The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1894-06-16

! peeled off and the legs rotted. Tough
food for the fishes, indeed! The next
noticeable destruction Is In the big pile
OF brick buildings owned by the Port
land Gas Light Co., and built in 1868.
! The boiler room is flooded right out,
land three-fourths Of the machinery is
rusting and spelling under water. With
the aid Of a supplementary set of en-
gines, the superintendent told me that
Portland would be supplied with gas
again by Saturday afternoon. He also
said that the company's loss would be
$4,000, and asked what thought of the
appearance of the buildings. They look
truly deplorable, and 1t will be several
weeks before the large force of men em-
ployed in clearing away the debris there
will have effected much Improvement.
The coke department, on the opposite
side Of the street, is a. two-story build
ing. Only one story is now visible. The
Detroit machine works, q little farther
on, has suffered much loss by the rust
ing of dozens of large stoves and ranges.
On the ground floor of the Zeta Psi
building is b. Gobbi's wholesale liquor
house, adjoining the factory of the Ore
gon Cracker Co. In Gobbis warehouse
everything is turned upside down, and
all the front windows are completely
demolished. In the offices of the Crack
er Co. the water has insinuated itself
everywhere. "Our machinery has been
manager land the only product we
have been turned out since that date
is varied assortment Of water bis
cults They hope to get the fires start
ed next Monday by raising the boiler out
of the water. Hundreds of orders have
been cancelled since the flood started,
Opposite the Zeta Psi warehouses is
Callen & Lewis big wholesale depart
ment, and here was the only sign of
life on the whole street. 1t was like a.
city of the dead for over two miles, with
nothing but the constant Tapping of
the water against first-story caves to|
break the solitude. In front Of this
store, however, was barge, onto which
were being Tailed various groceries. The
voice Of the tally clerk echoed along
over the water distinctly for several
hundred yards The warehouse Isl
proppeI up with heavy timbers, as are
most of the other places on the thor
1,,..bFovo A. tha oo,,,ar of Front on1
C comes the well known five-story ware
house of Bickle & Co. This is one of
the sights. One end Of the ground floor
is empty save for the water that flows
in half way up the walls. All over the
rest of the building and down in the
cellars as well are stored big heaps of
miscellaneous stuff, from kettles toI
grand pianos, and all are half buried
under water, smashed, peeled and dis
figured in every possible way. The loss
in this place must be very great, and
cannot possibly be yet computed ac-
curately. All along the next block the
same scenes are repeated, and the Royal
Insurance Co., New York hotel and
Price Baking Powder Co. have all had
to abandon their quarters and seek
refuge elsewhere. In the offices Of the
Carlos Una Co., dealers in brooms, bas-
kets. etc, things were considerably
mixed up. Clothes baskets in profusion
We're floating around among the eleva-
tor ropes in the middle of lot of mis-
cellaneous rubbish that looked like a ton
of soaked stationary. Adams e Grant's
large machinery depot has gone through
hard time, and here, too, there has
been considerable amount of loss that
is not yet computed. After passing sew
eral more wholesale houses, all show
ing the same scenes of wreckage and
damage to valuable material, the next
stop brings us to the intersection of
Aukeny street, where the Bank Of Brit
ish Columbia stands. The scene Of con-
fusion inside is almost indescribable.
You can row boat along to the top of
the first-story windows and make sur
vey without any difficulty. The water
hogany desks, and laps gently through
the cashiers windows and the deposit
railings. An innumerable assortment of
papers Of all descriptions litters the sur
face of the stream, while in the midst Of
It all are the hundred and one articles
that go to make up the furnishings of
a first-class bank, sailing about In sew
eral feet Of the inky slimy fluid. All
the fine fittings Of the managers Office
are gone in the general flood, and when
the officials get back into their old quar-
ters they will have several weeks OF
hard work Strengthening matters out.
On the opposite corner are the Offices
Of the General Electric Company, and
here, too, the flood has worked great
havoc. The floor Of the building occu-
pied by Chas II. Dodd & Co and
Fleischner, Meyer & Co., is ina fearful
condition. Just inside the Dortico Of the
formers warehouse is the cashiers vim
dow, temporarily hidden from view by
large stationary engine that just
raises it's head above the water. The
ground floor is half full Of handsome
safes, nearly all badly rusted and other
wise Injured by the action Of the water.
A few Of these were lifted in time TO
save them from destruction. but the la
bor involved was 80 great that only
half dozen could be got out Of the
Continued from Third Page.)