The Pickens sentinel-journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1903-1906, 1903-06-11
ii is A GREAT DISASTER.

Ai.yrfA - y H
4 cloud burst in the mountains of
! Oconee, Piokens, Greenville and
i Spartanburg counties in this State
| aud the adjoining counties of North
i Carolina, on Friday night.
The full extent Of the disaster
has not been learned as we 60 to
! press, and it will probably hs Sew
eral days before the full Il, .ails. of
the story is known. 1t seems Ger.
tain, however that many lives and
millions of dollars worth of prop.
rty have been lost.
The first intimation of the dis.
aster that reached Pickens was
whom older Inhabitants talked Of
the hard rain of the night before,
which, they said, was worse than
"the June Freshest,' and reports
came from the County that the
bridges across the little streams
were gone; then, naturally, they
began to think about the artificial
lake at Sapphire, and when the
Oolenoy, Little and Big Eastatoe
was said to be On rampage, then
they began to wonder as to the Sa.
luda and Keowee. Reports began
to come in Of bridges on both
streams being gone and when
message stated that the Seneca
river had began to rise at a rapid
rate they knew their fears were
reality.
A newspaper representative went
to Seneca Saturday afternoon. At
the railroad bridge tho Seneca river
was raging torrent, fully mile
wide, the rushing water extending
from the hills On one side of the
stream to the other. The magni- :.
ficent bottom lands on the Cherry
plantation, which have bees6 plant
ed in cotton whio9. WAS Just begin>
n1ng to comes1p, we're covered
with wateEEtaffom three to seven feet
deegs,r
~sSSeveral persons wers seen at the
river who were raised IN its~.& .&srofis f,s.r,e f
and they said the wskter was highor
! than s9AZa theZ asd Rsd~1' eSer seen it. The
.5'ksaSage Skage was inspected by the train
crew and by Superintendent An>
derson, who was along, and the
train proceeded to Seneca.
At Seneca it was learned that
there had been great damage along
the streams in the upper part OF
Oconee and Pickens counties but
details were megre.
At the Newry cotton mills three
operatives cottages we're reported
washed away, and it is said thai
60 bales of cotton had been washed
away from the warehouse. NJ
lives were reported lost.
1t was said the water was in the
second story of the mill building.
Nothing dennfte could be learned
from the Norris cotton mills, at
Cateechee, but the water was re-
ported very high there.
All trains were annulled between
Charlotte and Greenville Saturday
afternoon. It is reported that sew.
eral trestles were washed away n cal
Spartanburg Saturday afternoon.
The trestle over Seneca, between
Seneca and Central, was standing
at 6 o'clock Saturday afternoon
but a later report reached here that
it had been swept away. A train
passed over it about o'clock, bu
shortly afterward it was moved
several inches by the force of tn,
current, but has been kept stand
ing by being weighted down b,
cars of coal. Repairs have beer
made on it and it is now safe anc
trains are passing over it.
The flood which came down
Seneca river seems to have beer
caused by a heavy rainstorm which
swept over the entire mountain
district during Friday night.
A telegram was received at Sen.
eca Saturday afternoon Saying thai
the dam at Sapphire Lake, N. G.
had broken at IL o'clock that day
This IS the dam at the big pleasur,
lake built by the Toxaway Com
pany in the mountains of NORTH
Carolina last summer. The lax
is said to be 81 miles in circumfer
ence. 1t is situated on the head
waters Of the Keowee river, whicl
emptles into Seneca river, and ths
full force of the released waterl
from the lake probably came dowr
Seneca river Friday night.