The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-15
SEVEN KILLED BY FLOOD.
OVERWHELMED NJ THE CoyrEN7s
OF THo RESERVOIRS.

Upon q Brtckynrd-Three Houses nvvera
Away ana Smashed to KindIine Wood-rno
Half Hundred Persons who Lived In the
Houses Were SAFE on High Ground when
the Flood Game. but became Panic-stricken
ut the Roaring water and Fled into Danger
Pew or Those who Escaped Can Toll How
They Were snvcd-New York Central Track.
washed Out and Travel Greatly Inpcded.
Tho two dams that held the water In the Mel
zingah reservoir, 500 feet up on tho FishkiIl
Mountains, south Of the village Of Fishkill.
broke, one after the other, shortly after 2 o'clock
yesterday morning, and the twelve million gal
Ions of water stored in the reservoir, thus sud-
denly released. went roaring and thunderine.
like q small Niagara, down a mountain m.
vine a thousand yards TO the Hudson. There
was q brickyard In its path. and, besides
this. two frame buildings. little more than
s~hanties. and a tenement house. In these
lived the laborers in the yard and their
families. They had warning of what was COM
ing, and leaped or tumbled out Of the houses 10
places OF safety, but when the mighty roar at
waters sounded, and when they saw the houses
swept from their foundations and smaphed
almost to k%indling, they became panic-stricken.
and, fleeing for higher ground, seven of them. a
man, two women, and four children, were
swept away by the water and drowned. II Wna
all over in fifteen minutes, and In tho
confusion that followed and that lasted
for hours 1t was thought that many
moro persons had lost their lives. but All
were accounted for later except two Of the chill
dren that are known to have been drowned,
Five bodies had been recovered. There vaa n
story that one other man, an italian, had lost
his life, too. The panic-stricken people in the
village believed 1t, but none Of them could teIl
anything about him. and the roll call Shove
only those missing whose bodies had been 70.
covered. and tho two other children who arc
known to have been drowned.
The Melzingah reservoirs were two Of the
reservoirs that help to mako up the water run.
ply of the villages Of Fishkill and Matteawan.
lying on tho east bank of the Hudson, opposite
the city of Newburg. The main reservoir OF the
water supply 10 high up on South Beacon Noun.
tain, and holds many times as much water a.
these two. The Fishkin Mountains are a part of
the Highlands Of the Hudson, and the name
given is local. They rise from 300 to 1000 feet
above sea level all the way from Peekskill to
Fishkin village. The highest points arc along
the upper end OF the range. Years ago the
surface water on the mountains above Duchess
Junction. the station below Fishkill Landing on
the New York Central Railroad, ran of into the
Hudson by o little brook sometimes known an
the Tonawanda, and sometimes as the Melxin-
gah. Five hundred feet up the mountain aide
thero were Two shallow lakes or pools, where
the water accumulated in some quantities, and
in the dry seasons, when the brook down the
mountain ran dry, these shallow lakes held
water for days. The brook down the mountain
ran through a natural ravine, with towering
rocky sides part Of the way. Half way down
there was a rocky ~precipice thirty-hve feet 61eh.
over which the water fell, to continue on down
the slope to the almost fiat lands at the
bottom. These fiat lands are solid clay of the
kind used in making bricks. and that is how the
brickyard and tho three houses came to bo
located 4 at the foot of the mountain directly In
the path of the brook. The ravine down which
the brook ran varied in width from ten to twenty
feet. The fat lands were perhaps 800 yards
across. On either side the land was higher, and
down through the centre in recent years there
has been a high strip, the result of the dig
ging out of the clay. The creek when 10
reached the fiat land ran to the north
side Of this strip OF high ground. The
three houses were built on the slope Of
the south side OF the high ground. Two were
two-story frame buildings that had never been
dignihed by paint, and the third was q three
story building, brick to the second floor and
frame above that. 1t was the three-story
building that was used as n tenement. The two
frame buildings were merely places to sleep In,
hardly moro than frames with sides and roof.
There are three or four other buildings on the
ohu VI blAly = VI ulOT0 9uOvO
the level. too high to figure In this calamity,
and on the south. 100 yards away. is . high
frame tenement. also too high to be damaged.
Where the brook took its last tumble
to the fiat lands is the old post road, and across
the ravine at that point was q wooden bridge.
Tho tracks of the New York Central Railroad
run along tho rivers edge outside the brick
yard and the brook flowed into the river under
tho tracks through a stone culvert. All this 70
| panaaaary fn ~ la p1ain aYartlv what ha NNanAl
when the deluge OF water came In the early
hours yesterday morning.
The two shallow lakes told about were turned
into reservoirs by tho water company which
furnishes the nearby villages with water some
eight years ago. All that was necessary to
make them reservoirs was to build dams above
the ravine in two places. At first the company
thought one reservoir would be sufficient, and
they built the upper dam of the two and thus
made storage room for about six million gallons
OF water. AS this was to be the only dam, 10
was built in the place best adapted for 1t. That
was n cut between two small peaks in the noun.
tain. Tho cut was about thirty feet deep and
about the same distance across. Tho water
backed up behind this dam a hundred
feet or SO. The cut spread out back
OF the dam the width OF the shallow lake, which
was about 100 yards. After the first dam was
built new storage room was required and the
WI thlh "ho pun IL ~ IL ca -
OF the ravine there wcrc two natural hills. The
distance between them WAS a little greater than
1t was where the first dam was built, and the
second dam WAS built across between them.
Then tho anChorages on either side were
solid ground. From the top OF this solid
ground to the bottom OF the old lake was
something over thirty feet, and this reservoir
when the dam was built held. like the first res.
eryoir. 5000. 900 gallons. The two reservoirs
covered about 2Ie acres. The water from the
upper reservoir flowed into the lower one. and
there were supply pipes running from tho SEQ
ond down the mountain to the village. The gate
was near The second dam. OF course there were
the ordinary overflow arrangements that all
reservoirs have. II WAS this overflow that made
the creek.
Time and time again. every year. the people wh0
live ON the Hat lands and work In Francis Tim
ony's brick yard have seen tho water In the
brook or creek rise almost to the level OF their
l.,... Il a.. "a nt,,tI, prr To kaa