Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-07-14
Nine Persons Drowned by Dam Burst
in Fishkill Mountains.
WATERS BECOME ROARING TORRENT
Much Damage Done to New York
Central Road Bed.
SEVEN BODIES RECOVERED

wan burst at o'clock this morning owing
to the heavy rains. The water into
the creek, and two miles below. near
DutchesS Junction, washed away brick
yard buildings, including a boarding house
occupied by laborers. 1t is reported here
that nine of them were drowned and others
are missing.
The food washed away 200 yards of the
Hudson River railroad track. Trains are
stalled each side of the breach.
There were two reservoirs in the noun
tain, the lower enc half a mile distant
from the other. The upper dam gave way.
letting the volume of water into the lower
reservoir. This also burst and the water
rushed down through ravine. Van Buren
Il Timonys brick yard on the Hudson,
just below Duchess Junction. a mile
distant from the site of the lower reser-
voir. Without warning the flood reached
them through the ravine and made terrible
havoc Buildings were torn in pieces and
their occupants carried away in the raging
flood The water works system was oprr-
ated by private company and supplied
the villages of Mattewan and Fishkill-o on
the-Hudson.
Temporary Trestle Built.
A temporary trestle has been built at
the break in the Hudson River railroad
track, and the Montreal express, south
bound has passed over. 1t will be late
time.
The rvoir is situated in the Fishkill
mountains. about mile east Of the june
tion. 1t collects the surface water from
the north side of South Beacon and the
south side of neishboring mountain, and
is 800 feet above tide water Its overflow
reaches the Hudson by way of small
stream known as Towanda creek. AT the
west end of the ravine are the devastated
brick yards.
-nA
feet long and 300 feet wide, and 80 or Sd
feet deep. 1t is used as an auxiliary sup
ply to the regular water works system of
Mattewan and Fishkil Landing, from the
main source of which ii is distant about
four miles. The largest reservoir of this
system is considerable lake, near North
Beacon. which has massive masonry and
Is intact. A second reservoir. situated
much lower down the mountain. which was
built to reduce the pressure into the pipes
is also unbroken. These two have direct
connection with the Dutchess Junction res
ervoir. though all three feed into the same
pipes. ,--s-=-
Much Damage to New York Central,
Superintendent Van Etten of the New
York Central railroad said today that the
accident to the Centrars tracks at Fishkiil
Landing, caused by the bursting of the
Beacon Mountain reservoirs, involved the
washing out of loo feet of roadbed. vary
he
traffic was stopped at $50 I'M, when the
accident occurred and the first train south
bound was sent through at $50 am Mr.
Van Etten said it would take until noon at
leaSt TO get the northDound track in con-
dition for service.
Seven Bodies Recovered.
At 9 o'clock seven bodies had been re-
covered. Two of them were those of Peter
Muligan and wife. who kept one of the
hoa
borers that We're swept away by the food.
The names of the others are not known. 1t
is reported that twenty are still missing
lons OF earth and sand were washed down
IN the Hood, and men are digging into this
mass to recover other bodies
Workmen are now disging for them in the
debris, which extends for a distance of a
thousand feet On the tracks of the Hudson
River railroad.
Trains We're stalled all the way from
F1shkill to Poughkeepsie One of these
was Cook excursion train, the passengers
on which expected to start for Europe to-
day.
List of the Dead.
The identity of nine bodies recovered
has been established as follows:
Peter Mulligan and wife.
Mrs. John Conroy wife of the engineer
OF the reservoir, and her two children.
Julia. aged six, and John, one and one-half
years.
Mrs. Annie Ferry. a widow. and her
nine-year-old son. Willie.
Selma Lowrie, aged six years.
John Sinker, a Hungarian laborer.
Dnzcd by His Losses.
John Conroy, the engineer whose arm was
broken, was dazed by his losses and inju-
ries, and unable to say much about the dis
aster. He directed inquirers to Henry Nc
Gurg&n and Michael Clark, two brick yard
hands who had been in ore of the destroyed
buildings. They and several other men were
in the structure when it started from it's
foundations. Several of the men escaped
by jumping from the windows as the build
ing was carried along by the flood. Clark
remained in the floating structure until it
struck one of the brick yard shanties, which
was moved from its foundation by the colli-
sion. When the current had swept the
shanty near the shore he jumped on the
bank and escaped unharmed. McCiurgan, in
attempting to reach the bank, fell under the
building, which passed over him. He clung
to roots of trees that had been uncovered
by the torrent, and climbed up the bank to
place of safety. His back was severely
injured. Zuica and his brother Martin, who
had left their building after the first big
water, as they called 1t, came down, re-
turned to the building to save some of their
effects. Martin Zuica, hearing the roar of
the advancing waters of the second food
called to his brother and started for high
ground. His brother, however disregardei
the warning and did not follow him, and
perished.
Con. Murphy, a brother of the engineer,
says he slept until 1;3O, when he was
aroused by the people in the house, who
warned him of the approaching flood He
came out and found most of the people of
the house on the stoop The water was
then about four feet deep. The men, wad-
ing through water up to their hips, began
carrying women and children to places of
safety. The first wave Murphy SAYS,
swept the stoop away. The second carried
the house down stream, piling up a mass
of wreckage.
Flood Scoops N FurrOw.
In the side of the mountain was a great
furrow, which had been scooped out by the
floed as 1t came down the bed of the brook
The stream was from fifty to two hundred
feet wide, and had brought down with 1t
great boulders, trees, timbers and other
wreckage. The railroad track had been
covered by sand, mud and rocks, but aad
not been swept away. Half mile up the
mountain, below the reservoir, was Cas-
cade bridge. 1t originally covered a gap
ten or fifteen feet wide. The torrent swept
the bridge away and enlarged the gap to
width Of seventy-fve feet and cut huge