The Worcester spy., 1901-12-16
Sudden Drop in Temperature Was
All That Averted An Appalling
Catastrophe, Says Weather
ForeCaSter RidgWay
HALF A HUNDRED
MINES ARE FLOODED
1t viii Be Weeks Before Many OF
fhe CoIIierieS Can Resume 0p-
erations-NeW York Also Felt
the Effects of the Flood but
New England Escaped

NCW GilJlcSiiN E0NNpS
Philadelphia, Dec ia storm which
for severity and destructiveness has
not been equaled in this section for
25 years visited Eastern and Central
Pennsylvania last night, causing al
most unprecedented damage and re-
sulting in the loss Of at least four hu-
man lives.
The havoc in the coal regions Is
| enormous and the loss to railroad and
mining companies will amount to mil
| lions of dollars. The Schuylkill, Lehigh,
| Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers have
risen as high as Is feet above their
| levels and all of their tributaries have
| overfiOwed, nundating the surrounding
| country in more than dozen coun-
| ties.
/ Innumerable washouts have occurred
| on the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia q
| Reading Northern Central, Lehlgh
| Valley, New Jersey Central and Lack
awanna Railroads Bridges were car
| ried away and traffic is at standstill.
| The delegates to the convention OF the
! American Federation OF Labor are
stormbound a Scranton with no idea
when they will be able to le'Sve.
The force of the water weakened the
| supports Of a bridge spanning creek
| near Williamsport and as result
freight train was wrecked and three
men were killed. AT Oneida, near Ha-
zleton, a miner was swept from
| bridge and drowned.
I In the Schuylkill Valley As mines were
flooded and in the Lehigh and Lacka-
wanna regions the destruction is equal
| ly great Hundreds Of mules were
drowned in the collieries. and it Will
be weeks before many of the mines
can resume operations.
In some sections the water reached
the second stories of dwellings and the
town Of Westmore, near Wilkesbarre,
is submerged. At Pottsville and other
places in Sschuylkill County 10 inches
Of rain fell in "a hours.
The high wind accompanying the
rain unroofed many houses and the in
Idividual losses will be considerable.
'One of the greatest floods in the his
tory Of Pittsburg was aVerted only by
the sudden drop in the temperature
The rise at the headwaters of the AL
legheny and Monongahela Rivers was
about stopped at midnight and the
rivers will likely slowly recede." The
above statement was made tonight by
! Weather FoTecaster Frank Ridgway.
At 10 o'clock tonight the government
thermometer registered seven above
and Mr. Ridgway says 1t will drop to
zero by o'clock in the morning.
The remarkable weather conditions
that prevailed in Pittsburg and West
ern Pennsylvania during the past week
eliminated today In a decided drop OF
the temperature. accompanied by a
flood stage of water in the three rivers
which caused some suffering and many
thousand dollars worth Of damage. Part
Of Allegheny and Pittsburg were sub
merged household goods and stores
that were placed in cellars and base
ments were damaged, and coal fleets
on the rivers were twisted from their
moorings and sent crashing down the
Ohio, threatening destruction to what
ever came in their course.
Forecaster Ridgway's warning sent
out last night resulted in the saving OF
much valuable property The baseball
grounds a Exposition Park are under
water tonight, and the tracks Of the
I Pittsburg and Western Railroad and
/ the Buffalo. Rochester and Pittsburg
are submerged also.
/ Swirling, crashing and carrying dan
/ ger to everything in their way, IS emp
ty coal barges and 80 loaded boats were
torn from their mOorings tonight and
went down the Ohio River at a terrific
rate The packet, Ben Hur, was on her
/ way to the Pittsburg wharf and, with
a good passenger list aboard, barely es-
capped a calamity which might have re-
suited In great loss Of life. The craft
were the property Of the MonOngahela
River Consolidated Coal & Coke Co,
constituting the upper and lower fleets,
and were tied up at Browns landing,
[ between the point and Davis Island
I dam
/ At Dsquesne, a fleet OF % barges,
moored at the dock Of the Carnegie
steel works. broke away and went
plunging down the Monongahela River.
7 Nineteen Of the barges were heavily Ia
den with coal. and when they struck
the pier Of the Pennsylvania Railroad
bridge. just below Port Perry, all but
4 three or four were smashed and sunk,
completely blocking the channel at that
point.
New York, Dec. t5-Heavy damage
resulted from the floods caused by the
great doWnpour OF rain and melting
snow in various sections Of New York
state yesterday afternoon and last
night. Telegraph and telephone SER
vice was crippled. and steam and cleo
trio railroads were badly hampererd, in
some cases traffic being entirely sus-
pended temporarily.
The heaviest damages took place at
Syracuse. Ithaca, Rome. Auburn. Troy
and Watertowu Other cities also suf-
fered cons iderably. At Syracuse the
loss is estimated at S250000 and at Ith-