St. Paul daily globe., 1894-09-01
UvALDE LAID IN RUINS
By the Torrents Which Cam 9
On the Town Without
Warning.
HUNDREDS WERE DROWNED
Forty Miles Of Southern Pa
cific Tracks and Bridges
Swept Away.

UvALDE, Tex., Aug. 31.-A terrible
last night. and tonight there is mourn
ing in many households. The calamity
happened unexpectedly. The treacher-
Gus Leona river, swollen to a raging
torrent by recent rains, rushed without
moments warning down upon the
town, submerging and wrecking many
. houses and drowning a number Of peo.
pie. In this arid section such destruct-
iveness by the elements has never be.
fore been chr0nicled. In the excite
ment of the day 1t is not definitely
known how many have been drowned.
Among the bodies that have been iden-
titled are:
MRS. JOE HATCH.
MISS MATTE EDWARDS.
CHILD OF Mr. MALEY.
TWO MEXICANS.
1t was about 2 o'clock in the morning
when the flood came. The weather had
been threatening and there were omi.
nous clouds to the north and east of town.
The atmosphere had been close during
the evening and predictions of storm
were freely made. The towns citizens
went to their beds not with happy minds.
AS the hours wore on and the people
continued their slumbers, the dark
clouds rose higher and higher. Just as
the storm broke over the city in all its
fury, a torrent of water rushed down
the Leona river, overfiowlng the banks
of that stream and flooding the low
lands on either side to depth of several
feet. The east side of the city
Is built on low land and was directly in
the path OF this water. All the. houses
IN the heart OF the Town were submerged
and, through the downpour of rain,
could be heard the cries of distress from
the ill-fated inhabitants in their wild
efforts to save their lives and those of
their families and loved ones. There
were number of miraculous escapes,
and the rescuers and rescued performed
many heroic acts. AS soon as those In
the higher part of town were made
aware of the terrible flood and direct
consequences the work of rescuing was
begun and carried out as rapidly as pos
sible In the darkness Of the night.
Great apprehension is felt for the
families living on the ditch south of
here, where IS to 100 families live, and,
the land lying fifteen feet lower than
here, 1t is feared they have been de-
stroyed. One mans family living on
the ranch of l.. Showarz, four miles be-
low town, are supposed to have been
lost, no vestige of the ranch buildings
being left. 1t is feared that Indianola's
history Is repeated.
An earthquake shock of some seconds
duration was distinctly felt during the
night. At one place near the city about
quarter of mile of heavy cracks ap-
pear on either side of the Leona river,
having apparently no bottom.
A track walker of the Southern Pa
cific, after wading through water up to
his neck, with his lantern above his
enough east to intercept west-bound
train and prevent its plunging into the
raging river where the railroad bridge
had been destroyed.
News late this evening reaches here
that three families living below town
were drowned. The names have not
yet been learned. According to reports
received at the Southern Pacific offices
this evening, the terrible food was
augmented bv most remarkable phe-
nomenon, which was caused by the
earthquake. The loss to the Southern
Pacific company is enormous, forty
been washed away. Over 100 carloads
of material and 300 lab0rers left San
Antonio for the scene of the wreckage
this evening. The damage to the
Southern Pacific extends eastward
sixty-fiye miles from this city. A
rough estimate of the loss to property in
general and the railroad company will,
as far as known, reach million and
half dollars.