Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-04-10
Texas Visited by a Cloudburst
Doing a Great Deal Ct Harm,
RIVERS RISE RAPIDLY.
Fears that a Train with Many Pas
senxers Has Been Lost-Many
Families Homeless.


the Post-Dispatch from Dallas, Tex
says: At 2:4O this afternoon City Mar
shall Love of Taylor, Tex, few miles
north of Mcneil, telephoned as follows:
The express train wrecked on the In
ternational s. Great Northern near Nc
NeiH, this morning, it is feared is lost
Reports here indicate that the engineer
and mail clerk were drowned, and that
the fireman was fatally hurt. All sorts
of alarming reports are received.
The water is SO high that it
is feared the passengers are ali drowned.
Bridges are gone On both sides of Nc
Neill and no relief has been able TO reach
the train from either Austin or Taylor.
Preparations are being made to try to get
party of men and small boats to the
scene.
Austin, Tex, April 1.-The loss by the
breaking of the dams is at least half a
million dollars.
At noon today sluice of % feet deep
and 800 feet long was washed out of the
immense granite dam here and injuring
the powerhouse, all within ten minutes.
The torrent of water swept down TO the
lower part of the city, sweeping fully
one hundred houses away with all their
contents. The occupants barely escaped
with their lives. Telegraphic wires hav-
Ing been swept down, runners were dis
patched down the river on horses to no.
tify the people living near the city,
but the water beat them and some eight
or ten parties are known to have been
drowned.
Thousands of people have assembled at
the dam and the crowd resulted in push
ing ten men onto the sand bank Just
below the dam which gave way with
them and they were precipitated into the
river and swept away on the raging tor
rn,,t- no f.
ed passing here since 10 O'Clock and 1T is
feared that reports from above here will
bring news of much loss of life and prop
erty.
The water continues to rise and is now
two feet above the flood of last spring,
the river being one mile wide here, hav
ing risen thirty-two feet within eight
hours.
Visited by a CIoudburst.
Austin, Tex. April This section was
visited by cloudburst this morning and
the entire county Is inundated. The
Colorado river here has risen eleven feet
in three hours and is still rising three
feet an hour
The storm was the most terrific on rec
ord, sweeping everything before it. AS
result of the storm Il bridge on the
International 4 Great Northern, seven
teen miles north of here, was washed
out, wrecking the st. Louis sOuthbound
Cannon-ball train, ditching the engine,
the mail car, one passenger coach and one
sleeper. Quite a number of people are
reported burned, but the list of casual
ties is not obtainable at present.
The damage to this section of the state
will be in the hundreds of thousands.
Another flood is feared. as the cloud
burst is in the path of the immense food
Of last spring, which wrecked so many
millions Of dollars worth of property.
The Austin & Northwestern railroad
had four bridges washed out and much
track washed away. No trains are being
operated today.
Reports from all sections tributary to
the Colorado river reported great dam
age to property.
Family of Negroes Drowned.
Unconfrmed rumors say that a fam
lily of six negroes living on Shoal river
west of here was drowned
Quite a number of people living III the
bottoms had to leave their homes, the
water having flooded them to the depth
of three feet. 1t looks from reports al
ready received as though the flood was
erty here. Reports from Concho river,
above here, are that the worst storm ever
known is now raging there, attended by
loss Of life and property.
All the water falling there will have
to pass here and it is feared that this
city's million and half dollar water
and light plant and dam will suffer, for
the water is now within two feet of the
danger mark.
Dallas, Tex, April Flood news from
alarming The Colorado river has ris
en- twenty-seven feet since mid
night The Brazos and Trinity
are also rising, Five serious washouts
on the Austin & Northwestern railroad
are reported and traffic has been aban-
doned. 1t is still raining.
Brazos Rises Ten Feet.
The Brazos river at Waco has risen ten
feet today and is still coming up, as is
also the Trinity at Dallas. Rain is still
falling over the state. All telephone and
telegraph lines are in trouble because Of
the high water and railroad trains every
where are delayed or tied up.
At Bastrop the Colorado is very nIgh
and is washing away much property Inc
ed. The Brazos river at Seaiey is rising
rapidly!
At German the Leon river is as high
as during the flood Of July 4, 1899. The
BraZos and other small streams are going
up rapidly.
branches very high and still rising.
Temple reports high water at Killen
gulf.
At 1915 all telegraph and telephone
communication with Austin and San An
tonic was lost.
Powerhouse Washed Away.
A telephone message received from La
Grange at noon states that the big dam
of the Colorado river at Austin broke at
1925. A large flood Of water was re-
leased, washing away the powerhouse.
An immense property damage is an
ticipated but thus far no loss Of life is
known to have occurred.
IF this report is correct the damage
will reach hundreds of thousands of dol
lars, as the Austin dam was one of the
largest and costliest of it's kind in the
country. Much property is certain to be
destroyed both in the city of Austin and
in the valley below.
The Flood at Austin.
Although a great mass of water would
have been released by the bursting of the
dam, it is not believed that the flood
could possibly attain stage sufficiently
| high to reach the main portion Of the
city. Austin proper is built ON range
| Of hills at the highest nayigable point
of the Colorado river, where that stream
breaks through the range. The .principal