The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1902-03-19
FLOODS RAVAGE COUNTRY
Worst Inurdation in Years Reported
From Many Quarters.
PATERSON At WATERS MERCY

| citIxeus Forced TO Flee For Safety. and
Bridges swept Away-Disastrous Re.
suits OF tho Overlooking OF the Passa.c
| RIver.Niles OF Railroad Track Under
water-The Loss Of Life.
New York City. - Reports received
from the flooded districts In the New
England and Middle States indicated
the destruction Of many millions OF
dollars worth of property and the less
of at least twenty-five lives. About
1000 persons were made homeless. 5O.-
600 tollers were thrown temporarily
out of work, and seven bridges were
swept away. The damage done in
the Passaic Valley. N. j.. was esti-
mated at $4,000. 900 In Pittsburg. Allie
shany, Pa, and vicinity ut $3.50, 900.
and In the Susquehanna Valley. Pa..
at S1.500.OOO.
Throughout Pennsylvania overfowcd
rivers have caused losses Of property
and suffering. Floods in Ohio. North
Carolina. Virginia and In the far South
and In several of the New England
States also did much damage and en-
dangared many lives.
In New York, the recent thaw. aided
by heavy rains. caused freshets II
many districts up the State. the highest
stage Of water being reached at al.
bany and In the vicinity OF that town.
Parts Of Albany were overfowed and
flooded tracks generally hampered rail-
way traffic.
The Empire State Express. bound
for New York City. was abandoned In
four feet Of water near Schodack. The
rising food put OF: the fires under the
engine boiler. The passengers were
rescued from their sleeping car berths
In the darkness Of night and ut early
dawn by means of rowboats were
safely taken to Hudson. ". Y. Passen.
gers on the north-bound Buffalo ex-
press from New York City had a simi-
lar experience at CastletOn.
Flood has followed fire in Paterson.
and It is n question Of the citizens OF
! that Inflated town as to which has
worked the greater hardship. the 3D.
000. 900 fire Of several weeks ago or the
overflowing Of the Passaic River. The
| drc destroyed the banks. the churches,
| the big stores In which the people
| spent their money and which gave the
town It's air Of prosperity. The flood
has seriously damaged and In severa!
instances put out OF business for sew
| eral weeks to come the very sources OF
the towns prosperity. the big mills
along the river bank in which the peo-
ole earned their money.
No lives were lost in the fire. There
were two lost In the flood. Henry
Richards. a carpenter. was drowned
while trying to save a family from
aooded factory. The body Of another
man was seen being carried down the
stream. turnin: over and over In the
current. The fire made 100 families
homeless. The food drove 600 families
to charity for shelter.
The railroad bridge which spanned
! the Passaic River at Singac went
down. The bridge was Of wood and
rested high above the water on trestle
work. The rushing OF the water weak
ened the central piers and the whole
collapsed. The Hillman street bridge
| n Paterson also went down. 1t was an
iron and steel span with stone abut.
ments and centre pier. One Of the
abutmenis went and the bridge COL
lapsed.
| All the rivulcts tributary to the Pas
sale River were swollen into deep and
tursid streams. The river Itself rose
far beyond the danger point. Passaic
was In almost as perilOus situation
as Paterson. Not within the memory
Of n living man hns the Passaic
reached so high n mark at Newark as
Il did on the flood tides. All the piers
on the river front were submerged.
In Bei.eville houses near the river
could not be reached except in boats.
May Of them were deserted as the
waters rose higher. and rs the day
wore on the most alarming reports OF
the weakening Of the dams above Pat
erson were spread and added to the
general terror.
Bergen County was cut OF from
Passa.c entirely. Hundreds OF EN-.
ployes of the mills were separated from
their families and were unable to
reach their homes in Wellington. Gar
field and Lodi. The Passaic. Ander-
son and Birch lumber yards were
ruined. 4 dozen houses in submerged
Wallington were washed away. The
river. naturally about 200 feet wide at
Wallinston. was q mile In width. A
hundred houses were flooded and the
occupants were forced 10 flee. 4 dozen
mills. blocks away from the river.
were submerged. No work can be done
for weeks. and fully 10000 persons
will be temporarily ont OF employment.
The electric light and gas plants were
submerged. and the entire city was In
darkness. with fifty blocks Of streets
under water.
| Never. II Is said. has the country been
visited by such Il general food. Nearly
| the whole country was flood bound.
From Maine to the South and from
New York 10 Wisconsin reports came
of high water. freshets and breaking
Ice gorges that did untold damage.
Trains were delayed. and In some
places the tracks were under water
| for miles. Rivers that had Overfowed
their banks filled the engine rooms OF
electric power houses. stopping the
running OF electric cars and putting
J. whole cities in darkness.