Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1901-04-24
REACHES MILLIONS.
Enormous Losses by Floods in the
Eastern States.
Cities and Towns Are Inundated
Railroads Suffer Severe1y-Sev-
eraI Lives Report
ed Lost.

Pittsburgh, Pa, April 22.-The most
widespread and destructive storm, from
a material point of view, has passed.
1t has left a zone of ruin 200 miles in
diameter 1t was unusual in that it
possessed so many different features.
Cities 70 miles from Pittsburgh were
tied up by one of the worst snow
storms ever known. While the snow
fall was from Is inches to three feet
deep, which is not extraordinary, the
snow was SO wet that it chung in
| weighty masses to shade and fruit
! trees and electric wires and poles,
| bearing them to the earth. 1t settled
on steam and street railroads like wet
sand, stopping all traffic and making
! Professionalism feat for only the most
hardy. The fall was so heavy and
spontaneous in some places that the
residents declare it seemed like the
bursting of a snow cloud. A few miles
away from these unfortunate towns
were municipalities in just as dire
straits from rain, but with speedier
prospect for relief, as the rain will
run off faster than the snow can melt,
yet here traffic was practically sus-
pended. Water overflowed and washed
out railroad tracks and hillsides came
down and buried the rails. In addi
ton, nearly every town on the Ohio
river between Pittsburgh and Wheel
ing was in darkness Sunday night.
Electric light plants or their wires
are damaged and the gas in the mains
is generally turned off. In previous
floods this precaution was not taken
and the result was explosions with loss
of life and property.
Little Loss of Life.
A remarkable feature of the storm
is that but few fatalities directly at
tributable to this cause have been re-
ported. A railroader caught in a
wreck caused by landslide and the
death of an old woman from shock are
the only ones known SO far. There
may be others, but a communication
is cut off from many populous places it
will be the end of the week before the
total can be footed up.
Damage Is Enormous
The money loss is just as difficult to
foot up. 1t may reach 100000. The
railroads think they have lost $1,000,
0OO The loss of wages to the army of
workers in manufacturing plants up
and down the rivers will mount up to
100000 and the repairs to plants will
be a large sum. The damage to stores,
stocks, residences and furniture in
Pittsburgh, Allegheny and towns and
cities down the Ohio will probably
reach $500000 The telegraph COM
panies have suffered severely, but can
not yet compute their losses. In addi-
ton there is the enormous indirect
damage caused by the almost complete
suspension of trade. What that
amounts to no one can determine eX-
actly, and estimates simply reflect the
conservative or radical character OF
the computer.
At Other Points.
The report from Rochester, Pa, is
that the Ohio has overlooked its banks
and a considerable portion of the city
lying south of the Fort Wayne railroad
tracks is submerged. The river is still
rising and steady downpour of rain
| continues. The loss to the various
the river front will be heavy. Extra
forces of men are patrolling the rail
road tracks on the lookout for land
slides.
At Beaver Falls, Pa, the damage by
the flood and storm was considerable
and several squares in the north end
of the town were converted into a lake
at Ninth avenue, Twenty-second and
Twenty-third streets, and the houses
stood in two and three feet of water.
At Atiacanna about 20 houses were
wrecked by the flood.
Reports from up-river points re-
ceived at Pittsburgh up to ten p. m.
are meager, but for the most part are
encouraging. Oil City is the only point
on the Allegheny river where the wa
ter is rising.
Dam Bursts.
Chester, Mass, April 22.-The Flood
Hollow dam in Middlefield gave way
about six o'clock Sunday night, letting
loose the water in the big reservoir,
which rushed with terrific force into
the west branch of the Westfield river,
sweeping everything before it and sub
merging the greater part of this town.
No lives were lost, but great damage
has been done, the extent of which it
is impossible now to estimate. The
huge timbers Of the dam were hurled
into the foaming current and went in
one great crashing mass on toward
Chester Two quartz mills at Flood
Hollow, barns and outbuildings were
swept along in the torrent. At Ban
croft. the station for Middlefield, the
Boston & Albany stone bridge was car
ried away, together with 600 feet of