The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-08-07

When the elder Mr.. Conley, who had
been at his post Of duty during the
night returned to view tnis uos"e'"
ton. he remarked that it was oao' oup
he was thankful that his family were
safe. He did not then know that they
had been swept away. NO one . n'
knew where the bodies ere' Inc
debris from the two houses was scat-
tered far and wide. A piece OF the IRON
work of a sewing machine was carried
almost to the bay, articles OF clothing
were strewn about the promenade SET
of bob sleds from the barn were IN the
midst of the debris of the mouse.
AS soon as the character OF the dlsas-
ter was seen, and the loss OF lie ascer-
tanned. Marshal Trickey and Deputies
Sterling and Hartnett were On hand with
competent force, the ground was roped
off, and no one allowed to pass unless
authorized by the officers. President
Wescott, of the water company, also nao
gang of fifty italians from Rlgoy farK
at work on the debris hunting for the
missing. The wisdom Of roping OIL the
ground was seen as the horse cars, teams
of every description, and pedestrians be-
gan to visit the scene, and by 10 o'clock
there were at least three or four thous-
and persons gathered on the OUTSKIRTS
and from that time ON during the day it
was a ceaseless procession of curiosity
hunters.
Finding the Bodies.
About 1890 o'clock in the morning the
Italians who were hard at work uncover
ing the debris of the wrecked Conley
house came across the bodies of all the
missing ones. They were buried under
about two feet of sand and were badly
bruised and cut by the rocks and stones
that had been driven against them. The,
undertaken wagons of Mr.. McDonough
and Mr.. Martin were called and the re-
mains taken to Mr.. Rich's rooms to be
prepared for burial. The body of young
Moseley was found with those of Mrs.
Conley and her two daughters.
The faithful dog belonging to the
Conleys was found with the family,
dead also, but the cat with her litter OF
young kittens sat a distance away pur-
ring loudly and nursing her young
Obvious of the sad nature of her sur
roundings.
What the Spectators Say.
A reporter for the PRESS interviewed
Mr.. Lappin, who said he was awakened
by hearing pounding on his door, and
lady, Mrs. Hutchins, crying out that the
reservoir was giving way and urging the
family to run. He looked out of the
side window and saw water coming out
of the bottom of the reservoir. The
house consisted of the one story and a
half main house, and a one story ell.
The house faced Walnut street. The
water was not coming with great force
at first, but it was flowing quite stream
1t didn't seem to make a great noise, but
sort of kissing and humming sound.
Mr.. Lappin said he called to his wife,
and they seized their small children and
their clothes and made a run across Wal
nut street to the south side, where they
were in safety. In about seven minutes,
he should think, the rent opened enor-
mously and the great body of water
rushed out. 1t seemed to knock away
the ell of his house, and then rushed on
to that of Conley' house; in other words
the ell divided the current, and then
dropped into the stream and was borne
along with it, while the main house was
toppled over on its side, just on the
northerly side of the current.
Mr.. Lappin's adopted son, James
Moseley, lived in the house with him and
had been the same as son to him for
eighteen years. He said Moseley was
the driver of a tow-horse on the
hill for the Portland Railroad Co.
He called to Moseley to get up, and fear
ing he might not have time to escape I'M
less he jumped from the back second
story window, he told him to do so. HE
knew Moseley jumped and supposed he
was safe. lie was very much surprised
to hear of his death.
MIR. Bowers Story.
Mr.. Bower lives in the house on the
side of Walnut street directly opposite
the Lappin house. Mr.. Bower said about
525 a. IN. he awoke and everything then
about the reservoir appeared to be all
right. He went into the back kitchen
and heard a strange noise. He went back
to the bed chamber and asked his wife if
she heard it. 1t seemed to him like the
wind blowing and he thought a gale was
brewing, but on looking out of the win
dow he couldn't see any signs of wind.
Thinking the noise came from down the
street, he dressed and went down Walnut
street, little distance below the Con-
leys'. He then turned and saw the water
running in a stream about six or eight
inches deep. He came back to the house
and told his wife the reservoir had broken.
He started to run across the street to
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