The age-herald., 1900-04-08
Eight of the Unfortunate Work
 men Were Drowned.
HEIGHsoRING TOWNS ARE WARNED
Hundreds of Houses Were Swept Be- fore the Terrible Wall of Water Between Thirty and Forty
 Lives Were Lost

Austin, Tex, April This city tonight is in pitch darkness, ( ith a raging river one mile wide and swollen far beyond it's natural banks, roaring and surging through all the lower portions of the town, having spread destruction and death in its wake. In addition to the vast loss of property interests, it is calculated that between thirty and forty lives have been sacri- ficed and the reports coming in from the tributary country tonight do not tend to improve matters.
 The flood is not unlike the disastrous Johnstown flood some years ago, in that a raging river, already swollen far beyond its capacity, bore too heavily upon an im- mense dam spanning the river there, break ing the same and letting loose a reservoir of water thirty miles long, half a mile wide and sixty feet deep, to aid in carry ing destruction down the valleys of the Colorado river.
 The great dam in the Colorado river gave way at noon today to the enrmous press ure of water and debris, and with roar and crash swept the valleys below the city, wrecking the immense light and power plant and drowning eight workmen.
 Following is a list of the known dead including those killed in the power house: FRANK PINCET.
 FRANK KINNEY.
 WALTER FLOWER.
 WALTER JOHNSON.
 ALFRED JOHNSON.
 FRANK FITZGERALD.
 WALTER BLOSSMAN.
 JOSEPH NEWMAN.
 DICK MORRIS (colored).
 JOHN PROES.
 CHARLES BURCHARD.
 SIX NEGROES
 Began Raining Wednesday
 On last Wednesday night it began rain- ing very hard at this place, the storm extending north of here along the water sheds of the Colorado river. The precipi- tation continued until this morning, and as finale the downfall averaged six inches within an hour. All this vast quan- tity of water along the watersheds of the Colorado river rapidly swelled the current until at o'clock this morning the river which had been rising steadily since last evening, was raging torrent, having ris- en forty feet within ten hours.
 After daylight this morning it became evident that the situation was serious The river began rising so rapidly that it evident that the immense dam and all the power houses and contents, costing one and a half million dollars, in in- minent danger. To add to the terror of the situation small frame houses, trees and debris of every description in varying quantities began drifting down the river and pling up against the upper face of the dam. This weight augmented every moment until by 10 o'clock there was a mass of debris lodged against the dam which threatened the safety of the structure. In addition, millions of gallons of water, muddy from its long journey, was whirling and plunging to the sixty foot fall, and it was evident that wall could withstand the immense pressure. The crisis came shortly after il o'clock this morning when suddenly with a report like the roar of the ocean, a great wedge twenty-five feet high 800 feet wide and about eight feet thick rolled out of the center section of the dam down the face of the sixty-foot depth into the river be- low.
 dle of the dam. through which the debris andtwater sfiercely poured while the flood, already raging. was threatening every thing in its path, this sudden breaking of the dam but served to add to the horror of the catastrophe. The released water pour ed into the power hous catching eight em- ployes at work there, drowning all of them instantly. The breaking of the dam caus- ed wild excitment in the city. The teie- graph companies at once wired to places below here to look out for the great wave and runners were dispatched on horses to notify those living in the valleys below the city, The telegraphic messages served as timely warning to many, but the rushing waters outstriped the horsemen and many houses were picked up and swept away be- fore the occupants could recover their val uables.
 Within a short time all of the valleys to the south and west of Austin were filled to overfowing with water and the southern portion of the city tributary to the river was inundated. Large crowds collected on the river banks and several persons were swept into the river when the dam broke. but all were saved by boatmen crowd of poor white people numbering about thr- ty, living just below the dam in tents, were seen at their habitations just before the dam broke and have not been accounted for since, and 1t is generally conceded that all of them were swept away.
 Went Down With the Torrent
 One man, attempting to cross the road way leading to the bridge across the river just as the big wave rolled down, was caught, and he and his horse and buggy went down with the torrent and were heard of no more. A family of six negroes living in the valley south of the city are known to have been drowned.
 It is estimated that more than one hun dred houses have been destroyed, and the loss to property will be great, independent of the light and power plant. costing $1.5OO,- 900. The breaking of the dam engulfed the