The Denison review., 1899-06-16
-OOD|NOTES
Report of the Damage Throughout the
County by the High Water.
THE WORST is AT VAIL
Cattle Killed. Hogs Drowned. Houses Moved,
Bridges Destroyed, Roads Ruined.
Damage Reaches Thousands.

Cattle Killed, Hogs Drowned, Houses Moved,
Bridges Destroyed, Roads Ruined.
Damage Reaches Thousands.
(West Side Journal.)
On Monday night very heavy fall
of rain came here, and on its account |
considerable damage was done, Three
miles west of here abont 800 feet of the
G. s. N. w. R'y bed was washed out,
which brought all traffic to standstill
for several hours. A large force of men
We're Immediately put to work making
the necessary repairs and several train
loads of gravel were. brought to fill in,
and about four O'Clock trains were able
to move cautiously.
The sidewalk north of town was
raised and turned nearly over making
! it impossible to walk on and the dis
tance from the miiS6o the c. & N. w.
! R'y round house was one mass of
water. The reports from the country
are very meager and at this writing
nothing definite can be said.
Vail Observer
| After space Of two years Vail and
vicinity was again visited by flood
Monday night or rather Tuesday morn
ing and this time the water did more
damage and was much higher than any
the city has had before. About seven
O'Clock Monday evening some very
heavy black clouds formed in the north
west and continued in an easterly di-
Erection for an hour or more and then
shifted Slightly southwark and covered
a wide expanse of sky. AS storms have
been numerous this season all were
more or less interested in the welfare
OF themselves and family ana we'll they
needed to be as was proven afterward.
1t began to rain about midnight and
the longer it kept it up the harder it
rained. 1t simply came in torrents and
| the lightning was furious and very
close at times. AT about 1:45 a. m. a
terrible roaring and rushing was heard
and soon the streets were flooded, tax
ing many families unawares, driving
them from homes only to wade waist
deep in cold, dirty water, with stiff
current in which were sidewalks and
/ rubbish, to seek shelter on some higher
ground.
AS was the case on former occasions,
the high water was due to cloud burst
north and northeast of town, which
turned the creeks into raging torrents,
and it came as it had done many time
before, down the creek through town,
across the railroad tracks, down the
Boyer valley to the Big Muddy. Old
settlers and those who have taken the
trouble to keep record of storms of
the town say it was by far the worst
flood in the history of Vail. One in
stance to show the effects and extent of
the destruction is the Northwestern
main line and sids tracks near the de.
pot were washed out to depth of two
or three feet and several yards long.
East of town the gravel was swept
= away, so much so that horse was
drowned and washed right up on the
ends of the ties. The worst washout
was about mile west near the Rund.
lett farm where space of nearly three
feet existed between the ties and
ground. Here we saw pieces of timber
L which belonged to the elevator com.
pany. Traffic on the road Is demorali
. zed yet.
The water was higher than ever be-
fore, going over the sidewalks OH War.
rem street and after subsiding left a
black, Shiny, sticky coat Of mud two OF
. three inches deep in the stores and resi-.
dences which were low enough to admit
the water. What were cosy sitting
y rooms few hours before were sudden
ly inundated and left a coat of mud or
i many a nice carpet, as it did on the
sidewalks. Among the heaviest losers
were Ryan & Ratchford who had quite
. an amount of goods in the cellar which
was filled with water; M. J. Casey also
has cellar full of water which he nc
doubt would sell cheap. Ben Olson
S was heavy loser in his grocery store.
e AS early as 2 O'Clock a. m. people
: were out with lanterns doing all they
could to help, but could not do much
under the circumstances as they were
working against great odds. At 5 a. m.
the water began to subside but an hour
later began to rise but did not come up
to the first mark. By Tuesday morn
{ ing the water had disappeared, but in
the memory of all Vail people it will be
(: remembered as the worst flood yet.
TREAsURER's REPORT.