The record-union., 1899-01-19

this morning dam under the Wilson
avenue bridge gave way. Back Of the
dam was body of water d mile and a
half long, hundreds of feet wide and in
Places from twenty-five to thirty feet
deep.
The break in the dam already al
lowed torrents of water to pour down
Oh the flats below it. The property loss
is already large, and if the entire dam
gives way, which seems inevitable, it
will be enormous. Along the line
whence the hood, if it comes. must flow,
ale the big plants of the Standard Oil
Company, the Cleveland Paper Mills,
the Flick slaughter-house and other
manufacturing plants. There are but
few people living in the track of the
flood, and these were all warned, and
have sought safety on higher ground.
The cause of the flood is the recent
heavy rains the melting snow from the
h.llsides and a pond of several acres
oyerfiowing. Streams for several miles
UP the gully have added their quota Of
water.
AT 3 o'clock the right pier of the
bridge fell, and it seemed as If the whole
structure might go at any moment,
though no loss of life had yet occurred.
\ large force of police and flremen were
at the scene.
The Wilson-avenue bridge is e struc-
ture 10O feet long and was built only a
few months ago. 1t cost $3.50, 600.
The break in the dam, which was an
,rsubstantial mass of earth, occurred
lille thirty men We're at work in the
artificial canal being sunk b5 the city
engineers to allow the pent-up water to
find a gradual and safe outlet These
men escaped with not one second to
spare.
They were twenty-five feet below the
ST mmit of the dan,. laboring by the
glow of a few incandescent lights, when
their foreman suddenly called to them
to run for their lives. Most CT them be-
ing foreigners and slow to understand
English. but very few knew what the
command meant. Some did not at first
show any signs of needing il, and were
literally dragged away.
The last man had scarcely left the
trench before a mighty torrent of water
swept down over the trench with ter
rife roar, carrying everything before 1t.
A big force of men We're at once put to
work making embankments in Order to
hold the waters in check as much as
possible. A number of factories and
manufacturing plants below the dam
have suffered to some extent from the
flood, but no great damage to them has
occurred so far.
The north end of the Wilsot-avenue
bridge has already beer moved from its
foundation half an inch, and engineers
have given up hope of saving the struc-
ture. Five of it's piers have crum-
bled away and sunk below the surface
Of the water.
Two stone abutments on opposite
sides of the dam on the west side of
the bridge were at the very brink at
20 o'clock The earth was slowly but
surely giving way on all sides.
A terrific collapse of the earth on the
south side of the dam near the abut-
ments occurred early to-day, carrying
away fifteen feet of earth, ana taking
several telegraph poles along with it.
a few moments later the water under
mined an embankment $50 high and
fifty feet in area, sweeping it down with
the raging flood.
Shortly after 10 o'clock the sixth
2DulmeQl OI the DlS DIiQSc gave way.
The structure sagged, and then, with
a tremendous report, snapped in two.
About fifteen feet of the bridge formed
an inclined plane to the ground.
AS the day wore on the immense vol
tine of water rushing out Of the dam
tegan to have it's effect, and the flood
became perceptibly less. At neon the
water had fallen twelve feet in the dam
from it's highest point, and ii was be-
heyed that the danger 70 the factories
in the lower valley is practically over.
MUNGEN NEARLY ALL Under
WATER.
BOWLING GREEN tO), Jan. 1S.-
One of the worst freshets Wood County
has seen for years prevails south OF
here. Thousands Of dollars worth OF
damage has been done. The village of
Mungen is nearly all under water. The
cold weather will probably cause the
foods to recede.