Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-24
FLOOD-SWEPT WEST
Railroad Traffic Blocked All Over
Ohio.
GREAT DISTRESS AMONG TEE HEHOMELESS
The National Guard Called Out at
Columbus.
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GREAT DISTRESS AMONG FHEHOMELESS
ATERS GOING DOWN

PITTSBURG, March PA sudden and
| decided fall in temperature checked the
flow in the headwater streams this morning
and the effect Of this was soon apparent i'll
| the rivers here. After reaching thirty feet,
the water began to recede, and is now
| falling rapidly. At 10 o'clock it had de-
clined one foot, the gauge showing twenty
nine feet. The swell while not quite equal
| ling the food of 1891, was the most de-
structive known since the ever-memorable
one of February, 1854. The financial loss
will be something heavy and will run up
| well into the hundreds of thousands. It
will not be confined to property destroyed,
| swept away and damaged. Thousands of
| workmen have been temporarily thrown
out of employment, and the aggregate Of
the wages they will lose will probably equal
the direct loss on property.
The greater part of the devastation is
| above Pittsburg, the Allegheny. In
ShaIpsburg, Mlllvaie and Etna there were
many bad washouts- All the railroads CEN
tering in Pittsburg and Allegheny were
crippled, especially the Pittsburg and West
ern and West Pennsylvania roads. Opera
| tions Oh these two roads are practically
| suspended and may not be resumed for a
| week. No loss of life has been reported
but many narrow escapes from drowning
| were experienced by those who live in the
|
| district includes the lower portions of Fort
1st, 3D. Sd. 4th and 5th streets and parts of
| 1th, Sth and 9th streets.
The Flooded District.
In fact. the lower parts Of every streat
are more or less submerged, but the deepest
| water covers that part of the city at the
point, where are upward of 600 families liv-
ing. Many of these last night were walled
in by two and three feet of water. and
| there was no way out or in except by
means of skiffs and yawls. Every cellar
| and basement. north of Pennsylvania ave-
| nue., from Water street, and along Water
| street, is filed with water.
| The exposition building is submerged, and
the damage will be at least $5,00U. On the
| south side the warehouses, factories and
| mills along the entire river front were under
| several feet of water and operations COM
| pletely suspended. On Mexican street, here
| a large number of Polish families are living
the water is rearly up to the second floors
| and the occupants are going to and
| from their houses In boats. The low
er tracks of the Pittsburg and Lake
| Erie railroad. in the vicinity of the Smith
| field street bridge were covered with water.
| and passsng were carried over the Pan
handle railroad to Nirnick station, where
| they were transferred to its own road. On
| the Allegheny side the water covered the
| streets two blocks back and extended for
| miles up the river. There is total sus-
| pension Of work at all the mills along the
| <AhSSiChy -ANSi.
| Works Shut Down.
Last night 1t was found necessary to quit
work at the works of the McConway and
Torley Company, Samuel B. Rheam & Co,
Crescent Steel Company, Lucy Furnaces,
| Fox Pressed Steel Company, upper and
| lower mills of Carnegie Steel Company,
Limited; Black Diamond steel works. VIM.
| Clark's Sons Company, Carbon Steel Com
| parry, Armstrong Cork Company. HARRISON
| & Walker Company, fire brick manufac-
| t,rers; Hair sworth Steel Company. 25th
and Smallnan streets; Pittsburg Mortar
| and Supply Company; Totten & Hogg, iron
| and steel manufacturers; ireland &
| Hughes. oil well supplies; Zug & Co.. linn
| tied, 14th street; Howe, Brown Il Co, 1880
| It'll street, and Brown & Co.'S mill, 10th
! street. From 5000 to 5000 workingmen
are thus thrown out of work on account Of
| the flood The mills will not resume work
| until the ater recedes. The Junction rail-
| read below 25th street was completely flood
ed and all work suspended on it. At most
| of these mills the shutdown was caused
| by the water coming up through the sew
ers and stopping machines where stream
| of water is kept constantly running for
| cooling iron. The freight traffic on the
| roads going west is completely paralyzed.
| Local accommodations on all of the rail-
| reads except the Pittsburg and Western
are running as usual. On the PittsburS
| and Western railroad washouts and land
| slides will practically interrupt the pas
| senger trains for several days, while the
| Pittsburg and Lake Erie Is compelled to
| transfer passengers at Saw Mill Run, where
for 1000 feet their tracks are under the
| Ohio floods.
Not for twenty-five years has the Al
legheny Valley railroad been struck SO hard
| by stress of weather. Since 1:30 on Tues
| day afternoon no trains have been run
north of TituSville, and since o'clock on
Tuesday evening no trains have run north
| of Kittaning. On the Fort Wayne the
washing out of a bridge just east Of Canton
| delayed trains for hours, as a roundabout
| detour over the tracks of the Cleveland.
Akron and Columbus was necessitated.
The river division of the Cleveland and
| Pittsburg is tied up by washouts at Wells
| vile, and miles of submerged track.
Many Washouts.
The scene along the Pittsburg and West
| ern railroad is one Of great devastation.
| The highways are impossible for wagon
| traffic, and are in a horrible condition.
Railroad bridges are washed out by the
dozen and no trains were run since Tues
day night The roadbed sank in several
places 1t will take weeks of labor to get
the road in good shape again.
| The bridges at De Haven and Glenshaw
| were washed down Pine creek. Steel rails,
| pig iron and all the available material
along the road were snapped up to weigh
down the bridges which are still standing.
At Wittmer the ice houses are flooded and
wrecked, as are the brick yards and other
down the swollen stream. The streets of
Glenshaw and Wittmer are completely SUBJ
merged. and the families living in the val
ley are in state of terror. Many were
| trying to get to the hills In boats and on
RATS, taking what furniture they could
| with them. Everybody feared that the
catastrophe of last year would be repeated,
when several lives were lost.
| Down the Ohio.
6TEUBENvILLE, March 24-The river
has reached forty feet and five feet more II
expected. Fully fifty families along Water
| street have moved to higher ground. The
Cleveland and Pittsburg and the Lake Erie
and New Cumberland branch railroads are
covered with from two to five feet Of wa
/ ter. At Beaver Falls the food in the
| Beaver river is within a foot of the flood
mark In 1884 and the water is still rising at
the rate of two inches an hour. All fac
tories along the river banks are shut down.
| At Eharpsburg the mills are stopped, gener-
ally shut down. At least 1600 men viii be
thrown out OF employment. At Freeport
a A. T--~ AxN-