St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1895-04-19
A GREAT FLOOD.
Northern New England Visited by the
Greatest Freshet since 1909.

interrupting all avenues of trade and
paralyzing business on Monday and
Tuesday all over New England.
The rain commenced on Saturday and
continued for two days without any in
terruption.
High Water at ST. Johnsbury.
Sleepers river reached its highest point
Sunday afternoon and did very little dam
age. Most OF the ice passed out Of the river
the day before the storm which was
very fortunate circumstance. An ice jam
formed just above the OK barn at Fair
banks village Saturday afternoon and
workmen were busy all that evening
breaking up the jam with dynamite.
The Passumpsic reached its highest
point al about midnight Sunday. AtSt.
Johnsbury Centre the water was just
eight inches lower than in June, 1898.
No bridges were washed away on the line
of this river and the ice did not form any
jams.
Railroad Service Paralyzed.
On Sunday all through trains were
cancelled on both divisions of the Boston
& Name and the railroad service was
not resumed again until Wednesday,
No mail reached this town from Boston
and New York from Sunday morning
until Wednesday noon and it was impos-
sibe to reach any place below Wells
River until that time. The Passumpsic
division had serious washout between
Bradford and Newbury where the track
for a long distance was washed off the
embankment and in several places water
covered the track.
On Tuesday morning a bad washout
was discovered a the old Emerson tres
tie about a mile west of Fairbanks vii
age. Here a portion of the road bed
about seventy feet in length had entirely
vanished, leaving a hole probably 30
or 40 feet in depth. Trains have been
running and transferring mails and pas
sengers at the break since it occurred.
The Connecticut River
did lots of damage all along the line
At Passumpsic the railroad bridge was
weakened and a considerable portion Of
one wing of the south abutment was
washed away. force of men fixed this
temporarily on Tuesday so that trave
MAS uplSu. AZ NlNlhpONo ~ " t's
feared the bridge to Monroe would be
swept away, but this did not happen
The Connecticut River Lumber Company
lost both their upper and lower booms
and a number of logs were swept dowr
stream. At Barnet the industries had tt
stop work because of the high water ant
E. M. McGaffey's house was almos
undermined. The river came up to hi
doorstep and he removed his family tC
, the top of the hill for safety. Vernon
lanes aud Walter Stevens were out in
boat and got upset and would have beer
, drowned had they not been rescued by {
boat which put out from the New Hamp
shire side.
Notes at st. Johnsbury.
An accident at the Electric Light sta
ton Saturday night caused darkness t
prevail in our village for the next tw
nights. Water got into the big endles
+, belt at the plant and help was sent fol
= but as there were no trains it was owe
i as hours before the belt could be r.
paired. There were no serious washout
t in St. Johnsbury, though the river COY
Z cred the highway on the North Danvil
road, and the rain washed the "For
e Corners" road pretty badly. A grea
many people who were trying to reac
F. St. Johnsbury on Monday were delaye
$ two days in various parts of New EN-
r land Among this number were nun
Der of Academy students and several {
10 the lady teachers.
= There were bad washouts on Cliff an
: Spring streets, where the Italians lal
the pipes late last fall.
lie The telegraph service was interrupte
/ all day Sunday and up to nearly MOI
IS dav noon. When the lines were opene
business came with arush and the oper
h tors were kept busy until midnight. III
telegraph boys handled $50 message
,e Monday, which is the largest amour
n ever handled in the st. .ohnsbury oftlc
On Tuesday they had another big da
-, and the lines at Concoad were so mike
:. up that messages were sent here fro
81 Concord to New York via Montrea
People wrote letters and mailed ther
v but there were no mails beyond Wei
River until Wednesday. That noon t.
e mail trains came along and nearly
Of sacks of mail were delivered to the S
Johnsbury office.
re The Flood Elsewhere.
n The Connecticut river has this WEE
S risen to the highest point known sin
'62. Great damage has been done abo,
Brattleboro, and people living opposi
the town have had to leave their home
West river, which joins the Connecticut
y, mile north of Brattleboro has wash
away the railway for about three qua
10 tiers of mile.
" Near Mddlebury thousands of acres
d, lowlands have been submerged but not
Id ing of a serious nature has occurre
r. The Green Mountain Pulp company
booms are broken and most OF the 10
Al are on the way to Lake Champlai
~ though many will be driven out to t
meadow lands.
Two miles of railroad bed near job
Ct son were washed out, and no trains II
W. between that place and Cambridge Jur
ton from Saturday night to Tuesd
to morning. The power station was
danger at one time.
rs. The road at the Whitcomb bridge
the Winooski river, Essex Centre, h
s+ been at least six feet under water.
~ A sad incident of the food was t
drowning of Carl, the ten-year-old S
of H. E. Bliss of Montpelier, who fell
to the river at the junction of the Wore
ter branch and the Winooski rivers
Monday afternoon. The unfortunate |
IT. made brave attempt to swim asho
6. and heroic efforts to save him were ma
Inv those who witnessed the accide