The Anaconda standard., 1899-08-09
Rushing Torrent Sweeps Down
Sheep Gulch to Court House.
WRECKS MUCH PROPERTY
Total Loss Is Estimated at Seven Thou
sand Dollars-Two Thousand Dol
lars Injury Done at the New
County Building.

and 20 feet wide down that ravine,
flooding all cellars in the vicinity Of
Seventh street and doing damage to
the probable extent of $1,000 to prop
erty. The heaviest individual loss falls
on the contractors for the new court
house, and amounts to about $1,000.
About $40 o'clock yesterday after
noon a heavy rain storm set in. With
it came a thunder storm. Presently
there was a reverberating roar in the
hills above Sheep gulch. Immediately
great sheets of water began to roll from
off the hill sides to the gulch, forming
a torrent there that overflowed the
banks of the ditch.
Reaching the outlet Of the guch, the
water spread in many directions. One
stream formed a course for itself di-
rectly to the new court house, where
1T flooded the boiler room of the iail
and the basement of the court house.
The water also damaged cut stone to
the amount of $1,000. Some of the stone
was buried under mass of mud
washed down by the water.
Contractor John Dolan, who was su-
perV1sing some work. was greatly
alarmed on seeing the water coming
down the hill. With several men he
went to the ditch to try and change the
course of the swiftly rising stream.
They worked for 10 minutes, but could
stand no longer for the strer 9Th of the
stream was too much for them and the
men had to flee from the place. Mr..
Dolan and Billy Wall barely escaped
being carried away and drowned.
The water in it's mad run had carried
down trees, logs. barrels and much
hiCh md
directions. One of the barrels which
came down was hurled over the fence
around Mrs. Thomas Fords resi-
dence.
Several houses came near being swept
away by the water and many families
were greatly frightened. The only
thing which prevented much more
damage being done was a bridge which
is situated about 200 yards south of the
court house. This bridge was built
several years ago and is a very strong
one, but it could not stand the pressure
and was finally swept away.
BY this time Street Commissioner
Shovlin and his men had sufficiently
mastered the torrent so that little dam
age was done after the bridge went
out.
The water flowed down along Seventh
street to east of the foundry, where
the street commissioner had men to
keep it from flooding the houses
Commissioner Shovlin took personal
command of the men. While working
there last night he said to a Standard
reporter:
Il had four men working at the
foundry and nine here. and we fought
hard, but 1000 men couldn't have done
anything. This cloudburst is the
worst one I've ever seen. The sight
near the court house was a grand one
w
off the hills and carried with it stumps
of trees, logs and all kinds Of rubbish.
We did all that it was possible for
us to do
The scene in the residence of Mrs.
Thomas Ford a O.. the corner of Seventh
and Main streets was an exciting one.
Mrs. Ford relates it as follows:
1T was the strongest flow Of water
that l have seen this year. l was
greatly frightened when l saw the
water coming down and thought that
the house would be carried away.
am glad it did not happen at night, for
| would have been frightened to death.
Mr. Shovlin and his men worked very
hard and they deserve great credit
for it,"
w. ]. Dingler, who lives up in the
gulch and has resided there for the
last five years, says it was the worst
storm he has ever seen. He made the
following statement to a Standard re-
porter:
"It tore everything in sight and dam
aged the road greatly. 1t washed down
big rocks and trees. The water was
three feet deep and 20 feet wide. The
cloudburst struck the side Of the hill
and 1t looked like a Kansas cyclone,
! estimate that the water was flowing
down at rate of 60 miles an hour"
Contractor John Dolan said
believe that wac ba,x,xv ro;r
storm instead of cloudburst When
first saw the water coming down this
way, imagined that it was all off with
the court house, and when I went to
the ditch to try and change the course,
/ believed 1t was all off with my life.
1t was certainly a bad storm. l often
told the commissioners that the way
of carrying the water was insufficient
and this has proven that I was right.
/ estimate that the damage to the court
house will be no less than s2OoO.'
The matter of repairing the Sheep
gulch ditch, which was the cause of so
much damage yesterday, was brought
UP at the council meeting Monday
evening by Alderman Mcdonnell. who
said in the course of his remarks:
Several of the aldermen object TO do
ing the work, saying it would cost foo
much. but the cost of repairing the
ditch is nothing in comparison to the
Il
to be visited by a heavy rain storm
Great damage TO the residents of the
neighborhood is being caused by this
delay, and this matter should be at
tended to Immediately"
Alderman Fitzpatrick, in response to
Mr.. McDonelrs statement said he was
in favor OF laying the matter over for
some time, for the reason that the city
engineer had estimated that it would
cost 1000 to have a sewer constructed.
and the people would not bond them
selves just now.
At the same meeting Street Commits
soner Shovlin stated that he did not
have enough men to manage the water
in Sheep gulch The street commits
sioner said. that on Monday the water
had come down with great force and
had damaged property in the east end,
and he suggested that huge net be
constructed to stop the rubbish from
flowing down.
There was much discussion among
the aldermen and the matter was final |
ly laid over until City Engineer Mo