The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-06-01
RUSH Of MIGHTY WATERS!

| Stag had been put on II part way up,
and its top was the danger line. This
was soon reached and the earth began
to crumble away. Its fall was rapid
and practically the whole work has
disappeared The water gained a foot
| hold and when it was master of the
situation began its course. running
east at a furious pace. All the land
west of Victoria avenue was soon a
sea of water. Down all the cross
streets it crept, filling cellars and base
ments.
The Missouri Pacific tracks and the
street south were a great avenue for
the water in its further advance east
and soon the lots on both sides of Main
street and east were under water. At
noon the flood waters were gradually
retreating, but nearly four square
miles of the city were still inundated
and the use of steam pumps will be
necessary to drain the foundations of
the buildings in this district.
Other Fatalities.
! Several fatalities have come to light.
The body of an unknown man was
found today two miles west of the cry.
About 10 o'clock Joseph Coppa, smell
ter laborer with his wife and five
children, attempted to wade through
four feet of water near the Union
Pacific depot. He became bewildered
and stepped off into a hole where there
was ten feet of water, and was drowned
before assistance could reach him.
Other losses of life are believed t.
have occurred and several prominent
citizens are missing.
The loss involved on real and per-
sonal property, is believed to be several
hundred thousand dollars, though it
can't be definitely determined. Many
partition walls in the large buildings
have been carried away.
There have been many narrow
escapes and thrilling experiences. One
family of five was carried 100 yards in
/ the house and narrowly escaped death.
The weather is now clear and all
danger is believed to be passed. Re
pairs will at once be commenced on the
! buildings.
Half a dozen rumors of similar ma
ture were current during the day.
Some were exploded by the person said
to have been lost turning up, and the
! others are discredited Most of the
sensa tional stories have been proven
untrue. Fortunately as the water re-
coded, the indications became more faV-
orable for a smaller property loss than
was at first expected, and it is now be-
lieved that 100000 will cover most, if
not all the damage. Though a number
of buildings have fallen in and others
are damaged beyond repair, they are
almost entirely small structures of
frame and had seen their greatest use
fitness. All the large business blocks
| that were flooded have stood the trial
! well, and il is confidently believed that
the foundations and walls are little, if
any, damaged.
Among the Losers.
]. K. Shirman, the clothing merchant
at 307 South Union avenue, probably
experienced the greatest loss. His store
J :. -
/ the street and the water covered his
entire stock. The loss is estimated at
! $4,000
/ 4. Englehart & Co., dry goods mer-
chants had the next greatest loss. The
supports in the center of the building
gave way. tumbling all the shelving
and counters in a confused mass in
+, the center of the room. Loss. $1,000.
The other losses range from 500 to
f, Sc, 600, most of them being under
$4,000.
Metherway, the stationer, sustained
a heavy loss. The basement was fun
of goods. all Of which were destroyed or
badly damag ed. He estimates his loss
at $1,000.
The postoffice, next door south of
the book store was not damaged, nei
Their was the Batch Shoe and Clothing
company. Across the street, however,
at Twins installnent house, corner of
Santa F'e avenue, the wild waters did
their will. The floor of the building
! is loot or SO below the grade and the
water stood there four feet deep for
several hours. The goods are badly
damaged by water. The loss cannot be
estimated at present, but will be many
hundreds Of dollars.
w. H. Anderson. grocer on the east
side of the street, is a heavy loser.
His basement, filled with goods, is now
full of water, and during the height of
the food the water stood four feet in
the store. His loss will run into the
thousands.
Captain Thompson, paper dealer, is
also heavy loser, the water running
considerable stock. Nearly everything
below this point on Santa Fe avenue
is still under water, and many of the
buildings, nearly all of which are
frame or adobe, are total wrecks.
None of the buildings are valuable.
Nearly every building on Front street
between Santa Fe avenue and Main
street is more or less damaged. The
basement of the Elephant house is full
of water, but the building is not dam
aged.
i On Second street, between Santa Fe
and Main, everything was under four
feet of water above the Easements.
! The Easements in that locality were
not occupied.
Nearly every stock of goods in this
! locality are badly damaged and in
some instances will be almost a total
! loss. A swift current came down the
street, and it is Uttered with debris
from the flood.
| The McCord-Bragdon Grocery COM
pany are heavy losers. They had just
unloaded eight cars of valuable goods
in their basement. Everything in the
basement is under water. Their loss
may not be over S., 900 and it may
reach $4,000
| Chas. Henkel & Co., wholesale gro
GERS, are also unable to estimate their
/ loss at present. The basement is full
t of water and under the water lie thou
sands of dollars worth of grocer sup
plies. Until the water is pumped out,
even a rough estimate of the loss can
not be given.
Hungry Passengers.
The Denver & Rio Grande Railroad
company is a heavy loser by the flood,
both from the washing out of the
tracks and the delay Of trains There
are a dozen small washouts between
Florence and Pueblo on the west end
and several between Buettes and Pu-
eblo. On the north end the worst
washout is at the bridge this side of
Buettes. where both approaches are
gone. The train which left for the
west Wednesday noon is caught be-
tween two washouts this side of Bea-
yer. and when last heard from, the
! passengers had made a raid on the
express car and taken all the eatables
out TO satisfy Neutrality-suspicious. fast.
On the Santa Fe, the condition of
affairs IS fully as bad as on the other