New-York tribune., 1897-10-11
. FLOOD IN MADISON-A.VE. h.
Continued from First Page.

so ,ha nolice we're aware that anything OF I'M
,,r-auce had occurred. AS soon as they appre-
.,oieJ the danger TO the neighborhood fafo'-
man John Fox. OF the Grand Central station
e,,usd ran 10 MS station aud informed IOhce
uaadouarters The Central Office. IN turn
called up the Department Of Public WORKS
+, the mean time the reserves from the Grand
Central Station squad were ordered out OF peu
and under the direction Of their commanding OIL
acar aroused the occupants Ot the houses III the
reighborhood. House-owners and occupants oi
,,h,r buildings were turned out as FAST as pos
s,I,. a,d some Of them made an attempt to
tosa the,r submerged chattels 10 other parts OF
.,,a,r houses but the majority saw that nothing
o,rrd he done and they looked upon the des'ruc-
,ior Of their belongings with comparative
serenity
pr Y r. C. A. AND KNICKERBoCKER a. :.
~ SUFFER.
rne most serious damage done was to the
,,;,1pr Of the Railroad Branch of the Young
nt,,,s christian Association. on the northeast
.,,.,o~ of Madison-ave. and Forty -nfth-st.. ard
, ,h KnickerbOcker Athletic Club. on the
a..,.hoost corner 1t was down the avenue that
.ho biccest part Of the water flowed. Down
80, thoroughfare it ran in the trenches OF the
,,rsacs railroad and on the surface OF the street
,,ss,f When it reached Forty-Afth-st.. the hood
..mrnej east and 50 filed that street that 1t
ev.ydowed the side walks and poured mass OF
ra.cr into the buildings. In the building oi the
voung Mon's Christian Association che Wate'
Rod reached depth ri ten feet in the cellar In al
incredibly snort spac5 r ot nne Ane aIso mao ina1e5
the newly decorated gymnasium ana bowhhs
alleys. . H., ,-,,i,,,
.-hocker Athletic Club. was in The engine-room
'rren he saw water coming through the walls
He called Roland y. MOlineauX, the sccieta- y
of The House Committee. and. under the latte"s
directions the fires drawn ana prepara-
tions were made To save such articles as 1t was
POSSIBLE 10 remove. In twinklinS as II seems
Inc cellar was filed to the ceiling with the IN
coming food drowning the three dynamos and
ali other machinery of the place. Then the
water crept into the basement. in which are the
bowling alleys the bathrooms and the big plunge
swimming tank. Two hundred bicycles were in
ere os the apartments there. and few Of them
were removed 20 place of safety, but many or
them were submerged
The street between these two buildings had
been lately opened for the construction Of q new
sewer. This sewer had only lately been nm
ished. So great was the flood there that the
surface of the street sank several inches under
the pressure. In the Athletic Club the damage
will probably reach $1,000 The club will be
closed even t. its members Until the damage
has been repaired The damage to the Y. VI.
G. 4 building will be several thousand dollars.
MI Mo!neauy and others who suffered by the
accident called repeatedly upon the Fire De
partment 10 send them engines TO pump out the
water bu; IN all instances, they said their re-
quests refused
THE FLOW FINALLY STOPPED.
AS soon as the Department Of Public Works
was informed Of the trouble. men were sent to
the spot to shut off the flow. On account Of the
excessive rush of the water. II said. IL was
impossible for them to determine exactly from
which main the food came and several gates
were shut on the flow of other mains but 10 no
purpose. Chief Engineer Birdsall arrived on the
scene at 6 o'clock and even at that time the big
geyser was bursting out of the ground. sending
forth its torrents at the rate OF two million gal
Ions an hour He directed that the gates should
be shut off at the Central Park reservoir and at
the Forty-second-st. reservoir, with both OF
which the big main Is connected. and hnally
the right gates were found. and the flow of the
water stopped at Z o'clock 1t was then
discovered that a hole about seven feet long
and two feet wide had been blown out of the
four-foot main. and through this rent the deluge
had come.
IN the course Of the flood the entire yard OF
the Grand Central Station had been made into a
lake so deep that the tracks OF the railroad
were submerged. and timber and other articles
there fioated merrily about. The effect of the
break was felt in the Windsor Hotel, at
Forty-sixth-st. and Forty-seventh- and Fifth
ave. and the cellars there were Overflowed, but
no great damage was done. In Madison-aVe. IN
several places the street was so covered with
water that II was impossible for pedestrians 10
cross, and powerfully built man made tidy
penny by carrying people over the avenue at
Forty-sixth-st At that point the roadway was
firm. but at the other crossings the temporary
bridges built by the railroad contractors had
been washed away At Forty-eighth-st. the
asphalt pavement had been greatly distorted by
the bursting OF the main.
J. HOOKER HAMERsLEYs LOSS.
Almost without exception the houses in the
neighborhood so flooded that they have
been damaged TO amounts varying from $500 10
$1,000 In the house OF J. Hooker Hamersey.
at the northwest corner Of Madison-ave. and
Forty-eighth-st.. the basement was flooded to
the extent Of several feet. and valuable brc-a-
brac which had been stored there was floating
about A grand piano left there for the sum-
mer was partially submerged. William Hustace.
on the opposite corner had a similar experience.
and the same story told in scores Of dwellings
thereabouts. The Delta Phi Club, in East For
.y-ninth-st a heavy sufferer In many
instances the owners or occupants of the houses
are still away, either in the country or abroad,
and have as yet no knowledge OF the loss OF
their property The damage done on streets re-
mote from the scene is not heavy. but reports
came from localities as far distant as First-ave..
10 the effect that the stoppage Of the sewers
mad affected the buildings there.
Chief Engineer Brdsall, of the Department Of
Public Works remained At the scene Of the
accident al day. He said that the break was
wholly due TO the blasting of the evening be-
fore. In extenuation for the refusal of the Fire
Department 70 send its engines TO pump out the
submerged cellars, II was said that the appara-
tus Of the Department would be ruined il plit TO
sucn work. .oT II is made TO pump clean water
only, and the water found In the cellars along
The course of the food was filed with filth from
the sewers
1t Will probably be days before an ac-
curate estimate ~ the loss can he made, but II
Is said that 1t will be at least $4,000.
Among the sufferers besides those already
mentioned were Mrs. Lucy b. Jandon, No. 34S
Madison-ave; James D. Taylor treasurer Of
ihe Wagner Palace Car Company. No. 352 Mad
,son-ave.: DR.. L. Bolton Bangs. No. 81 East
forty -fourth-st. Miss Mary Robb. No. 81 East
Forty-hfth-st.: Mrs Ellen Donaldson No. %
East Forty sixth-st.; James ". Beekman No.
- East Forly-seventh-st; Mrs. William A.
smith No 412 Madison ave. and Mrs. Auchin-
Gloss. No "a East Orty-eighth-st.