The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-12-16

WILLIAMSPORT, Dec. ia freight
train on the Philadelphia & Reading rail-
way went through the bridge spanning
Lycoming creek, between this city ane
Newberry, at 6 o'clock this morning
Three lives were lost. The dead are
John Martz, engineer; Frederick Glass
fireman; George Harley, brakeman, al
residing at Sunbury.
The train was a fast freight, and was
running three hours late owing to the
diasarrangement of the schedule in con
sequence of the storm. The bridge
spanning tile creek was two-span strue
ture, the first span Of which gave way
beneath the train The engine and nine
cars were engulfed in the icy waters
The creek was greatly swollen as a re.
suit of the heavy rains and it is pre-
sumed the middle pier had been weak
ened. No efforts could be made to reach
the bodies on account of the height OF
the waters.
All the streams in this section were
greatly swollen, the Susquehanna river
here reaching a height of twenty -one
feet, which did no damage In the city
beyond flooding a few cellars on the low
lands. A few stray logs inthe river
were carried away. Lycoming and 10y
alccck creeks were both very high, and
the Northern Central tracks along the
first named stream were badly washed
out in places, and several bridges were
damaged. At Ralston a passenger train
had to be abandoned and the passengers
sought high ground to escape the flood
The Philadelphia & Reading road bridge
at Montoursville was so weakened that
traffic had to be suspended.
During the twenty-four hours ending
at midnight last night the rainfall was
three inches.
Rising at Pittsburg and Reading.
PITTSBURG, Dec. 15.-Pittsburg's three
rivers at o'clock tonight have passed
the danger line and are still rising, with
reports from the head waters of the Mo-
nongahela and Allegheny rivers stating
that both streams are still rising. The
weather bureau announces that the cold
wave will prevent the streams from
reaching thirty feet, but that considera-
BILE damage will result from the unexpect-
ed rise and inability of shippers and river
men to tie the crafts securely before the
crest of the rise arrived.
In the Allegheny river at 8 o'clock the
water indicator showed 25 feet inches,
and the river rising; in the Monongahela
the reading Of the gauge was 26 feet I
inches, while at Davis island dam FL feet
6 inches, and rising inches an hour was
reported. AT BrOWnSVllle 8 1eet ana RS
ing Is reported. while at all points up
the Allegheny the stream Is rising.
One Of the incidents Of the flood oc.
Cured at o'clock tonight, when seventy
four coal barges on the Monongahela riv-
er between Pittsburg and Davis dam
broke away and were whirled downward
by the swift current. AS quickly as pos
sible towboats were sent after the barges
According to the operator at Davis isl
and dam the barges passed there shortly
after o'clock. There Is considerable
alarm in river circles over the accident
If the boats are not rounded up by the
towboats and towed ashore, they will &c
ito pieces and block the channel, which
will result in a big loss to the river coal
combine. Several Of the barges have
been reported rounded up by boats tied
up below, but the majority Of them are
still racing along with the current.
A fifteen-foot flood is raging in the
Schuylkill river tonight at Reading, as
the result of the heavy rain storm OF
yesterday and last night. North Of Read
ing hundreds of acres of land along the
river are submerged. There were several
serious washouts on the Philadelphia 8
Reading railway north of Blue mountains
All tributaries of the Schuylkill railway
also overhowed their banks, and the food
is the worst known in years. In Reading
the occupants of number of houses
along the river front were obliged to va
cate.