The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-07-15
BURSTING RESERVOIRS
Oalse a Harvest Of Death in Two
New York Towns.
EIGHT LIVES PROBABLY LOST.

NANe bohleS ltttuNeftu huu IufeH
Others Nisslng-One of the victims
WAS Rescued From the Johnstown
flood, ana Married Her Rescner.
Poughkeepsie, NJ r.. July 15.-The
two large reservoirs in the Fshldll
Mountains which supplied water TO the
towns of Matteawan and Bishkll
burst their walls at o'clock yester-
day morning. and the water that was
released swept through the Duchess
valley, causing ruin and death. Five
bodies have been taken from the
wreckage left in the wake of the flood.
and there are known to be two and
probably three more lying somewhere
beneath the piled up debris which is
all that remains of three houses that
were swept away by the mighty tor
rent. The names Of those whose bodies
have been recovered, as officially given
out by Coroner II. b. Bevier of Mat
teawan, are;
Mrs. John Conroy, aged &C. wife Of the
engineer in Timoney's brick yard. Her
body was badly bruised by contact
with trees and wreclSage, and was COW
cred with mud.
Mrs. Mary Ferry, aged 3S years, a
widow. Her body was in the worst
condition of all the victims, being COW
cred with mud and bruises.
William Ferry, aged years, son of
Mrs. Ferry. The body was in good CON
dition, except for bruises about the
head.
John SrulSa, a Hungarian, 2S years
old
Philameua Deluka. an Italian girl 6
years old. The body was unmutilated.
The missing are; John Conroy aged
2 years, son of Engineer Conroy;
Julia Conroy. aged years. a daughter
of Engineer Conroy; an unknown Hun
garian whose brother declares that he
was drowned.
There were two floods. The first was
not disastrous, but alarmed the lnhabi-
tants, most of whom left their houses
A short time later the second dam
burst pouring the flood down the
mountain, carrying with 1t great
mass of debris, parts of buildingfS etc
This struck the buildings in the rear
of Timoney's brick yard. One was a
boarding house, conducted by Patrick
Murphy. This building contained five
families. A short distance from the
Murphy boarding house was a building
occupied by about 25 laborers, mostly
Slavs, with few Italians. From these
two buildings the victims were taken.
The body of Mrs. Mary Ferry was re-
covered yesterday afternoon, dug from
mud and debris 10 feet deep. Thirty
five men worked all day in the ruins.
Mrs. Conroy, one of the lost, before
her marriage lived at Johnstown, Pa,
where the great flood occurred several
years ago. She was rescued there by
John Conroy, who afterwards married
her
There are three Of the Timoney brick
yards. Two of them are badly dam
aged The north one, managed by
Frank Timoney, Jr., is a total loss.
The flood swept directly over the val
ley, carrying away everything but the
sheds. The brickmaking plant, wag-
ons, carts, etc, were swept across the
railroad track into the river.
At the northern yard were 60 arches
of green" brick, $4,000 in each arch.
The water softened these, and let the
whole down in a mass of clay. A 12,
arch kiln was burning. The flood put
out the fire and partially ruined the
brick
Most of the ruins have been searched
over and 1t is possible that some bodies
have been swept into the river The
water still runs through the yard.
which is covered to a depth of several
feet with gravel. mud, trunks of trees,
parts of wagons and like material.
finding its way thence through cul-
vert into the river.
The three buildings in which the la
borers had quarters were totally
r11 l..
wood two feet long anywhere. In the
ravine there are great rocks, some of
them weighing five to ten tons each,
rolled down the mountain by the taPs
rent. One rock, Weighing ten tons at
least, lies on the site of Murphy's
boarding house 1t is supposed to be
the one that knocked the house off It's
foundation. Frank McG lnnis, a 10
yearvpld boy, a machine tender in
Timoney's wards. was on the piazza
of Murphy's house. He says the house
broke in two The flood carried tho
first half, with him clinging to 1t, down
towards Hammond & Freeman's yards.
which ad1oin TimOney's. He went
under several times, hut managed to
swim, and was at length pulled out IN
an unconscious condition by Charles
stitch OF clothing on when rescued.
His body was badly bruised, and he
has a great cut on the face from the
right eye across the mouth TO the chin.
When he recovered consciousness, half
crazed, he started for the water again,
but was held back.
The Montreal express train arrived
at the scene about three minutes after
tha accident, and was tagged through
the efforts of NJ. II. Reilly, an employe
Of Timoneys who boarded at Muir
phys. He thought nothing OF the
heavy rain storm until he heard some-
body on the piazza, about $50, speak of
the reservoir on the hill, After making
Inquiries he apprehended danger, and
went down to the track. Soon after
ward he heard a tremendous roar IN
the mountain. and then the crash of
the buildings swept away. A freight
train had just passed that portion OF
the track and stopped below, having
struck a rock that had rolled down the
mountain. Reilly hurried down the
track and told the 1agman that the
Foadbed was covered nv Fha flood and