The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-05-26

fic Embellishments Loss OF
Lumber-Damage Elsewhere, &c.
On the fourth page of this issue will be found a
full account of the disastrous storms in the West
last week and below we give synopsis of the con-
tinuation OF the storm east of the Ohio river.
PrTTsBURe, May 21.-For five days and nights
western and central Pennsylvania have been storm
swept Cloud bursts have occurred at different
points, lives have been lost booms have been torn
to pieces, and immense quantities of valuable
timber scattered.
Many county and railroad bridges have been
carried away. Miles of railroad track have been
either oblierated by extensive landslides or washed
away by the floods. From Wednesday morning to
this morning the rainfall in Pitsburg has been 22s
inches In the Allegheny Valley, at Warren, it was
69l inches At Oil City, sol at Johnstown. 4.Sl; in
the Monongahela Valley at Confluence it was 2s1;
at Farmont, I56; at Lock H. on the Monongahela. it
was ESQ., at Rowlesburg. on the Cheat River, it was
545 Tonight 1t is still raining at many points and
further loss is expected
In some sections the memorable floods Of 1889 and
1891 were surpassed by several feet This was the
case In the Juniata Valley of southern and south
western Pennsylvania and along the west fork OF
the Susquehanna River in the northern central
portions of the STATE
The water has aot done much damage about
Pittsburg yet, but by morning 1t will cause con-
siderable loss The Pittsburg and Western tracks in
Allegheny are covered. Traffic between Pittsburg
and Altoona is suspended the Pennsylvania trains
going around by the Baltimore and Ohio.
At Bradford the heavy rain has ceased, but the
weather is still showery. The loss there is about
$4,000. No trains on any of the railroads reached
Bradford today. During the food lime in the
Stacking process caused fire. which burned the
Oil Well Supply Companys warehouse Firemen
who were engaged in rescuing flood sufferers had
TO turn their attention to fighting the fire. This
they did standing waist deep in water.
At Warren the food was the greatest since 1878.
Business was practically suspended, and tonight
the water shows no sign of abating Row boats
took the place of street in the lower part OF the
city. On the island the water reached into the
second stories of the houses In the west end four
feet of water about eight squares. The flood
came gradually, and the people were pretty well
prepared but unless the stops the worst is yet
TO come.
AT Brookville the Allegheny Valley Railroad
bridge was washed away. The Buffalo, Rochester
and Pittsburg tracks are washed out between On
Bots and Punxsutawney, and traffic is suspended.
The Philadelphia and Erie road east of Driftwood
is flooded. bridge on the Clearfield and Mahon-
ing near Curwensville has gone out and traffic on
that line is suspended. The lower portion of Free
port is under water and the loss will run into the
thousands The same situation prevails at New
port,
In Allegheny today William weightman, aged 10,
while trying TO capture driftwood from the Allie
gheny lost his balance and fell in, and was swept
away and drowned from near the Allegheny water
works Hiram A. Gillen, a teamster, was drowned
while attempting to ford an Oyerhowed place on
horseback In Sharpsburg.
wILIAMsPoRT, May 2l.-The great boom here
broke early this morning and 100000 feet of logs
were swept away. The Susquehanna river has
risen to hirtythre feet than four feet higher
than at the food in 1889. The Pennsylvania Rail-
road bridge over the river is standing the pressure
soldly but the city bridges have been badly dam
aged. Four spans of the Market street bridge have
been washed away, and three of the four spans of
the Maynard street bridge have gone Both are
iron structures. and the loss win be heavy. No
lives lost.
The entire city is under water from four 10 twenty
feet. Many sawmills and houses in the lower part
of the city have been swept away. The rain is
coming down. The loss has already reached more
than million dollars, and unless relief soon comes
it will be three times the amount.
JoHNsrowN, May 2l.-By O'Clock this morning
the Conemaugh was over its banks. The alarm was
sounded by the fire whistles and bells of the city,
and almost all of the people who live in the neigh
borhood of the Conemaugh left their houses and
took shelter on higher ground
The water continued to rise rapidly. and by 3
O'Clock had reached the highest point since the big
food of May 81, 1889. In many places it was from
six to eight feet over the banks The loss is yari-
ously estimated at from $4,000 to $4,000 The
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. whose tracks fol-
low the river for twenty-five miles above this city
is perhaps the heaviest loser and its loss is placed
at $4,000.
On the north bank of the river at the Pennsylva-
mia freight depot is a side track built upon an ash
and cinder bank fifty feet above the bed OF the
stream. This embankment was washed out and AT
O'Clock about 200 feet OF the track fell into the
water carrying with it four common box cars load
ed with merchandise and palace horse car. In
one of the box cars were five tramps. Three sue
eeeded in escaping, but two were drowned.
The greatest damage to houses was within a
stones throw of the Pennsylvania station. store
owned by Tony George. at the north end Of the
Lincoln bridge was completely swept away with
all its contents. A frame building in the rear of
the Grand Central Hotel owned by Emanuel
James, was also swept away as was the starter resi-
dence on the opposite bank of the river. The body
of food victim foated past the city at noon, but
could not be recovered. The large offices OF the
Cambria Iron Company and the Gautier steel de-
pariment and store of the Pennsylvania Tratie
Company were submerged to a depth of four feet,
and some valuable books and papers were badly
damaged. The Lincoln bridge was badly damaged
by the floating logs and cars. The bridge at Cam
bria was also wrecked.
Many dwellings in the Second and Thirteenth
wards and in the woodvale district were swept
away. The dams at Loretto and at Wildwood
Springs broke during the storm. 1t is reported that
800 feet of the Pennsylvania track near bridge No.
G is washed away.
Hundreds of feet of the stone retaining wall along
the conemaugh has been swept away, entaillng
thousands of dollars loss upon the city.
AT Woodvale mile below, almost every house
on the main thoroughfare, Maple avenue, was in
undated, and an Oklahoma house, belonging 10 a
man named Seymour, was washed away. Another
larger building, belonging TO Philip Brown, was
torn from its foundation.
READING, May 2l.-The city water works are
flooded, and the fires have been drawn 1t will
take several days before the pumps can be started
after the water subsidies.
The north bound track of the main line of the
Reading road hal mile north of Mohersville has
been so badly damaged by the flood that the COM
pany has decided to abandon its for the night.
Every precaution will be taken to guard against ae-
cidents The river is still rising.
The Pennsylvania tracks above Reading are
flooded to the depth of three feet and passenger
and freight Trains have been abandoned for the
present
Three bridges have been carried away on the
Pine Grove division of the Reading Railroad al
suedberg, Stony Creek. and Dauphin and traffic is
completely checked. The reports from the coal
regions, especially in the vicinity of Shenandoah
saw that many of the collieries have been flooded
and It may take week TO pump them out. South
of Reading very little damage Is reported.
PHILADELPHIA, May 2l.-The flood that has SWEEP
down the schuylkill river all day has been gather
ing strength and volume with each hour, and to
night the river is raging like mountain torrent
Above the dam at the city water works the river II
wide and it had room TO spread over the grass and'
and driyeways of Paramount Park, and the damage
there is confined principally to washouts on the
drives.
Below the dam the waters overlooked the wharves
and backed up into the streets and houses two
squares from the banks. The water is three fee
deep over the tracks of the Baltimore and Ohit
Railroad, and two feet of water covers the GROUND
O.