood but few feet
1om the fence, and the high wall Of clay
ID dirt loomed
Fifty Feet or Moro Above 1t.
Michael Lappin, an iron moulder. lived
this house with his wife and five Of his
hIIdren and an adopted son. James
losoley. Four Of his children are very
oung. while the fifth is man grown.
In the next house lived Dennis M. Con-
Dy. his wife and two daughters, Agnes
pd Mamie. and his son. John d., and his
>Ifa The elder Mr.. Conley was away
rom home, being a night watchman at
rs American Express company. The
1her members OF his household were at
omc.
Fred Hutchins lives at % Willis street,
YEAR the reservoir. Mr. Hutchins' house
hold consisted of himself. his wife (who is
Ick), his sister, Miss Edna Hutchins, and
I|s wife's mother. Mrs. M. A. Jones of
<ewiston. Mrs. Hutchins was quite sick
{aturday night, and Miss Edna and Mrs
oncs arose about $3.50 yesterday morning,
nndc some coffee and attended 10 the in
1xlid.
Soon after arising they went out for a
hort walk, the morning being beautiful,
~ the promenade. They won't down
Walnut street, and az they passed by the
cservoir Miss Hutchirs
Heard n Kissing Noise
md saw stream of water bubbling quite
orcibly from the ground at the foot of
|he reservoir wall
"What is thats A spring'" said she to
Mrs. Jones
"A springi The reservoir is bursting"
*oplied the elder woman, as she saw it,
md Immediately she ran at full speed TO
&he Lappin house. aroused the inmates,
Ind then aroused the Conleys. This done,
Mrs Jones began arousing neighbors on
He other side or Walnut street, and IN Tess
exposed localities.
Il was probably 5:45 when Mrs. Jones
warned the Lappins. The stream at that
)1me was only about as large as mans
nrgn. Almost the next instant IL was the
We of mans body. The members of tSe
{Appin family evacuated their honp
with Fortunate Celebrity.
(. In less than five minutes Mr.. Lappin,
Mrs. Lappin, the four babies, the elder
{appin boy and James Moseley had rushed
on* OF the house with such clothes on as
hey could get I'm their haste. They took
refuge on the other side OF Walnut street,
|vhcrc few neighbors were already ar
living.
The Conley family were not so fortu-
hate. They were warned in time. and IL
Doems that Mrs Conley was already up and
trssed. The other members of the family
yot up at once, and, supposipg tina. they
vould surely get out, James Conloy started
Icr the barn to rescue his horse. The
younger Mrs. Conley did get out in her
rtRhtdress, hastily folding wrapper
nbout her as she went She ran across the
1ond and fell fainting there
y The elder Mrs. Conley, with her two
nughters, Agnes and Mamie, appeared
xext at the door. They were holding
onch other by their arms and seemed to be
About to come across the street But for
eome time they did not go. The water
|was already dashinG against the doorsill,
md perhaps this terrified them, or perhaps
hey thought the house would be the
pafest place The reason will never be
Known, but the group of horror-stricken
Deighbors saw them
Draw Back and Close the Door
One man seemed to have had the heart
Ck n hero at this supreme moment of the
catastrophe. Young James Moseley COM
prthcnded that the Conleys were lost un-
les they could be gotten out of the house
~ once. He dashed across the street,
through the increasing water, and went
into the doomed house. He was never
ZEN alive again, and every one of that
9reat crowd feels shudders creep through
Mis- veins as he remembers what happened
next.
The stream OF water had now become
torrent, and the next instant IL was an
avalanche. It sounded as If the paving
stones from the inside lining Of the reser-
voir were being hurled against those
houses in constant bombardment. The
Immense column of water first struck the
Lappin House, divided for an instant,
ohen tore the ell from the main part,
landing the ell shattered fragment sew
Gra! feet back from the bank.
The flood also tore up the street to the
Gepth OF six feet, the water going down
the steep bank into the cove The bodies
of the four victims were recovered. The
break is supposed to have been caused by
, leak around the overflow pipe.
The reservoir cost sl25, 900. was designed
~ j. H. Shedd, the Providence engineer.
and was built under his supervision. The
damage TO the reservoir Is about 81. 900.
ON A NEW TRACK.
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