Evening journal., 1903-10-12
OVER 900 PATERSON
FAMILIES HOMELESS
For Forty-eight Hours Town
Was at Mercy of Passaic
River

Paterson, N. j., oct. 12.-For iS
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 halfla and almost all means OF
communication by bridges have been
destroyed Two bridges above the falls
remain. but approach to them is i'm
possible.SSeven- other bridges in the
city have been carried away, and
their loss .alone is s5O0D0O. The inun-
datiop of, the helowlying, districts OF the
city has resulted in inconceivable
damage,to property.
The food, however. is beginning to
recede A number Of buildings fell
and many others have been under
mined. Ii{they do not fall they will
be at least lmtenable Spruce street
hill is falling away piecemeal and only
a little more ttan two feet OF dirt and
stone separate the falls basin from
the big black race through which mil
lions Of gallons of water are rushing
every hour. ,ghe gate house is in a
very weakened icondition and is liable
to go # Spruce street hill breaks much
further.
All day long lIoatmen have been at
work rescuing pc pple from the flooded
districts. The ssnering in the First
and Second wards has been intense, as
it was almost imp pssible to reach the
residents there Several hundred per-
sons were removed from houses com
pletely surrounded by the flood and
ready to collapse ;it any moment. A
dozen more of the.ge houses later did
collapse and floated down the stream.
The damage to mill property is
chiefly from the submersing of por-
tions of plants and great quantities
Of products. Thousands of men, wom-
en- and children will be out of employ
ment for a long time and Il seems alto
gether probable that this food 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 $6.0O0,000,
with an insurance Of more than s4.-
100000. The loss today is estimated
at considerably more than S2.000,0OO.
with no INSURANCE.
over 500 families are homeless. OF
these about 150 families are being
sheltered e. the Apollo Hall. while
the others will be taken care of in
the armory.
The city OF Passatc passed a sleep
lees night II being feared that the
Dundee dam would give way That
would have relieved the river at Pat
erson at the expense of the cities be.
low. Fortunately. however. Dundee
dam IS still intact The suffering in
Wellington an0 Duttonville has been
very great, as NO relief has been able
To- reach these places. an through
lhis> district houtes and outbuildings.
together with e seat Quantity of dead
stock, fnay be seen 1oming about
Seven men are now in great peril
Of their lives In the. .Kearns Brothers
dye house on the river margin near
Paterson. A part of the vds,Ss has
been carried away. Tho men have<beon
in that part which remains standing
since Friday at noon. While thNy
we're trying to save thousa nds of don
ars worth Of silks, by carrying them
10 the top Of the building, the struct-
ure was surrounded by water and the
men were cut of from all assistance
because OF the torrent that has been
nshing by ever since. Il IS believed
hat the entire building VIII be car
ried from its foundations unless the
Goods subside very soon.
twenty-five bridges are down in
Passaic and Sussex counties on the
5usquehanna railroad. Street Com
missioner Brett fears that many
houses on River. Main and West
streets viii fall.