Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1903-10-12
AT FLOODS MERCY.
Second Great Disaster to Pater-
son in Two Years.
The City Divided by Waters-- Many
Bridges Carried Away.
Less Will Reach Milions-SeveraI
Lives in Danger.

| 1ileISOil, ~ j., Oct. 11.-t'Or nearly
As hours Paterson has been at the
| mercy of the Passaic river. The waters
have maintained a height sufficient to
| cut the western half of the city from
the eastern and almost all means of
| communication by bridges have been
| destroyed. Two bridges above the falls
| remain, but approach to them is impos-
| sible Three bridges below the Valley
| of the Rocks will stand, but it is impoS-
sible to live in reaching them. Seven
| other bridges in the city have been
carried away and their loss alone is
half a million dollars. The inundation
| of the low lying districts of the city
| has resulted in inconceivable damage
| to property.
| The flood, however, is beginning to
| recede. number of buildings fell, to-
| day. and many others have beeen I'M
dermined. If they do not fall they will
| be at least untenantable. Spruce Street
Hill is falling away piecemeal and only
little more than two feet of dirt and
stone separate the Falls basin from the
| big Black race through which millions
Of gallons of water are rushing every
| hour. The gate house is in a very
weakened condition and is liable to go
| if Spruce Street Hill breaks much
| further.
Mayor Hinchcliffe, who has been at
| this point all night and today, superin-
tending the work of strengthening the
dykes and water gates, regards the sit
uation as most critical.
One hopeful sign at this place is that
the water has fallen several inches
since morning. All day long boatmen
have been at work rescuing people
from the flooded district. The suffering
in Wards l and 2 has been intense, as
it Evas almost impossible to reach the
residents there. Several hundred per-
sons were removed from houses COM
pletely surrounded by the flood and q
dozen or mere of these houses later
collapsed and floated down stream.
The damage to mill property is
chiefly from the submersion of portions
of the plant and great quantities of the
product. Thousands of men, women
and children will be out of employment
for a long time and it seems altogether
probable that this flood will cause to
the city of Paterson, a greater direct
loss Of money and property than the
l'Ic VI TWO years ago. ne GROSS loss
then was $6,0OO0OO, with an insurance
of more than $4,0O0,G0O. The loss. today,
is estimated al considerably more than
$2000,000, with no insurance.
Five hundred families are homeless.
OF these about $50 families are being
sheltered in Apollo hall, While many
others will be taken care of in the
armcry.
The city of Passaic passed a sleep
less night as it was feared that the
Dundee dam would give way. That
would have relieved the city of Pater-
son, at the expense of the cities below.
The suffering in Wellington and Dut-
tonville, has been very great, as no re-
lief has reached these places. All
through this district houses and out
buildings, together with the great
quantity of dead stock, may be seen
floating about.
Seven men are now in great peril Of
their lives in the Kearns Bros dye
house on the river margin near Pater-
son. A part of the works has been
carried away. The men have been in
that part of the works which remains
standing since Friday at noon. While
they We're trying to save thousands of
dollars worth of silks by carrying them
to the top of the building the building
was surrounded by water and the men
were cut off from all assistance because
of the raging torrent that has been
rushing by ever since. 1t is believed
that the entire building will be carried
from it's foundations unless the flood
subsidies very soon.
twenty-five bridges are down in
Passaic apd Sussex counties on the
Susquehanna river.