Connecticut western news., 1894-05-24
Dark Hours For Williamsport.

WILLIAMSPoRT, Pa, May 21.-With the horrors of the disastrous flood of 1889, which spread death and destruction throughout this valley, brought back to memory by the threatened danger of a sweep of water that promises to be as great as that of five years ago, the people of this city and all through the west branch val ley are almost in state of panic. Since Friday night a steady and almost continu- ous downpour of rain has been swelling all of the streams, and late Saturday night numerous cloudbursts along Pine creek and other tributaries of the west branch of the Susquehanna made it impossible to confine the water within the banks of the streams. It has therefore spread out over the county and at every point is pouring into the main river.
 Throughout Sunday the rain fell here and continued to fall last night. Advices from all points up the river say the same conditions exist. A cloudburst at keat- ing, % miles above Renovo, early Sunday morning raised the river there 20 feet, and the river at Remove is reported higher than during the flood of 1SS9 when half the town WAS under water.
 Above there and extending to the head waters at Clearfield every town and ham let has been reduced by water to the con ditions that prevailed in 1889. Along the Philadelphia and Erie railroad between this point and Emporium traffic has been practically suspended since Saturday night. Trains are running between Will Transport and Lock Haven, but above the latter point landslides and track washouts have practically swept the tracks away, and the loss will be very heavy.
 Big Boom of Logs Lost.
 At midnight, with the rain still falling, the river had overflowed its banks in the central part of the city, and the water was rushing up Market street and out onto Third and Fourth streets, in the business part of the city, where the cellars were full of water. The height of the flood then was 24 feet, and it was estimated that it would reach 27 feet from the pres ent rainfall
 AS the rain shows no signs of abating, 1t is feared that today may bring more ele- ments of danger Lyconing creek which brings more water from the north, was bank full and coming up rapidly. It | comes in at the upper end of the city and | was the principal source of damage in | 1889. The height of the river then turned | it out of its course and emptied it in from ! north of the city, and it is feared that | there may be repetition of that disaster. The main boom of the Susquehanna Boom company broke at half past 12 o'clock. There were 150, ,0O0, 900 feet of logs confined there, and all of them passed out and down the river. The loss will be more | than S100 00O-the value of the logs in the | boom-and will throw hundreds of men out of employment.
 WILLIAMsPoRT, Pa, May 22.-Danger has | passed, the muddy waters are slowly re- | ceding from the streets, and the flood will | soon in all probability be over.. The river is still far above it's usual mark, but it no longer threatens property and lives. The Water Recedes.
 The flood reached it's maximum at 2 o'clock last night, when it was 35 feet above low water mark on the river regis ter and was eight feet deep on the pave | nlent of the courthouse in the center of | the city. The moment was an anxious | one. Another foot meant still greater de- struction. Already the waves were lap- ping the window sills of the second stories | of hundreds of homes. Would it go higheri Eager watchers scanned the register, trem- bling with mingled hope and fear.
 The 35 foot mark proved an insurmount- able barrier. For an hour the water hung at that point, and then, to the intense re- | lief of thousands of anxious hearts, it be | gan SLOWLY to receue. AL o'clock It nau fallen a foot and was still going down slowly to be sure, but surely enough to
 lift terrible load from multitude oi hearts All felt that the worst had come and gone.
 The river has made new record-Ss feet above low water. A million and g
 half in property has been destroyed, but so far as can be learned no lives have been lost. To give the losses in detail will be impossible. It cannot even be approxi
 mated. and the estimate of million and | half is conservative one.
 | WILLIAMsPoRT. Pa, May 23.-As the
 waters recede the havoc wrought by the
 flood is becoming more and more appar
 ent, and careful investigation proves that
 the loss to property will be as great as fl was in 1889. Dozens of families arnopR th'