The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-06-24
SCORES DROWNED IN FLOOD
Damage to Property in South Caro-.
lima Estimated at $5,000,000,
HEAVY LOSS TO COTTON MILLS
The Governor Issues Proclamation Call.
ing For Aid-Hundreds of Persons Are
Left Destitute-Thousandso OF Workers
Made Idle by the Destruct Of Plants
"A Railroad Trestle Washed Away.

Left Destitute-Thousands Of Workera
Made Idle by the Destr uction Of Plants
"A Railroad Trestle Washed Away.
Columbia, s. C.-Eighty persons are
dead as q result of the food that swept
through the Piedmont Valley, accord
ing to the latest returns from the de.
vasta ted district. At Clifton alone 100
operatives were missing from the vii
lage, and all were believed to have
been lost. The damage to railroads,
cotton mills and other manufactures,
telegraph and telephone companies, to
houses and stores will make grand
total of about $5,OO0,O0O. Sixty, thou
! sand mill workers are idle and desti.
tute, many Of them homeless. The
greatest loss Of life and property was
in Spartanburg County.
The Governor has issued proclama-
ton calling for aid.
i At Converse thirteen dead are re-
ported and forty-one at Clifton No. 2.
At Clifton No. twenty-six homes
were destroyed, thirteen at Clifton No.
/, and twenty at Clifton No. 8.
The loss at Clifton's three mills will
, approximate $2,OOOO00. At Pacoiet
the loss is nearly S1,O00,000.
The greatest want among the surViV-
ors Is at Clifton, where 500 are desti-
tute.
At Converse Mills. the newest of
. Clifton's cluster, the walls were
washed away and the looms left stand
ing. The engine bricks were carried
three miles down stream, demolishing
the operatives houses on the way.
uneasiness throughout the State. The
Southern Railway annulled trains be-
tween Columbia and Spartanburg. 200
feet of the trestle at Shelton below
Union having been washed away.
The food was due to a mighty cloud.
burst along the headwaters Of the
Pacolet River, In Polk County, N. G.
The crest Of the food, when 1t reached
Pacolet, was sixty feet high. The mills
were located along the banks of the
stream in a deep valley. high hills ris.
ing on either side, and caught the full
force Of the food. Mill men, con.
versant with the situation, say that the
destroyed properties will be rebuilt on
the previous sites, and probably will
be In partial or complete operation
again within twelve months. The Glen
dale mill probably will be in shape to
resume work within sixty days.
Spartansburg, s. CA massmeeting
of citizens was held here and $500
was subscribed for the relief Of the
food sufferers. Many generous offers
Of assistance have been telegraphed
from other cities. Congressman john
son left for Washington to see Secre.
tary Of War Root, with the purpose OF
securing Federal aid, If possible.
washington, D. C.-Absolutely neces.
sary relief in the way Of rations, medl-
cines, ETC., will be given by the War
Department to the sufferers by the dis
astrous food In South Carolina. An
appeal to Secretary Root from the
local authorities resulted in orders be-
ing given to General Chaffee, COM
manding the Department Of the East.
to this effect. He will authorize an
officer to proceed north from Atlanta
with sufficient supplies to relieve imme-
diate necessities, as was done in the
case of the sufferers by the Gainesville
(Ga.) catastrophe.