Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-03-23
FLOOD AND WRECK
Rivers of the Middle West Steadily
Rising.
SERIOUS RAILROAD DISASTER IN OHIO
P'ttsburg Reports High Water
and Widespread Danger.
D A M AGE IN INDIANA A

pl obabflity reach stage of thirty feet of
water tonight. Tremendous rains fell at
all points in the two upper valleys last
! night, and the water is rushing toward
Pittsburg at very rapid rate. At IL ain
the Monongahela marks had reached a
stage of twenty-six feet, and the river is
rising about three inches an hour
The following districts are already flood
| ed: All of Allegheny, south of Robinson
street and South avenue; River avenue and
upper Robinson street and the upper dis
tricts traversed by the Pittsburg and West
ern railroad; the lower bottoms of Wood S
Run; lower district of Saw Mill Run;
lower districts Of McKee's Rocks and Es-
pien borough and all the how lands be-
tween the Davis Island dam and Beaver;
Sharpsburg and Millvale districts and the
!ower districts of upper Allegheny anu
Pltsburs on the Allegheny river, includ-
Ing the Allegheny Valley railroad tracks
In the vicinity of Kelly station
The reports from the up-rver stations
IN reference to the rainfall received by
the flttsburg weather bureau show that
from one-haif to nearly three inches of
| rain fell at different water points during
the night
Great damage is reported and fears are
entertained that the flood will be as great
as IN 1881. About o'clock this morning
there was a sudden rise in the Allegheny
river ana clean sweep was made on the
Allegheny side between Chestnut street
and the railroad bridge. All coal floats,
ccal poats' shanty boats. RATS and every
tning anoat were swept away, wrecked or
sunk, entailing a less of many thousands
of dollars.
Along the Miami.
DAYTON, Ohio, March 23.-Dayton is in
worse danger than any time since 1866
when the central part of the city was flood
ed The Miami river shows eighteen and
two-tenths feet at the government gauge
ana Is rising. Last year. when about $50
ooo damage was done, the rivers highest
| mark was sixteen and four-tenths feet
Nortn Dayton Is completely under water
and about three hundred houses are almost
covered There were several narrow es-
capeS, but no lives are reported lost The
| backwater is doing great damage below the
CITY. Three of the six trolley lines in the
c.ty are blocked, and the steam railroads
hCrtn OIL the city are demoralized. At this
writing the levees protecting Miami CITY
ana R1verdale. very populous sections. are
! IN danger and every effort is being made
| tc strengthen the levees The water is in
the cellars in the central portion of the
| city. and large and valuable stocks of mer-
chandlse Will undoubtedly suffer- so that
| the loss IN that direction alone will be tre-
mendous.
Serious Damage.
+ RICHMOND. Ind, March 23.-Heayy
| floods are doing incalcuIable damage. The
| large bridge over Whitewater river has
been destroyed by fire and water The city
electric light plant is drowned out The
Starr piano factory and the Nixon paper
mill have suffered heavy loss. Many peo-
pie nave been driven from their homes. The
streets are badly damaged.
Wrecked by n Washout.
| GAINESVILLE, Ohio, March 23-Balti-
more and Ohio train 105, leaving here at
1:5O am, because of floods between here
and Newark, was detoured by way of C.
and M. v. and Panhandle tracks. Four
| miles west of Trinway, on the Panhandle,
| the train jumped the track into Wakato-
| mika creek. The engineer and fireman and
! several passengers We're killed.
A telegram from Trinway, Ohio, says
that the Baltimore and Ohio train wreck
was caused by washout. The engineer
and fireman were killed The passengers
are being transferred by boat
Any report concerning the wreck is al
most Impossible to obtain before the return
| OF special correspondent sent to the
| scene. Almost all telegraph wires are
down. The best information obtainab!e
now indicates that the crew and passen-
gers all have had narrow escape. 1t is
stated that SO far they are known all
the railroad men and all the PASSENGERS
aboard are accounted for save the Balti-
more and Ohio fireman and the Panhandle
piiol, dHu II Is reported tnat these swan
| the stream and escaped on the west bank
AS the train approached Wakatomika creek
| from the east the roadbed, weakened by
recent rains, gave way under the load and
the engine. followed by all the cars, rolled
on into the back water that had spread
over the fields from the creeks. The en-
gine was completely submerged and all the
| cars except the last went nearly under wa
ter How the passengers escaped from
such death trap is not yet explained
The Ohio Rising.
CINCINNATI, Ohio, March 23.-The rain
still continues. The river at 10 am. reach
| ed the danger line and was rising four
| inches an hour. The real danger point is
| fifty feet. 1t requires over fifty-three TO
| reach the railway tracks. With the river
| rising rapidly from Pittsburg to Cincinnati
and the Great Miami pouring in an unusual
flood below Cincinnati. and with the rain
| still falling. it is difficult to see how a dis
astrous flood can be avoided. Rfvermen
| and others hope for the early appearance
time the usual precautions are taken to
remove goods from the cellars and floors
that can be reached by high water.
Highest in Thirty Years.
MIDDLETOWN, Ohio. March 23-The
Great Miami river is highers here than at
| any time since 1866. when almost the entire
city was under water. The state dam has
broken. causing the hydraulic water to
| run into the canal. Its banks threaten to
| be overlooked into the streets The break
ing OF the reservoir bank would undoubt-
| edly cause less of life All the paper mills
have stopped. Water is ten or twelve feet
in the collars. No trains are running and
the city is shut of from all travel by rail
| or pike.
Road Clear to Chicago.
BALTIMORE, March 23.-At the general
| offices Of the Baltimore and Ohio 1t is
said that heavy rains caused washouts On
| the Lake Erie division of the road be-
! tween Newark and Chicago junction. That
r,rtion Of the line If the flood ceases. will
| be open for trafflc within twenty-four or
| tllirty-six hours. The situation on the Gen.
| tral Ohio division and between GAINESVILLE
| and Newark is somewhat worse. The
bridge at Newark is down and one or two
other small bridges have gone out. and it
may be forty-eight hours or more before
| the repairs can be made. Train l05 was
| detoured by way Of the Pan Handle from
| Newark, ran into a washout at Fraxiers-
| burg on the Pan Handle. and the train was
almost entirely submerged. The conductor