The San Francisco call., 1896-07-29
Thirteen Merrymakers Carried
Away While Preparing
for Dance.
HAVOC CAUSED BY LIGHTNING.
Damage to Farms, OIL Fields, Roads
and Bridges Will Reach Into
Millions.

In addition to the loss of life reported
last night at the camp of the Eighth
Ward Hunting and Fishing Club of
Allegheny eight more deaths were report
ed to-day in other places.
: At the boarding-hous of Samuel Nc
Kinney at Cecil. Washington County,
thirteen merrymakers were preparing for
8 dance last night when they were carried
away almost without moments warning,
and seven of them were drowned. Before
being rescued the others were in the water
some four hours, others all night, and the
experience they went through will never
be forgotten.
The dead were found to- day strewed all
along the food-swept valley of Miller's
Run, the nearest two miles from the scene
of the disaster and the furthest eight miles
below. The dead are:
Mrs. Samuel Mckinney, aged SO.
Margaret Mckinney, aged 80, unmar
ried, eldest daughter.
James Mckinney, aged s, youngest son.
F. C. Beatty, oil pumper, aged 26, un-
married, of Bradford.
J. c. Higgins, oil pumper, unmarried,
aged 80, of Oil City.
Jennie Holmes, aged Is, unmarried.
aged 80, unmarried.
The house was two stories high, and was
raised on props just above the banks of
M1llers Run, and about seven feet above
the water level of that insignificant little
creek.
While preparations for the dance were
going on it was noticed that the water was
creeping in under the front door. The
hY7f
was felt, and the party began to remove
the furniture to the second floor. While
they were thus engaged the house gave a
lurch and went swirIing into the food
amid the shrieks of the inmates.
Eleven of the inmates were on the second
floor. They made rush for the stairway,
but it was too late, the room below being
full of water. James Pierce, an oil driller,
went on the roof of the porch. He was
swept ashore and saved. Charles Redding,
rig builder, jumped through window
into the water and managed, by clutching
the bushes, to drag himself ashore.
The villagers came trooping out into the
storm, but could do nothing as the house
swept by, and it was soon lost to view in
the binding rain. The roof of the ko1se
gave way with crash, and one by one the
victims were swept from the second floor
to which they were ciinging as to raft.
Samuel Mckinney had endeavored to
obtain hold upon his wife and youngest
son, but they were swept from his grasp
by the rush of the current. Mckinney
himself was under water for some time,
but eventually reached the bank in q
faint condition and was drawn out by the
people on the shore.
Pohart McKipnav napbavr 1bF 3
in tree near GLADDEN.. He remained in
the limbs all night and a searching party
found him there in the morning. Lizzie
Holmes was also found in a tree and was
rescued.
Suddenly and as swiftly as it rose the
creek fell. BY 6 P. N. to-day all the
bodies had been recovered and the run
was purling along, an inoffensive creek
once more.
Near the Morganza Run School Gus
Wright, coIored driver for Bradwelrs
livery stable in Carnegie, lost his life in
CHARTERS Creek about o'clock last light.
He had driven to Cannonsburg in a two
horse carriage, and was on his way back
In the darkness be did not discover the
bridge had been carried away, and drove
into the swollen creek.
In Lawrenceville (Seventeenth Wardl
the damage is greater than on Jlly Is,
when the storm wrecked the stone wall
surrounding the Aliegtany Cemetery.
The broken wall offered no resistance to
the food last evening, and a raging tor
rent not only devastated large portion
of the beautiful Allegheny Cemetery, but
flooded Butler street and streets below to
a depth of nearly five feet.
The cellars of hundreds of houses were
flooded and the first floors of several score
were covered with water. Every street in
that part of the city was blocked with
broken trees, stones, rubbish and mud.
All over the city traffic was suspended
In the mill districts along the Alleghany
river twenty-five lar smokestacks were
toppled over by the force of the wind, in a
number OF instances wrecking the build
ings on which they fell.
Scarcely had the thoroughfares been
made passable and delayed cars began to
move when the night deluge came on.
This, in point of downpour, was even worse
than the evening food. The high wind
was absent, however, but the heavens
were almost cont nuously lighted with ter
rife flashes of lightning and the roar of
thunder was continuous. The storm con-
tinued with slowly diminishing energy
until midnight.
Reports from the districts surrounding
the cities detail the destruction of build
ings, death of farm stock and much dam
age to crops and fruit. All the railroads
entering the city suffered considerable
damage and delay. The Baltimore and
Ohio railway is apparently the worst suf-
ferer. Trains from above Eureka on the
main line we're unable to get Through from
last evening up to noon to-day. The
through trains from the West were ex-
pected early in the afternoon. The delay
was caused by landslide near Eureka.
large culvert at Port Royal was also
washed out and had to be bridged over be-
fore trains could proceed.
The river took an upward turn early this