The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-07-28
DIEDIN RUSHING WATERS.
Two Reservoirs Near FishkilI, N. Y,
Burst With Terrible Effect.
WAS A MINIATURE YOUNGSTOWN N.

The Mountain Dams Gave Way and H.
O 900 Gallons of Water Descended
Upon a Hamlet-Houses Swept Away
and Smashed to KindlinC Wood
Fatalities Caused by the Torrent.
MATrEAwAN, N Y. (SpeciaD.-Surcharged
by the recent heavy rains the twin-Mel-
zingah reservoirs, situated in the first
range of the Fishkill Mountains. o mile
sast of Fishkill, burst at 2 a. m. Wednes-
day. The torrent swept through a mar
row ravine, following the course OF
Melzincah Creek, and burst with all its
fury over q little settlement about Timony's
brick wards on the banks Of the Hudson
River, about a mile away and
800 feet below the level Of the
broken dams. Seven persons were
drowned. The road bed of the New York
Central and Hudson River Railroad blocked
the debris until the pressure OF the water
became too great. Then 100 feet OF the
tracks were washed away, ~blockading
trains. The reservoirs belonged to the
Fishkll and Matteawan Water Company.
1u6y were Olu-ldSulOuCu ~ opppASNNy
earelessly built. The damage Is estimated
at 800, 900.
The dead are: Mrs. John Conroy, twenty.
nine years old, wife OF the engineer Of
Timony's brickyard; body recovered.
Julia Conroy, five years old, daughter OF
the engineer. John Conroy, eighteen
months old, son Of the engineer. Phllo.
mena De Lucca, six years old, daughter OF
Lorenzo De Lucca, laborer in Timony's
zlu -oooro-aI hTra Annin
Ferry, cook in P. n. Murphy's boarding
house, t~hirty-fve years old; body recovered:
Willie Ferry, about ten years old, son OF
Mrs. Annie Ferry; body recovered. John
Linka, laborer in the backyard, married.
wife and. one child; body recovered.
The disaster was almost q counterpart OF
the Johnstown food, though, happily, on a
much smaller scale. TIL dams that gave
way were at the head Of a long, narrow,
rocky gorge. They were both built cheaply
and improperly. The upper dam gave way
before a tremendous volume Of water, which
sven flooded the second dam and caused an
alarming rise Of water in the village, which
stood at the foot Of the valley.
As this receded the inhabitants were
thrown off their guard and when the second
dam fell ont and ~, 000, 900 gallons Of water
came rushing down the defle many OF them
we're caught as they fed toward higher
ground.
The children who lost their lines were
drowned. The men and women who per-
ished were first stunned by the rocks and
timber borne along by the food and swept
10 death.
Just as the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge
ut Johnstown damned up the flood and
added to the destruction, so did the high
embankment Of the New York Central Rail-
road hold back the wall in the village,
where it swirled around, an angry, sullen
pool, until at one time it seemed as though
the refugees who had sought safety on the
high railroad siding in the nearby brick
Yard would be drowned while they prayed
Tor help. Then the railroad embankment
gave way and the food passed out into the
Hudson River, leaving two acres wheret the
houses had been a desolated space, COW
ered with wreckage that entombed seven
human beings.
So, too, does the disaster in its aftermath
resemble the Johnstown flood. There is
the same utter desolation OF families that
have. lost their loved ones and all their
worldly goods. There Is the same public
resentment toward the water company that
infamed the public mind against the South
Fork Fishing and Cunning Club. The dam
caused the loss of life, and the public natur-
ally looks to the dam in trying to find some
one to blame.
But the coincidence between the great
Johnstown disaster and this smaller one at
Tmony's does not end here. Figuring
in the calamity at Timony's were
John Conroy,, the engineer OF the
backyard, and his family Of a wife
n three children. Conroy was one
of the survivors at Johnstown. So was
his wife. She was rescued from the Johns
town food, while her relatives persisted.
Then Conroy married her, and they moved
away from that place Of horrid recollec-
lions. In this last flood Mrs. Conroy and
two Of her children were drowned, and john
Conroy's arm was broken.
There were two reservoirs in the noun
tain, the lower n half a mile distant from
the other. The upper dam gave way, let
ting the volume OF water into the lower
reservoir. This also burst, and the water
rushed down through q ravine.
The food was pent up in the narrow con-
fines and gathered resistless force before it
hurled itself upon the plain below, carrying
death and destruction In its path. What
houses there were In its path were picked
up bodily from their foundations and either
dashed to pieces or whirled along in the
torrents like chips on an angry sea.
1t demolished the brick works utterly.
Not q vestige Of the extensive building was
left. 1t 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. 1t hurled one Of the
'Horkmen's big boarding houses bodily into
the Hudson.
The people had been awakened by the
roar of the torrent rafting down the "a
vine, and realizing intuitively what it
meant, rushed from their beds for safety.
There was no time to lose in dressing or
saving valuables, for the flood was coming
With more than q 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
Yorkmen's boarding houses.
The immediate cause OF the disaster was
the very heavy rainfall for the twenty
four hours preceding the breaking Of the
dams. The alleged weak condition OF
the dams has Been publicly proclaimed
several times, but the officials Of the
water company that owned them declared
that they were quite strong. Civil Engineer
John Robertson, who lives near them and
saw them while building. says they were
very fimsy. What Is left OF them now
looks pitiably weak. There will be an OF.
foial investigation. .