The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-06-06
PENNSYLVANIA A-FLOOD,
LIVES SACRIFICED IN RUSH.
ING WATERS.
Railroads Greatly Crippled-Indus'
trial Institutions Forced to Shut
Down - Bridges Washed Away
Dams Broken - Houses Swept
Frnm Their Foundations


Down - Bridges Washed Away
Dams Broken - Houses Swept
From Their Foundations.
Though there has been great destruction
OF property by the Pennsylvania floods;
there has been but little loss OF life, and, &C.
co7ding to the latest dispatches, the waters
generally were receding, 50 that the worst
was considered to be over.
For five days and nights western and cen.
trail PENNSYLVANIA were storm swept. Cloud
bursts occurred at different points, lives have
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 obliterated by extensive
landslides or washed away by the floods.
In the five days the rainfall In Plttsburg was
4.2e inches. In the Allegheny Valley, at
Warren, It was 6. 81 inches At OH City, sol !;
at Johnstown, 4.3l; In the Monongaheta
Valley, at Confluence; II was 2S1 at Fair
mont, 1.56 ; at Lock 4, on the Monongahela,
II was $50; at Rowlesburg, on the Cheat
River, It was 5.45.
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 southwestern Pennsylvania and
along the west fork OF the Susquehanna
River In the northern central portion OF the
State. 49,.
The Pittsburg and Western tracks in Allie
gheny were covered. Traffic between Pitts
burg and Altoona was suspended, tho Penn
sylvania trains going around BY the Balt1-
hmore and Ohio.
At Bradford the loss was about 100000.
During the food lime in the Stacking pro.
cess caused q fire, which burned the OIL
Well Supply Company's warehouse. Fire.
men who were engaged In rescuing flood
sufferers had to turn their attention to fight
Ing the fire. This they did standing waist
deep IN water.
At Warren the food was the greatest since
1873. Business was practically suspended.
Row boats took the place of street cars 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 covered about eight squares.
At Brookville the Allegheny Valley Rail-
road bridge was washed away, and passen-
gers were transferred In buses by a round
shout way The Buffalo, Rochester and
Pittsburg tracks were washed olt between
Du Bois and Punxsutawney, AMI traffic was
suspended.
The Philadelphia and Erie End east Of
Driftwood was flooded. A brioge on me
Clearfeld and Mahoning, near Curwensville,
was swept away, and traffic on that line was
suspended. The lower portion OF Freeport
was under water, and the loss ran into the
thousands. The same situation prevailed at
Newport.
In Allegheny William Weightman. aged
nineteen, while trying to capture driftwood
from the Allegheny lost bis balance and fell
In, anil was swept away and drowned. Hi,
-pn6
while attempting to ford an overaowed place
on horseback In Sharpsburg.
The erest boom at Wiliamsport broke
and 60,000, 900 feet OF logs were swept
away. " The Susquehanna River rose to
thirry-three feet, more than four feet higher
than ut the food ir 1885, Four spans of
the Market street bridge were washed
away, and three Of the four spans Of
the Maynard street bridge have gone. Both
The entire city was under water from fourto
twenty feet. Many sawmills and houses in
the lower part Of the city were swept away.
The loss reached more than million dol
lars. ".
:. 1t Johnstown the Conenaugh was over It's
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 tneh
TheSwater continued to rise rapidly, andbyS
e'clcck had reached the highest point since
the big food OF May 81, 1889. In many
places II was from six to eight feet over the
banks. The loss is variously estimated at
from S75, 900 to $3.50, 900. The Pennsylvania
Railrotd Company, whose tracks follow the
river for twenty five miles above Johnstown,
placed at $4,000. On the north bank Of
the river. at the Pennsylvania freight
depot, Is q side track built upon an
ash and cinder bank fifty feet above
the bed Of the stream. This enbankment
was washed out and at 4 o'clock about 200
5oet Of the track fell into the water, carrying
With It four common box cazs loaded with
merchandise and palace horse car. In one
Of the box cars were fve tramps Three sue
The greatest damage to houses was within a
stones throw Of the Pennsylvania station. A
store, ,ownedh by Tony George, at the north end
Of the Lincoln bridge, was completely swept
t3ay; with all its contents. A frame build
ing In the rear OF the Grand Central Hotel,
owned by Emanuel James, was also swept
away, as was the startler residence on the
Nood victim foated past the city at
NOON, but could not be recovered.
The Lincoln bridge was badly damaged by
tie floating logs and cars. The bridge
at Cambria was also wrecked. Many dwell
ings 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. Hundreds OF feet OF the stone-re-
swept away, entailing thousands OF dollars
loss upon the city. At Woodvale, a mile be-
low. almost every house on the main thor
0ughfare, Maple avenue, was inundated.
eNThree bridges have been carried away on
The Pine Grove division Of the Reading Rail-
road at Suedberg, Stony Greek and Dauphin,
and traffic was completely checked. The re-
ports from the coal regions, especially In the
vicinity otshensndoah, say that many OF the
colleries have been flooded and It may taSe
aVeek to pump them out.
Above the dam at the Philadelphia water
works the Schuylkill River had room to
snread over the grass lands and driveways
of Paramount Park, and the damage there
vas confined principally to washouts on the
drives. Below the dam the waters over
flowed the wharves and backed up into the
streets and houses two squares from the
banks. Above South street bridge fleet OF
schoonels was moored at the wharves, ana
one of them was torn from Its moortngS and
svept down upon another schooner and
within few minutes six schoonsrS AMI
canal boat were whirling down the river In
a tangled masstoward the bridge.
All the Industrial establishments In the
southern section OF Harrisburg, including
the iron and steel plants, shut down. The
damage along the Lewis5urS and Tyrone
Hati-,a'. that runs to Bellefonte. IS very
great Several bridges have been carried
away. There are extensive washeuts, andit
will I've weeks before traffic can be resumed.
Hundreds OF families were left homeless and