The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1895-04-17
STORY OF THE FLOOD.

pLOhI UT IhE ELOOD.
Montpelier, the Valley of the winooski
and Its Tributaries Inundated-A Dreary
Waste of Waters in Every Direction
Not for More than a Quarter of "A Cent
ury Has Its Equal Been Seen-Property
Loss Small-The Story in Detail.
Not since October 4, 1869, has Montpelier
and the surrounding country that il trib-
utary to the Winooski river anu the North
Branch experienced such a flood as will
make memorable Easter Day, 1896 Early
last Saturday morning rain began to fall,
and the downpour continued without inter-
ruption until nearly midnight of Sunday.
The frost was not out of the ground, thus
preventing the absorption of the water, and
the deep snow in the woods, especially on
the mountains in Worcester and vicinity,
melted rapidly under the high temperature.
1t was an anxious Eas ter Day in Mont
pelier. Soon after dark, Sunday night, the
electric light station aud the gas works sue.
cumbed to the flood and the city was in
darkness, save for the hundreds of lanterns
with which the sleepess male inhabitants
watched the progress of the flood Ever
al er ten O'Clock, Sunday morning, it was
appar snt that high water was inevitable,
and the merchants on Main and State streets
began moving goods from their Easements.
From ten o'clock in the morning until three
o'clock in the afternoon, the water rose four
feet, and before six o'clock it was up another
| eighteen inches.
| High.water mark was reached shortly
after midnight of Sunday, at which time
Main, State, and Elm streets were flooded
The inhabitants of lower State street were
obliged to go to their homes in boats, and
in the highway between the Riverside and
Green Mount cemetery the water was six
| feet deep. The Easements of the federal
building, court house, Hotel Kempton. Pa
| vilion, Montpelier House, and Exchange
Hotel were Hooded, as were the kitchens
at Kempton's and the Montpelier House.
The water in the cellar of the Exchange
rose to within four inches of the dining
room and Office floors.
OnSunday afternoon, when the waters were
| rapidly rising, came the startl ng intelligence
I that the log boom at Putnams mills, con-
tanning over a million feet of logs had
broken away, and that the logs were rush.
ing towards Montpelier. This meant the
swe ping away of every bridge on the North
branch, and possibly the Rialto block.
Happily, this rumor was without founda-
ton, although the boom was in great dan
| ger for ten hours. 1t was actually held dur
ing that time by large force of men with
ropes and chains. j. S. Wheelock, at East
| Montpelier, was not so fortunate, and logs
owned by him, valued at $1,000, were
swept away. The power house at the end
of the bridge at East Montpelier village
also went down the stream.
| A careful canvass Of the situation by
| WATCHMAN reporter after the flood sub
sided verified the general report that, with
the exception OF the one casualty mentioned
elsewhere, the actual loss is surprisingly
small. The flower beds of W. L Draper.
proprietor of the Montpelier greenhouse,
were under six feet of water for twelve
hours, and his loss is fully $500 G. F. Bus
we'll estimates his loss by damage to stock
at about $500, and Marvin & Sherburne
were damaged 500 or more 1t is safe to
say that, with the exception of repairs on
the highway, the actual loss in Montpelier
| will not exceed $1,000.
Humorous phases of the situation were
not wanting. A large sign, " Free Baths"
hanging in the windows Of the barber shop
of W. a. Moss when his place had six feet
of muddy water in it, was very suggestive
A well.dressed young man, who had evil
IDENTIFY been taking precautions against TAX.
| ing cold, walked into the basement of the
Huntington restaurant Sunday evening.
and, when he emerged from his icy bath and
could get his breath, he murmured " Good
joke. good joke" The small boy, and his
older brother as well, had great sport Mon
day morning catching suckers in the street.
AS the waters subsidized, hundreds Of these
fish were left in the depressions on Main 4,
| Elm and State streets, and muddy waters
had no terrors for boy who could scoop
basketful Of pound suckers with his hands.
Berlin street was flood OF waters, and
many of the residents OF that locality left
their homes Sunday evening. All the
stone.sheds, with the exception OF those OF
Stafford & M ;Glynn, were under water.
and coating of mud foot deep was left
when the water subsidized. The meadow
land between Montpelier and Barre and be-
low Montpelier resembled vast lake.
Street Commissioner Roberts was alive
to the danger that threatened the highways
under his charge, and from daylight until
after midnight, Sunday, he had gangs of
men at work. The sluiceway, near the top
OF Clay Hill, under which Towns brook
flows, was INSTRUCTED early Sunday morn
| ing, and the water took to the highway.
| The damage done to the road between the
Cutler burying ground and the foot OF Clay
Hill will cost hundreds Of dollars to repair.
| But for 10 vigilance and personal attention
of the superintendent of streets, the dam
age would have much greater. Mr. Roberts
made several attempts last fall to get the
authority of the selectmen to rebuild this
sluiceway at the top of Clay Hill Had the
work b zen done then, much of the damage
to the highway in that part OF the city would
have been averted at this time. There was
| also a washout in the highway between the
Pioneer bridge and the residence of n. c..
Tabor that assumed large proportions. GAL
| lison Hill and some other back precincts are
yet to be heard from.
The railroads centering in Montpelier
suffered more or less, and, up TO last even
ing, traffic was paralyzed. No New YORK
papers were received here from Saturday
night to Tuesday evening, and the arrival
OF mails Is, as yet, more or less proDlemat,
ical The main line of the Montpelier ana
| Wells River railroad was not materially
damaged, and, until the Kinney bridge was
rendered unsafe yesterday, the trains on
that road have arrived and departed nearly
on time. Between Barre and Montpelier,
travel has been irregular since Monday
morning. The central division of the Cen
trail Vermont encountered trouble enough,
but its connections Jared worse. The night
trains of Sunday were Cancelled, as a pre-
cautionary measure. Washouts at Roxbury
Randolph, Sharon, and at the iron bridge
lust below Waterbury, caused considerable
DELAY. Trainmaster E. ID. Nash again
demonstrated his ability to cope with an
emergency, and with his wrecking crews he
has repaired the damages as fast as posi-.
BILE. The track for mile between Proctor
and Center Rutland was under water, and