Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-04-08

is tonight in pitch darkness with a
raging river one mile wide and swollen
far yeyond it's natural banks, roaring
and surging through all the lower por-
lions of the town, having spread de-
struction 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-
feed and the reports coming in from
the tributary country tonight do not
tend to improve matters.
The flood is not unlike the disas-
tlous Johnstown flood, some years ago,
in that raging river, already swollen
far beyond its capacity, bore too heav-
lily upon an immense dam spanning the
river here, breaking it and letting loose
a reservoir of water thirty miles long,
half a mile wide and sixty feet deep,
to aid in carrying 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 roar and crash swept the val
leys below the city, wrecking the i'm
mense light and power plant and
drowning eight workmen. Following
is list of the known dead, including
those killed in the power house:
Frank Pincet, Frank Kinney, Walter
Flower, Walter Johnson, Alfred John
son, Frank Fitzgerald, Walter Bios
som, Joseph Newman, Dick Morris,
(coloredD; John Proes, Charles Burch-
ard, and six negroes.
Last Wednesday Night
it began to rain very hard at this
place, the storm extending north of
here along the water sheds Of the Col
orado river. The precipitation contin-
ued until this morning, the downfall
aggregating six inches. All this vast
quantity of water along the water
sheds of the Colorado river rapidly
swelled the current until at s o'clock
this morning the river, which had been
rising steadily since last evening. was
a raging torrent, having risen forty
feet within ten hours.
After daylight this morning it be-
came evident that the situation was
serious. The river began to rise so
rapidly that it was evident that the i'm
mense dam and all the power houses
and contents, costing one and one-half
million dollars, were in imminent dam
ger.
10 add to the terror of the situation.
small frame houses, trees and debris
OF every description in varying GUAM
titles, began descending the river and
plllng up against the upper face of the
dam. This weight was augmented ey-
cry moment until $40 there was A.
mass of debris lodged against the dam
which threatened the safety of the
structure. In addition millions of gal
Ions of water, muddy from its long
journey, was whirling and plunging
to the sixty-foot fall and it was evil
dent that no wall could withstand the
immense pressure
The crisis came shortly alter IL
O'Clock, when suddenly with a report
Like the Roar of the Ocean
a great wedge 25 feet high. 500 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 below. This left a yawn-
ing gap in the middle of The dam
through which the debris and water
fiercely poured, while the Gooi, already
raging, was TIL tatenilg everything in
its path, this sudden breaking of the
dam but serving to add to the horror
of the catastrophe.
The released water poured into the
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 at once wired to places be-
low here to look out for the great wave
and runners were dispatched on horses
to notify those living in the valleys be-
low the city. The telegraphic mes
sages served as a timely warning TO
many, btu the rushing waters outstrlp-
ped the horsemen aud many houses
were picked up and swept away before
the occupants could get together their
valuables.
to the south and west of Austin were
filled to overlooking 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 We're swept into
the river when the dam broke, but all
were saved by boatmen.
a crowd Of white people
Numbering About Thirty,
living just below the dam in tents,
were seen at their habitations just be-
fore the dam broke and have not been
accounted for since. 1t is generally be-
lieved that all of them were swept
away.
One man, attempting to cross the
roadway 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 100 houses have been
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