North Park union., 1900-04-20
A RUSH OF WATERS.
Breaking Of . Dam at Austin. Tcxas,
Causes Loss OF Life and Great Damage
to Property.

to Property.
Austin, Tex, April S.-Thls city fs to-
night In pitch darkness, with raging
river, one mile wide and swollen far be-
yond Its natural banks, roaring and
surglng through all the lower portion
Of the town, having spread destruction
and death in Its wake. In addition to
the vast loss to property interests, 1t Is
calculated that between thirty and for
ty lives have been sacrificed, and the
reports coming in from the tributary
country tonight do not tend to improve
matters. train on the International
& Great Northern road was wrecked
to-day, but nobody was seriously In
jured.
Austin, Tex, April 7.-The flood Is
not unlike the disastrous JohnstOwn
Hood some years ago, In that raging
river, already swollen far beyond Its
capacity, bore too heavily upon an i'm
mense dam spanning the river here,
breaking It and letting reservoir of
water, thirty miles long, half mile
wide and sixty feet deep, to aid In car
rying destruction down the valleys of
the Colorado river.
The great dam In the Colorado river
gave way at noon to-day from the enor-
nous pressure of water and debris, and
with n roar and crash swept the val
leys below the city, wrecking the I'M
mense light and power plant and
drowning eight workmen.
power house. catching eight employees
at work there. drowning all of them
Instantly. The breaking of the dam
caused wild excitement In the city.
The telegraph companies ut 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
telegrnphic messages served as n time
ly warning to many, but the rushing
waters outstripped the horsemen, and
many houses were picked up and swept
away before the occupants could get
together their vnluables.
Within short time all the valleys to
the south and west Of Austin were food
ed 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 NIL
were saved by boatmen.
a crowd OF white people. numbering
about thirty. living just below the dam
in tents. were seen Mt their habitntion
| just before the dam broke and have not
been accounted for since. 1t is gen.
orally believed that all of them were
swept away.
Austin, Tex, April S.-The Increased
volume of water which came down the
river last night undermined the power
house at the dam at 1:3O o'clock n. M,
md itifell into the river, carrying with
II 500 600 worth of machinery.
Fully 10000 people gathered at the
dam and power house stationed north
OF this city to witness the ruins Of the
plant which cost the city one and three
quarters millions of dollars few years
ago. The waters of the Colorado river
were stlll plungIng and foaming around
the wreck. eating away the big pile Of
granite which once formed the dam, as
though 1t was nothing more than chalk
/, rock. So fierce was the current that
| great powders were carried half mile
from the dam, being rolled over and
over by the turbulent tide.
The country tributary to the Colo
| rado river. nil the why down Its course
s being inundated. and while 1t Is be-
lieved the worst Is over, the loss as es
l;mnted tonight will exceed 5000, 600,
| counting Austin as the largest loser.
Sortunately the list OF drowned, accord
ng to reports up to tonight, ls limited
% those reported In the Associated
t'rcss dispatches last night, as 1t seems
he only drowninHs reported were when