Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1903-09-03
Dam-Burst and Flood.

A disastrous food resulted from the
breaking of the Boydstown dam early
Friday morning Rain began falling
about Thursday noon and continued in
almost a steady downpour for about
twenty hours, the fall amounting to 81
inches. About midnight John Vogel.
Martin Helm and a Pittsburger who
were on a turtle fishing expedition to
Boydstown noticed that portions OF the
dam had commenced to give way. They
sent word to Butler. Supt. Wright mott
fed Mayor Kennedy and about 43O A.
NJ, the fire whistle was sounded repeat
edly and those living in all the lower
sections of the town were warned to va
cate their houses to escape the raging
waters.
About 2:3O A. NJ Frank Gormley and
Will Mcbride, who were driving home
from a well on which they are drilling
near Coylesville. drove into the water
which overhowed Kittanning street TO
a depth of six feet, and their team, a
very fine span belonging to Gormiy
were swept away and drowned. The
men managed to get to the Mcbride
home, where Isaiah L. McBaide and wife
From this point they were rescued by
two men on a raft. The Mcbride family
had fed to the old Palm machine shop.
They also were rescued by the aid of a
big raft formed by two telegraph poles
and attached to a cable which was
pulled by Mayor Kennedy and fifty
men who had assembled to help him.
During the morning Russian living
in the Glynn fats got too frisky with
the water and was swept out into the
current, another Russian tied rope
about himself and swan after and
seized the drowning man, and they
were pulled ashore with the rope.
Thirty minutes hard work were neces-
sary to resuscitate the man.
In the afternoon John w. Miller, a
riveter in the carworks and three com
panions jumped into the abandoned
channel around the Vogeley island to
take a swim with their clothes on. They
entered the water at a point where a
large sewer pipe crosses the channel
The sewer pipe is used for a footwalk
ordinarily. Miller was good swimmer
but he either took cramps or his feet be-
came entangled in the roots Of tree,
and he went down His nearest com
panion, the only man in a position to
help him, tainted when he saw Miller
sinking. The body was recovered in
half an hour Miller came to Butler
last May. He was 25 years of age. His
mother and brother live at Stoneyhill,
Missouri. He boarded with John De
fargey, also from Missouri. on Pillow
street.
The dam washed out gradually or a
terrible disaster would have occurred.
First row of stones on top went, then
by pieces and chunks until the bottom
was reached. The breech is about lao
feet long 20 feet (the keighth of the dam
in depth. Practically the whole dam
will have to be rebuilt. In the mean
time there will be no shortage of water.
A team of mules and team of horses
in Cornelius Bros. and Kelly's lumber
yard stable were rescued by men wad-
ding neck deep into the stable and
fastening ropes TO the collars OF the
horses; they were then pulled ashore.
Scores of rats were killed by boys
with clubs, stones and rifles at the gar
bage furnace after the rodents had been
driven out by the water.
For a week before the food the creek
was filled with thousands of dead fish,
principally suckers and chubs. Some
of the suckers were fully 1S inches in
length, and nearly every one was sur-
prised at the number and size of our
slaughtered fnny denizens The com
mon report is that the fish were killed
by ammonia or some other chemical
drained into the creek from the EGGPLANT
of the brewery People living along
the creek were almost driven from their
homes by the stencil arising from the
decaying bodies and the matter became
a common nuisance.