Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1894-05-24
IN WILLIAMSON.


and Losses That will Foot up S1,5Oo,-
600.
WILLIAMSBURG. Pa, May 21.-At 1
o'clock this morning the great boom,
with its millions of dollars worth of un-
cut lumber, gave away, and Williams
port will awaken at daybreak to a sense
Of great financial disaster. There were
15O,0O0,000 feet Of logs in the boom.
AN AWFUL SUNDAY AT wILLIAMsPoRT.
A flood that threatens to rival the dis
astrous deluge of 1889, when two-thirds
of this city was under six feet Of water,
is now sweeping down the Susquehanna
river. All of yesterday and last night
the residents were fearful of an i'm
pending disaster, and the greatest alarm
prevails.
The boom at Linden broke and
10000, 900 feet of saw logs were carried
away. Other smaller booms have also
been snapped, and vast number OF
logs are on their way.
THE BooMs BREAK.
In the big boom at this city there are
150,000,000 feet of logs ready to be sawed
into lumber. At Linden, several miles
above, there was another boom with
lU,UUU,UUU leel.
between the hour of noon and
o'clock, yesterday, the boom at Linden
broke and the 100000 feet of logs
were swept down stream. At first it
was thought most of the logs could be
caught in the main boom, but it was not
deemed advisable to do this, owing to
the fact that the pressure on the big
structure was then almost too heavy for
it to bear. The additional strain, which
would have been sudden, would be en-
tirely too great.
The order was given to Boom Boss
Durehart, who was out in the river
with his steamer and crew, to make no
effort to catch the great harvest of logs.
The lumbermen who stood on the bank
saw their vast stock go swiftly down
the flood. The loss will be several hum
dred thousand dollars.
HIGHER THAN THE 1889 FLOOD.
WIILrAMsPoRT, Pa, May 21.-The
river continued to rise during the night
and this morning nearly the entire busi-
ness portion Of tho city is under water.
The Western Union telegraph office,
which is situated on comparatively high
ground, has six inches of water on its
hoor.
There has been no telegraphic COM
munications with Lock Haven since
O'Clock yesterday afternoon, at which
hour the telegraph operator was driven
from his Office by the rising flood.
p. m.-The water in this river has
reached a height of 81 feet at this hour.
ono foot higher than the disastrous flood
| of 1889. The entire city is under water
which ranges in depths from 4 to 20
feet. The water is still rising at the
rate of six inches an hour.
All the logs at the boom which broke
at / o'clock this morning have been
swept away as we'll as many saw-mills
and houses in the lower part of the city.
Not telegraph or telephone wire is
working out of the city, with the single
exception of shaky long-distance tele-
\ phone wire which was placed at the dis
| posal of the Associated Press correspon-
| dent. While he was talking to Philadel-
| phia he was driven out of the office by
| the rapid rise of the water.
In the business portion of the city, the
water has reached depth of eight feet
and shows no signs of receding, The
rain at o'clock is coming down in
! torrents. The loss has already reached
more than million dollars and unless
| relief soon comes it will be three times
that much. No trains have arrived or
departed from the city for "a hours.
HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES HOMELESS.
WtLLIAMsroRT, Pa, May 21.-As
night approaches and as darkness set.
ties down the terrors of the flood in
crease. The yellow torrent rushing
down from the hillsides, fed by thou
sand mountain streams and growing
with each passing minute, assumes new
terrors, and the panic-stricken people
look forward with an underlined dread
to the ordeal through which they must
pass before the dawn OF another day.
Shut off from the rest of the world,
With no railway communication and no
avenue of telegraphic or telephone
communication save the slender, quiver-
| inr wire over which this message is
speeding, surrounded on every hand by
the slowly-rsing, yellow destroyer,
which has already swcptawaya q million
dollars worth of property and may
sweep away million more, the condi-
ton of Williamsport is indeed pitiable.
With SO feet more water in its channel
than is its normal height, the west
branch of the Susquehanna threatens
to engulf the town it has done SO much
TO build up.
Hundreds of families are homeless,
some temporarily, others for longer
time. Hundreds more expect to be
driven from their houses, in the second
stories of which they have found refuge,
before the dawn appears again, and uu-
less the flood ceases there is no power
on earth that can avert II greater dis
aster than has already como upon this
hapless city.
FORTUNE IN LOGS GONE.
AS the day wore en- and the rain
showed no signs Of abating the rising
flood became source of Intense con-
ccra. By nightfall it was above tho
curb on the streets nearest the river,
and'crowds were lining the banks, hop
ing against hope that it would be no
worse. Presently word camc that the
big log booms at Lock Haven and
(,enova had burst, and the people Won
6crci what wsull he the fate OF the
,Hammotli boom ~ this point, which
held 1J0,0G0,00G feet, worth 100000, in
lis grasp. They had not long to wait,
for lust after miiuight it gave away
with crash and went rolling and
tumhlng down the stream toward Har-
risburg, ....s. ....=..
AS il passed the four bridges below
the city the logs crashed and banged
against the piers with a roar that could