The Irish standard., 1897-05-01
An WFUL.. STORY.
soloudbnrst Sweeps Over Part Of
Guthrie, o. T.
SCORES OF PERSONS ARE DROWNED.

bursting Reservoir Adds Its Vol
1mes to q Huge wall of Water
Which Overvvhelms the Town
Many Sad Scenes Recorded.
- Guthrie, O. T., April 29.-For miles
3 the Canadian valley is dreary waste
ind her people are overcast with gloom.
at sunrise Wednesday morning a
& mighty wall of water, from six to eight
feet high and mile wide, broke upon
9 West Guthrie without warning, crush
ing houses, sweeping away property.
and drowning people by the score.
Every movable thing was swept before
the wave, which passed on into the
valley with rcsistless force, wreaking
terrible destruction to life and prop
erty wherever it reached. Dozens of
human lives are known to have been
sacrificed, how many may not be known
for weeks. Hundreds of houses were
wrecked in the. twinkling of an eye;
for miles farms were completely ruined,
bridges aud tracks were washed out and
railway traffic in every direction is at
standstil1.
The most complete chaos has pre-
vailed all day. The efforts of rcscuing
parties have in many cases proven in
vain. Many people foated down stream
before they could be reached, and their
fate is unknown; others are perched in
is impossible TO estimate the dead. The
property loss is placed at something
near $1,00o,000. Fully two-thirds of the
victims were colored people.
:. business has been suspended in
Guthrie, the stores and banks being
closed. AS thorough an organization
for relief as is possible has been made,
but all aid has been necessarily retarded
by the confused continuation of things.
It will be impossible to explore the
houses until the water shall subside, as
many of them are submerged. The flood
is supposed to have been caused by
cloudburst. supplemented by heavy
rains.
The Cottonwood river is small
stream scarcely more than 40 feet wide,
that winds in many curves between the
banks in West Guthrie, which lies in
the level valley of the river. A ter
rife rain fell the day before, and a
greater part of the night. The river
was already full from heavy rain sew
eral days ago. No great alarm was felt
at night, as the river rose gradually and
the people felt that it was impossible
for the waters to rise high enough to
overflow the steep banks.
Rises as by Magic.
About six o'clock in the morning the
river began to rise as if by magic.
Higher and higher it came, jumping
four feet in 80 minutes at seven o'clock.
Persons who saw the first wall of
water said that it was about eight feet
high, spreading entirely across the val
ley. There was no water in front of it
save that in the rivers channels. The
first wave was followed by others in
quick succession, until the whole
swelled into bank of water from six
to eight feet high. Many had already
begun carrying their household goods
to places of safety, but few had nude
more than one trip when they were
forced to flee for their lives before q
raging, resistless torrent that no power,
of man could hope to stay.
The Reservoir Bursts.
TO add to the horror of the situation,
the main supply pipe of the water
works system burst where it crossed
the Cottonwood, in the southern part
of the city, and all the water in the res
crvoir burst into the river.
In the southern part of the city long
arm Of land is formed by the widening
of the river. On this land lived hun
dreds of negroes. During the night
the bridge leading across the river to
the city had been swept away. The
people were absorbed in watching the
rising waters, when the flood from the
reservoir came down in solid wall
and cut across the arm of land near the
mainland, cutting off the people from
escape.
They fed from their homes to the.
higher portions of the newly-formed
island. In half an hour the mountain
of water had done it's work and prac-
tically spent itself. The air became
hideous with the crashing of houses
and the cries for help of the unfortu-
mates.
Rcscuers at Work.
When the first shock of the disaster
was over the more fortunate on the
island Immediately began to help those
nearest them, while across in Guthrie
proper prompt steps were taken at
rescue. The houses, barns and other
effects began to drift down stream,
! each freighted with one or more human
beings; boats or RATS shot out here and
there from the shore and desperate eff
forts were made to rescue the people.
Improvised RATS were quickly thrown
together and started out into the mad
stream. Before many of them hnd been
propelled couple of yards from shore
they were twisted and broken by the
waters and the would-be rescuers
thrown into the stream. Half dozen
rescuers were drowned even before
those they had tried to save had been
reached.
Many sad Scenes.
Gus Plat, business manager of the
Guthrie Leader, and George Willis, a:
merchant tailor, swan the river at the
risk of their lives and secured boat,
by which a number of persons were:
saved. .
nerro 1yoman with a hoha IN I.,t