Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-05-08

Soon after two O'Clock yesterday af-
ternoon the rumor was rapidly repeated
about the central and lower portion of
the city that the new reservoir had
burst, causing heavy damage to prop
erty along Market street, south of
Seventh, and washing away one house
completely.
Investigation showed that the situa-
tion was not enarly as bad as it had
been pictured, but that it was bad
enough and might have been much
worse had the accident occurred late at
night.
AS it was. alley five, between Market
street and the old reservoir, was wash
ed out two or three feet deep for nearly
the entire length between the points
Market street, while adjoining property,
on the east side of Market and south of
the alley, belonging to Mrs. Adams and
c. A. Schaeffer, was badly flooded, a
torrent of water, carrying much mud
and refuse with it, pouring into and
through two houses and through the
yards of two more, washing the ground
badly and throwing down a portion of
the retaining wall on the east side of
Market street.
The property on the southeast corner
of Market street and alley five is owned
by Mrs. Adams, and on it is a double
frame house, two stories high, the north
side occupied by Edward Wheeler, and
the south by Mr. Kuhn. The water
came tearing down the hill, entering
these houses from the rear, and ran
through and out the front doors, leav-
ing things in terrible shape inside, from
the standpoint Of a housewife. The
front yards were also badly washed.
The property adjoining this. on the
south, is owned by c. A. Schaeffer, and
is occupied by double house, the lower
story brick and the upper frame. The
water did not enter these buildings to
any great extent, but ran through the
yards in even greater volume than on
the Adams property, and striking the
stone wall in front, along the sidewalk.
threw down a considerable section of
it, besides washing the yards badly.
In the alley, north of the Adams prop
erty, where the water had a straight
shoot. it tore up the cobbes and the
stiff yellow clay to a considerable Depth
and extensive repairs will be neces-
sary. When the water struck Market
street most of it ran north to Seventh
street, and covered the whole face of
that street TO Main. where it divided,
some escaping through the sewers
while more ran down as far as Eighth
street, but no particular damage was
done aside from that noted
Messrs. Hall and Jones, of the Water
Board. were soon on the scene, and told
the tenants and owners Of property to
repair damages and send in the bills to
the Board and they would be promptly
liquidated This was the only thing to
be done. as the trouble was an unavoid-
able accident.
The cause of the mishap was pc
culiar. The high service being on full
force in that portion of the city. in
response to the demands of the people
on high ground the pressure in the
mains is heavy. The old reservoir is
not used, but is kept full for emergency
purposes. At the point where the old
reservoir is connected with the city pipe
system, there is valve. which is tight
~ closed down when the old reservoir
is not in use. There is a considerable
pressure against this valve, from the
new reservoir. through the system of
street mains, and yesterday afternoon
it gave way. This allowed water from
the high service pipes to flow into the
old reservoir through the break, and in
short time it was full to the brim and
then ran over the water shooting down
the steep incline to Market street and
doing the damage. II continued to flow
in ever-increasng volumes until the
valve at Market and Seventh streets
could be shut down, cutting off commu-
nication between the high service sys-
tenn and the old basin, when the over
flow stopped. Supt Varney started re-
pairs at once, and this morning things
will be all right again.
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