The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-12
PASSAIC IS RAGING.


them. Seven other bridges in the city
have been carried away and their loss
alone is $500, 900. The inundation of the
low lying districts of the city has re-
suited in uncomfortable damage to
property.
The flood, however. is beginning to
recede. A number of buildings fell
to-day and many others have been
undermined, II they do not fall they
at least will be untenable. Spruce
street hill is falling away piecemeal,
and only a little more than two fee
of dirt and stones 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 Hipchcliffe. who has been at
this point all night and to-day super
intending the work % strengthening
the dykes and water gates, regards
the situation as most critical.
One hopeful sign at this place Is
that the water has fallen several inches
since morning.
Boatmen Rescue Many.
All day long 'boatmen have been at
work resouing people from the flooded
districts The suffering in the first and
second wards has been intense, as it
is almost impossible to reach the resi-
dents there. Several hundred persons
were removed from houses surrounded
by the flood and ready to collapse at
any moment. A dozen more of these
houses later did collapse and Aoated
down the stream.
The damage to mill property is chief
ly from the submersion of portions of
the plants and great quantities of prod
ucts. Thousands of men. women and
children will be out of employment for
a long time. and 1t seems altogether
probable that this flood will cause to
| the city of Paterson a. greater direct
loss of money and property than the
| fire of nearly two years ago. The
gross loss then was Sc, 0o0.0 900. with All
insurance of more. than 100000. The
| loss to-day is estimated at considerably
more than s2,0Oo,oOO. with no insurance.
Last nights rain renewed the flood
somewhat and the waters were at their
maximum this morning. At that time
there was considerable water in the
boiler of the Edison Electric Light sta
| ton, there being only about fourk
| 90 iaay- haf he 70
bars and the water. 1t is from this sta
ton that the city receives it's entire
supply of light and motive power.
Five hundred families are homeless
Of these about 100 hands are being
sheltered in the Apollo Hail. while the
others will be taken care of in the ar
mory. Gov, Murphy has issued orders
to-day that the armory be thrown open
for this purpose.
sIeepIess Night Passed.
The city of Passaic passed a sleep
less night, it being feared that the
Dundee dam would give way. That
would have relieved the river at Pater-
son at the expense of the cities below
Fortunately, however, Dundee dam is
still intact. The suffering in Walling-
ton and Duttonville has been very
great, as no relief has been able to
reach these places. All through this
district houses and out buildings, to-
gether with a great quantity of dead
stock, may be seen floating about.
Their Lives in Peril.
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 which remains standing since
Friday noon. While they were trying
to save thousands of dollars worth of
silks, by carrying them. to the top of
the building, the structure was sur
rounded by water and the men were
cut off from all assistance because of
the torrent that has been rushing by
ever since
1t is believed that the entire building
will be carried from its foundation un-
less the flood subsidies very soon.
Twenty-Five bridges are down in
Passaic and Sussex counties on the
Susquehanna Railroad. Street Com
missioner Breet fears that many
houses on River, Main and West streets