Evening star., 1896-07-28
HOUSE WASHED AWAY
Fifteen in One Building Drowned
During the Storm.
PITTSBURG SAVED FROM 4 CYCLONE
All the Necessary Conditions Pres
ent, But the Hills Saved It.
EXTENT OF THE DAMAGE

PITTSBURG,July 2S.-During last nights
storm boarding house near Cecil, Wash
ington county, was washed away, and the
occupants fifteen coal miners, were drown
ed.
The boarding house which they occupied
was blown down and swept away. and Of
the sixteen miners IN it fifteen are believed
| to have been drowned The bodies of five
have been recovered. One of the men was
rescued. They are all foreigners, mostly
| Italians. and were employed in the mines Of
Col. w. p Rend and the Ridgway-Bshop
Coal Company.
The boarding house was little mining
settlement called Cecil, on the line of the
eight-mile branch of the Panhandle road,
which leaves the CHARTERS division at
Bridgeville. The branch runs over to Nc
Donald, and Cecil is located midway be-
tu cen the two points.
The fatality occurred at am, when the
small stream, Painters rum which empties
into CHARTERS creek, was suddenly swollen
into a raging torrent by a cloudburst. The
stream had been very high on account of
| the rain, but little damage had been done
before the rush Of water which carried
away the tene ment house.
The particulars Of the fatality which
| have been received in this city are very
meager, owirg to the remoteress Of the
locality and to the fact that the wires are
down.
Five of the bodies of the unfortunates
were recovered during the morning at
various points about a mile away from
where the house stood. The other ten are
believed to have persisted. One Of the six
teen was rescued while clinging to a tree.
Another Of the occupants Of the house was
discovered clinging to the boughs Of tree
three miles down the stream. He was un-
conscious and died few moments later.
Damage 70 Mining Property.
A great deal Of mining and oil property
was damaged in the district along the run.
The water rose some places to a depth Of
eighteen feet. The loss in the district will
amount to thousands of dollars.
AS all the miners in the house which was
swept away were foreigners and mostly
Italians it was impossible to learn their
names.
Many narrow escapes are reported from
the valley through which Painters run
courses, and 1t is not unlikely that some
others may have perished. although there
is no further rumoreG loss of life.
away, but the occupants far as learned,
all managed to seek places of safety before
their homes were carried down the stream.
Some of the occupants were rescued in
skiffs.
The rigging in many Oil wells was swept
away, and the men working about them
were compelled to flee for their lives as the
torrent bore down the valley on it's course
of death ard destruction.
The high water caused the boiler to ex-
plode in the No. mine Of Col. w. p Rend,
the Chicago operator. The boiler house
ives destroyed and considerable damage
wrought, but no one was hurt.
The full extent of the damage wrought
was not known till daylight, when rack
and ruin was apparent on all sides. Steeples
" ere blown from churches and adjoining
buildings crushed, houses were unroofe1,
trees broken off and in some cases torn up
by the roots, while the havoc caused by
the heavy rainfall of last v eek was re-
peated.
reported is as follows:
Dead-Jacob Affelter, aged thirty-fve, II
Forward avenue. instantly killed on Green
field avenue by falling fence.
John Figus, aged twenty-five, skull crush
ed by falling tree at Sugar Camp Grove.
1njured-Abner Hayes, freight receiver p,
FIT. W. and c. Co., struck by lightning,
may recover.
August Sendtz Robinson road. Allegheny
with family of six, shocked by lightning,
all in critical condition.
A NJ. Bennett and two children, % st.
Clair street, struck by lightning, condition
critical.
George Miller, 226 Main street. Allegheny,
fatally injured.
Thomas O'Conner, Jacob Metz Charles
Kesaick. Harry Hedde all seriously in
jured by falling trees, at Sugar Grove.
Henderson Ritchie. aged ffty-five, struck
by lightning at Mckees Rocks, will not re-
cover.
Sidney Gebhart, South Side struck by
lightning, will recover.
William Parenitt. postal messenger,
struck by lightning, injuries slight.
James Brady, janitor of the Ralston pub
lie school, struck by flying bough.
Police Officer w. P. Smith, struck in the
back by flying signboard.
Motorman Shaw Of the Bloomfield line
shocked by lightning.
Six girls in Armstrong; cork factory cut
by flying glass.
Uncle Bob well-known negro shock
ed by lightning
E. McGovern, a baker, and an unknown
boy. slightly hurt by falling awning.
- Myles. six-year-old daughter of Geo.
Myles, % Mulberry alley, struck in the
head with brick.
Mrs. Thompson of Carbon alley, struck
by falling chimney.
Unknown stable boy, blown against a
cart at 22d street and Pennsylvania avenue
and broke two ribs.
Three Records Broken.
Three meteorological records were broken
yesterday. 1t was, In the first place, the
hottest day of the year. The thermometer
at o'clock was 93 degrees, the maximum