New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-02
DRIVEN OUT BY FLOODS.
HUNDREDS MADE HOMELESS
IN NEW-JERSEY.
PATERsON'S GAS SUPPLY MAY BE CUT
OFF-RAILROAD BRIDGES
IN DANGER.
IN DANGER.

the world. Almost two hundred houses the
City Hail. police station, school and two mills
are submerged in one of the worst floods in the
last twenty-five years. Hundreds of persons are
homeless and many stand along the banks OF
the raging torrent watching their homes go to
destruction. Many were taken from their
houses in boats and RATS without time to save
even their clothing. Houses which were thought
safe from the flood are surrounded, and boats
busy until late in the night rescuing the
inmates. The water in the streets is from three
to eighteen feet deep.
The Garfield and county bridges are covered
with four feet of water. and it is feared that
they will be washed away. The Erie Railroad
main line bridge is also in great danger Inc
Passaic lumber mill is twenty feet under water.
Thousands of dollars worth of lumber and mill
material have been washed away. The river IS
still rising rapidly, and 1t is feared that the
Dundee dam will not be able to stand the
pressure. Should that give way Wellington
would be completely wiped out.
Passaic is also a great sufferer by the Hood.
Hundreds of houses in the First Ward are
flooded. and many persons were forced to flee.
Fifteen mills including the Gera, Enamil1ne
Passac Print Pantasote. Parchment Paper
Acheson Co, Reid & Barry, Manhattan, wal
drch and Hammerstag. have from five to M
teen feet Of water In them. Letter carriers de-
Iivered letters in boats in that section to-day
Should the river continue to rise and the dam
give way the mill section would be wiped out
Thousands of operators thrown out of work
A dozen persons had narrow escapes from
drowning in falls from boats.
PATTERSON AGAIN IN DANGER.
Paterson. N j. March l (SpeclaD.-The Pas
sale River here is now above the record made In
1854 The gas works on the river bank are
a. will
have TO be cut off. A number OF buildings are
in danger of having their foundations under
mined. The tenants in the Vreeland buildings a
of three story brick buildings in River-st
have been ordered out, the buildings are in
danger.
The officials OF the East Jersey Water Com
pany are afraid the raging torrent will break
down the gates of the raceway. and sweep
away the mill section of the town, which was
spared by the fire.
Main-st bridge is in danger Of being car
ried away and the water is rushing ever the
top of the Arch-st. bridge. The wooden bridge
which was built by the trolley company, over
the Societys Island. has been carried away, and
the old flour mill building at the foot of Pros
pect-st is in imminent peril
The water has flooded all the streets back
from the river for five blocks with an average
depth of four feet. All business in that part OF
the town has ceased, and everybody has moved
up TO the second and higher stories in all the
buildings. Through the flooded district wagons
used ferryboats while small boats and
RATS seen padding through the streets
Thousands of persons have gathered along the
skirts of the flooded district, while many more
at the falls. watching the magnificent sight
there.
The river has been rising during the last
twenty-four hours Philip Chapman. an official
of the East Jersey Water Company. who was
anxiously watching the rise of the river this
afternoon said IT think that the freshet is
now at its highest point 1t is the greatest food
have had since 1854. That flood about
foot higher than this one is at present"
All the low lying sections along the river
and the meadowland covered with three
and four feet OF water The whole OF the fiat
lands at Pompton Plains is flooded to depth
of several feet and residents are in serious
danger. culvert was washed out on the Erie
Railroad at Hawthorne this morning, preventing
the Cf the westbound track There
little delay to travel, however, as trains
sent over the eastbound track. Several wash
outs took place between Sufferns and Ramseys.
There are four tracks that section of the
road and the washouts prevented the use Of
the two passenger tracks. Trains were sent
over the freight tracks which escaped damage.
RAILROAD TRACKS WASHED OUT
A number Of washouts occurred on the Sus-
quehanna Railroad above Two Bridges, and no
trains came through from Middletown this
morning. The road is open far as Two
Bridges and two trains were made up there to
bring passengers down the road. The most seri-
washout the Susquehanna Railroad is
between Hamburg and Franklin Furnace, at
which point the tracks beside a pond fed
by mountain streams. In the night the pond
broke away, washing out a large stretch OF the
railroad embankment and tracks
The trolley service in this city has been greatly
crippled by the food, four important lines
run through the inundated district. The
only run to the border of the flooded section and
return been stalled bridges
and on the side of the flooded sections. and
cannot get into the centre Of the city.
Morristown. n. J.. March l (SpeciaD-Much
damage was caused yesterday in this section by
the continual heavy rainfall. About o'clock
ing a food Of water down the Whppany River
which washed out the Caledonian Dam at
Whippany. owned by McEwan Brothers. All
the mills operated there by that concern had
TO be closed. The damage is heavy.
Somerville, n. J., March l (SpeciaD.-The
flood which swept through the Raritan Valley
the result of the storm yesterday afternoon
has caused great damage. The Raritan River
has not been so high since the great disaster
to Bound Brook. number of years ago.
FOUR FEET OF WATER IN MAIN-sT.
Last night the water ran four feet deep
through the main street of Bound Brook and
was still two feet deep at 10 o'clock this morn
ing. Cellars OF stores were flooded, and great
damage will result. Boats were used in going
about. At Raritan the mills along the river
flooded. The Raritan Woollen Mills called
out their men last evening TO move goods to
safe place. The north branch of the Raritan
high at Neshanc that much property
ioated away, and the South Branch trains
TO and from Pennington late in the evening
had great difficulty in getting through The
bridges all along the river have been greatly
damaged.
The approaches to the iron bridge below
Somerville have been washed out so badly that
It will cost the county a large amount to
pair them.
DAM CARRIES FOUR MEN TO DEATH