Omaha daily bee., 1896-08-14
FOrorunner Of the Cool Wave Approaching
from the Northwest
ERE STORM WITHOUT ANY THUNDER
Pine Greek ovsrhOws and Sweeps Through
Several Villages,
OELUGE FROM DtHAvEN TO sHARPSBURG
Small Stream BECOMES n RaEinE Tors
rent nnd Carries Everything he
fore It-immcnse DnmaEe
TO RRilrond Property.

PITTsBURG, Aug 1S.-A great rain storm
burst over this city and vicinity this morn
ing at O'Clock deluging territory OF several
miles in area. swelling streams into tor
rents. sweeping away bridges and buildings
and sending half dozen lives into eternity.
The storm came from the southwest and
great banks OF dark angry clouds lowered
over Pittsburg and surrounding country,
turning dawn into darkness and striking
terror to the hearts Of the inhabitants. Sud
denly the clouds burst asunder and the rain
fell in sheets
The dead are:
MRS. SUSAN AULD, widow. aged "a.
MRS. ELLEN POPPLETON, widow, aged
70
MRS. FLORENCE ROBINSON, her daugh-
ter, aged "a.
MARTIN COCHRAN, infunt
O'NEILL SCHAFER, 10 years old
UNKNOWN MAN.
Pine creek which is usually forty feet
wide from half q mile to mile wide.
Dozens of bridges were washed away and
all the towns along the valley are under
water. Dispatches from Westmoreland
county state that Claridge, Jeanette and
Erwin are inundated. At Claridge the
water rose to the second floors and the
occupants were rescued with difficulty
One Of the peCuliarities of the storm in
Pine creek aside from its severity was that
il unaccumpanied by thunder and light
ming. 1t came very quickly and with no
warning whatever. The heavy rain lasted
for fully three hours. The cause of the
storm can be directly attributed to the ap-
proach of the rGo wave from the northwest
heavy fog which mixed with some
smoke hung over the city during the early
morning. This was an indication OF ap-
prOaching trouble. The total rainfall up till
L. o'clock amounted to 2.24 inches. In one
hour the weather bureau showed that the
total precipitation had amounted to 1.S0
inches, which is most unusual. The heavy
rain seemed to keep well north of Pfttsburg.
SUBURBS SUFFER SEVERELY.
In the immediate city, little damage was
done, but the suburbs and small towns
near the city suffered severely. Dehaven q
small oil town ON the Pittsburg & West
ern railway. about ten miles from here
had 10 bear the brunt of the storms fury
and ii was there that most of the lives We're
lost. The little town Of BOD inhabitants
is situated in valley just at the junction
of the two creeks, and every heavy storm
fills these creeks and floods portions OF the
place. When the storm burst the house of
james Robinson was made the place of
refuge by ten people. or this number three
women were drowned The storm partook
of the nature of q cloudburst and filled
the streams TO overlooking with wonder
ful rapidity. A torrent of eighteen feet
came rushing down and struck the Robin
SOD feSlaenCe Win terrible 1Orce. carrying
II from its foundation and toppling II over
into the swirling flood. The house COL
iepsins es II was carried along. was lodged
against some willows along the bank, and
the occupants, who had clung with des-
pGratiOn TO the ruins, were enabled by
superhuman efforts to make their escape to
land Rll except the three women mentioned
above, Who were drowned, and their bodies
washed down the stream.
Little Martin Cochran was in bed sick
! fnUn urha hn anti
his fathers house. The shock and exposure
| brought his life to an end within an hour
or two. O'Neill Schafer standing on
the Ptttsburs & Western bridge at Sharps-
burg with thousands OF others watching the
high waters He attempted to catch piece
of driftwood, lost his balance, and was
caught by the torrent and whirled into
eternity in an instant The other victim
was I'm unknown man, whose body seen
1oating down G0ar Head creek past De-
haven.
Along Pine creek from its mouth at
Sharpsburg to Dehaven, every foot of level
ground was under water for several hours,
and miles of gardens and little truck farms
we're wathed out The west end of Sharps-
burg and Etna were flooded and the water
was four feet deep in Shang d Chalfant's
mill, putting out the fires and compelling
the WorImen to abandon the building some
having almost 10 swim out. The FIRMS
loss viii be about $40 900. The Pittsburg
Western railroad has been blOckaded
practically all day
The loss AT Etna will amount TO between
s75 900 and 500 1000
IRWIN is FLOODED.
Irwin, o thriving town ON the Pennsyi-
vaniG railroad, about twenty miles east
of here suffered much property damage
At naOn word was received that the Fort
Pitt dam at Jeannette had burst and the
water was rushing toward Irwin. Warning
was Immediately given people living in the
low land on the west OF the railroad but
before they could get away the flood came
rushing down Brush creek. The car shops
of the Nestmoreland Coal company were
the first to suffer, the employees being COM
PEELED to fee for their lives. many having
to wade through water 10 their shoulders
The women and children living in the
houses near the shops were forced 10 the
upper stories and roofs Rescuing parties
were formed and the imperiled ones were
taken down in boats and. where the water
was lover the backs of men When
the waters OF Brush creek had reached their
| height, the Pennsylvania Plate Glass com
panys dam which had been partially re-
paired since the other food burst again
and its waters came rushing through Tinker
run, flooding on the way the Parr wagon
works the H0ckensmith foundry and ma
chine shops and planning mill, and the lum-
Der yards of the Irwin Lumber company.
The damage at the machine shops will run
into the thousands OF dollars. The mining
village OF Claridge on the Manor Valley
railroad near Greensburg. was almost wiped
out by the eloudburst, but no lives were