The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-15
BIG DISASTER BY FLOOD
RESERvOIR NEIR MATTEAWAN
 BRE4KS ITS BANKS.
Many Lives Are Lost-Everything in the Path of the Torrent Swept Away.

Path of the Torrent Swept Away.
 Matteawan, N. Y, July 14.--A special to the Evening Sun says:
 The big double reservoir on the Fish kill Mountains, which supplied water to the villages of Fishkill and Mattea- wan, burst its banks early this morn that forced its way down the mountain side through the Duchess Valley, sweeping everything before 1t, and ex- pended it's mighty force on the flat lands below before losing itself in the | Hudson river.
 l It is known that nine lives were lost, and it is said that a score of persons are missing. Nine bodies have been recovered. The victims, so far as known, are:
 l Peter Mulligan and his wife. l Mrs. Annie Ferry, widow, and her nine-year- son, Willie.
 | Mrs. John Conroy, wife of the en- gineer and her two children, Julia, aged six, and John, baby, aged one and one-half years.
 Selma Lowrie, girl five or six years old.
 John Sinker, Hungarian. | The reservoir which caused the dis aster is known as the Melzingah. It is situated high up on the hills about two miles south of MatteaWan, and about a mile east of Fishkill. It was built in two parts, an upper and a lower, and was about five hundred feet long, three hundred feet wide and thir- ty-five feet deep. The FishlSill and Mat teawan Water company used it as an auxiliary supply to it's regular water works system, the main source of which Is some miles distant.
 The reservoir collected its water mainly from the north side of South Beacon and it's overflow ran into the Hudson in a small stream known as Tonawanda Creek, running through narrow ravine for about quarter of mile, which opened Into plain between the river and the foot of the hills. The reservoir was five hundred feet above tidewater.
 BREAKING OF THE DAM.
 It was through this ravine that the mighty flood of water swept this morn ing on It's way to the river The flood was pent up in the narrow confines of the little valley and gathered resistless force before it hurled itself upon the plain below. carrying death and de- struction in it's path. What houses there were in its path were picked up bodily from their foundations and eith- CT dashed to pieces or whirled along in the torrents like chips on an angry sea.
 The heavy rains of the last few days had swollen Mcknight reservoir to the brink Every little rivulet that fed 1t had become rushing stream. If the dams had been strong enough the res ervoir would simply have overfowed, and the only result would have been that Tonawanda Creek would have be- come an angry little river. But the dams were not strong enough.
 At 3 o'clock this morning, when everybody in the neighborhood was asleep, the dam between the upper half of the reservir and the lower gave way, and the full weight and the volume of the water that had been confined in the upper part was precipitated against the lower dam.
 Of course it couldn't stand the strain. < IC doW H-CoIllIHS IuSH Ol WdlEE swept it away as completely as though it had been wall of cardboard, and with a roar that brought the sleepy farmers out of their beds trembling with fright, the mighty torrent ieaped down the ra- vine on it's way to the river.
 Nothing could withstand it's terrible force. Luckily there were no dwellings in the little valley. or they would have !, T xn rooted and tossed about like toothpicks, and huge boulders were swept down In the flood like pebbles before the surf
 HOUSES CARRIED AWAY. Between the ravine and the river lay the New York Central and Hudson River railroad tracks, on the edge of a little plain. Between them and the hills, on the loWlands, were about a dozen buildings, chiefly dwellings, and the extensive brick works of Van Buren & Timoney. Two of the houses were occupied as boarding houses for the employees of the brick yards, and contained large number of persons. The dwellings were also occupied main ly by workmen.
 When the flood poured out of the fun nel-like ravine and spread ovehthe flat | ldlluS IT 0iu gained all dWlul lillpGLuS ir its downward rush. It picked up each house in its path and hurled it onward in smashing, grinding wreck. It demolished the brick works utterly. Not 8 vestige of the extensive building was left. It carried away a big bridge across the roadway. and flung 1t in pieces Into the river. It tore away a hole in the railroad tracks 100 yards wide It hurled one of the workmens $ big boarding houses bodily into the Hudson.
 | FLEEING FOR SAFETY.
 The people had been awakened by the roar of the torrent rattling down the ravine, and realizing intuitively what 1t meant, rushed from their beds for safety. There was no time to lose in dressing or saving valuabes, for the flood was coming with more than g. race horses speed.
 Some of them got to the higher ground in safety. Many did not One family, Perry by name, in their wild flight left their baby behind. Most of the killed were in the workmens board ing houses.
 A visit to the reservoir shows that the overflow began about seventy-five feet from the gatehouse and washed