Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1903-06-12
TRINIDAD FLOODS.
People Warned and Thereby Escaped
Drowning.
GREATEST WASH FOR YEARS.

From Chronicle, June 10.
The news of the food that was com
ing down the river published in last
evenings Chronicle-News excited con-
siderable interest about town and there
was a large crowd Of people gathered
on the bridge and along the banks of
the river when the flood struck Trim
idad at about G:30 O'Clock. The rise
was only about three feet, however,
and carried nothing away but rubbish.
Last night about 1880 O'Clock the
rain began falling in torrents Such
a rain storm has not been seen in the
Trinidad district in years, and at 8
O'Clock the men at the reservoir 'phon-
ed in to Superintendent Bateman that
one of the largest floods ever seen up
there was coming down the river and
to warn the peole along the bottoms.
The city hall was Immediately mott
fed and Fire Chief Daugherty at ono
sent all the fremen and Chief of Po-
lice Ryan his men to warn the people
! in the Boulevard and Linden avenue
! districts, wnne the central girls gave
} the alarm to the people in the Sun
flower valley.
For an hour men %galloped back and
| forth in the river districts and had
the food been as large as reported it
would have found few victims as the
people fed in a body at the first alarm,
taking as much of their personal prop
? erty as they could carry and some
went to their friends in the highlands
: while others sought and gained admis-
sion from the pouring rain to the
opera house.
A few remained in their homes and
) some of them returned to them after
+ IL o'clock. In the meantime the rain
I here had swollen the arrOyas to rivers
d themselves and they came rushing
down, causing much alarm to the pee
pie living alongside of them. The ar
roya that crosses under Main street
l. carried a lot of debris and mud and
when the advance guard struck the
culvert at Elm and Chestnut streets it
could not get through the three pipes,
+; so it went over the top. spreading on
n over the C. & S. and Rio Grande
tracks and completely flooding them.
a A vast volume of water came down
the Santa Fe tracks, struck the cross
ing and tore up the side walk for a
o short distance.
The crest of the flood in the river
l, broke before it reached Trinidad and
g that is all that saved the people in the
y, bottom lands. AS it was it came in
v a wall and the river rose nearly sever
feet. In the boulevard where the riv
err has dug it's channel close up t
the railroad tracks the water lacked
just six inches of stopping over into
. the tracks.
~ The flood passed under the CONNER
is cial street bridge at 1920. In the ed
L. dies back of the Colorado Supply Co
d. store was a mass of railroad ties AM
is nine pilings. They staked up Their
a for nearly an hour before the curren
finally bore them away. When tn
water struck the supports under tn
Chestnut street C. & S. bridge the,
went up into the air like toothpicks
The water shot up into the air pei
r.. haps a hundred feet and it looked as /
u the bridge must go. The entire under
he pinnings went and weakened tn
lie bridge some but not materially.
When c. & S. No. 2 came in tw
hours late they were afraid to take
over the bridge and held it here a COZ
Of pie of hours until the water subsideO
10 somewhat, then a switch engine wa
III sent over the weakened structure
which was found to be safe and tn
train passed on. The supports wi
IF probably be rebuilt today.
Chief Dispatcher Norcross reporte
&c the road intact this morning. Althoug
DC the trains have been heavy as ia
&c south as Folsom there are no vast
&C outs.
&C The approaches to Huerfano brids
O. Just out of W~alsenburg were badl
Nd weakened and no trains can go owe
it today, so that the c. & S. trair
Y. will take the Santa Fe around 10y wa
of La Junta. A stock train comm