The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-14
THE VICINITY OF PITTsBURG vIsI-
TED BY ANOTHER DEsTRUC-
TIVE CLOUDBURsT.
De HAVEN SUFFERED WORST.
LITTLE VILLAGE FLOODED AND SIX
LIVES LOST IN THE TOR
RENT.
PROPERTY LOSSES AWAY ".
Two Dams Carried Away, But i'm
Both Cases Time Was Given
for Escape.

for Escape.
PITTSBURG, Pa, Aug. 13.-This
morning this city and vicinity was Wis
tied by one of the heaviest and most
persistent downpours of rain that has
been seen here for years. 1t carried
death and destruction with it, and as
a result six lives were sacrificed and
thousands of dollars worth Of prop
erty laid waste. The dead are:
MRS. SUSAN AULD, widow, aged IA.
MRS. ELLEN POPPLETON, widow, aged
49,
MRS. FLORENCE ROBINSON, her daugh-
ter, aged a..
MARTIN COCHRAN, infant
O'NEIL SCHAFER, 10 years.
UNKNOWN MAN.
The storm came from the southwest,
preceded by dark and threatening
clouds. AS the gloom began to dispel
the rain came in torrents, and for an
hour the downpour was terrific. Up
to noon 224 inches had fallen, 1.30 of
this being precipitated during the first
hour. In the immediate city little
damage was done, but the suburbs and
small towns near this city suffered Sc
verely
De Haven, a small town on the
Pittsburg & Western railroad, about
ten miles from here, had to bear the
brunt OF the storms fury, and it was
there most of the lives were lost. The
little town is situated in valley just
at the junction of two creeks,and every
heavy storm fills these creeks and
floods portions of the place. When the
storm burst the house Of James Rob-
inson was made the place of refuge by
ten people Of this number three
women were drowned.
The storm partook of the nature of
cloudburst and filled the streams to
overlooking with wonderful rapfdity.
A torrent of eighteen feet came rush
ing down and struck the Robinson res
idence with terrible force, carrying it
from it's foundation and topping it
over into the swirling flood. The house
collapsed as it was carried along, was
lodged against some willows along the
bank, and the occupants who had
clung with desperation to the ruins
were enabled by superhuman efforts to
make their escape to land all except
the three women mentioned above.
who were drowned and their bodies
were washed down the stream.
Little Martin Cochran was in bed,
sick with scarlet fever when the Hood
entered his fathers house. The shock
and exposure brought his life to an
end within an hour or two. O'Neil
Schafer was standing on the Pittsburg
& Western bridge at Sharpsburg with
thousands of others watching the high
waters. He attempted to eaten a
piece of driftwood, lost his balance
and was caught by the torrent and
whirled into eternity in an instant,
while the onlookers were powerless to
help. The other victim was an un-
known man, whose body vas seen
floating down Goar Head creek past
De Haven.
The west end of Sharpsburg, and
Etna were flooded and the water was
four feet deep in Spang & Calfant's
MILL putting out the fires and COM
polling the workmen to abandon the
building. The firms loss will be about
$4,000 and new furnaces will have to
be built. The loss at Etna will amount
to between $75, 900 and 800, COO At Bow
erstown, the greater portion of the town
was under water The heaviest loss
is to the farmers. Live stock was
drowned and crops ruined
Evergreen people Jared badly Trees
were blown down and small buildings
torn from their foundations. Irwin, a
thriving town on the Pennsylvania
railroad, about 20 miles east of here,
also suffered much property damage,
but no lives were lost.
At noon word was received that the
Fort Pitt dam at Jeanette had burst
and the water was rushing toward
Irwin. Warning was Immediately
given people living in the low land on
the west side of the railroad, but be-
rushing down Brush creek carrying
railroad ties, telegraph poles and de-
bris of all kinds. The car shops of the
West Moreland Coal company was first
to suffer, the employees being compelled
to flee for their lives, many having to
wade through water to their shoulders.
The women and children living in the
houses near the shops We're forced to
the upper stories and roofs Rescuing
parties We're formed and the imperiled
ones were taken down in boats, and,
where the water was lower, ON the
backs of men.
When the waters of Brush creek had
reached it's height, the Pennsylvania
Plate Glass company's dam, which had
been partially repaired since the other
flood, burst again and it's waters came
on its way the Parr Wagon works, the
Hochensmith foundry and machine
shops and planning mill and the lumber
yards of the Irwin Lumber company.
The damage at the machine shops will
run into the thousands of dollars. The
depot of the Pennsylvania railroad
company spans Brush creek, and the
large platform used for receiving
freight was carried away. The rail-
road bridge of the West Moreland Coal
company, at Lariner, was taken away
and about two hundred yards Of their
track washed out. At Penn and Manor
the loss to the residents will be inn
mense, as about sixty houses in the two
towns are almost submerged. The
mining village of Claridge, on the
Manor Valley railroad, near Green's
burg, was almost wiped out by the
cloudburst, but no lives were lost. The
Manor Gas and Claridge Gas com
panies' mines are flooded and great
damage done.
WASHOUT WRECK.