The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-10-28
YOCWROUGHT BYFLOODS
Entire Atlantic Seaboard Damaged
by Rains Aftermath.
PATERSON IN GREAT DISTRESS

i Caring For the Sufferers by the Fourth
Great Calamity That Has Befallen the
City-Losses Estimated ut $4,000, 900
Railroads Blocked, Factories Compelled
to Shut Down and Many Homeless.
New York City.-As the details of
the record-breaking storm are learned
the extent Of the damage wrought is
shown to be appalling. Over an area
bounded by Portland, Me-; Nantucket,
Atlantic City and Oswego, N. Y, the
torrential rains have fallen in vaster
volumes than. ever in the history Of the
Weather Bureau. Accounts of damage
sustained reach into the millions and
lives have been lost in many places.
High winds prevailed over almost all
this region.
Following the accounts Of food and
hurricane winds come warnings Of
other ills. Several communities have
had their water supply cut off by
bursting dams and broken fumes.
Scarcity Of food exists in Paterson and
some Of the villages nearby. New York
suffered curtailment Of its milk sup
ply. Fever and priration are threat
ened in the wake of the receding
waters.
Thousands Of persons are homeless,
and in a dozen communities the storm
sufferers are being housed in public
buildings until better provision may
be made for them.
Paterson, N. j., suffered enormous
damage. Several millions will be
needed to rehabilitate this sorely
stricken city. Thirteen Of the twenty
one bridges that spanned the. Passaic
River have been swept away. Food
supplies are dangerously low and the
city was isolated. The gas houses are
surrounded by water. Dynamite was
placed in position to blow up the re-
straining wall If the dume that sup
plies the city with water should give
way. This was to be done to save the
big factory buildings.
Between two and three thousand per-
sons are homeless and whole sections
of the city, like Riverside, are con-
yerted into islands. The flood rose two
feet higher than the food Of March,
1902.
The devastation and destruction
wrought in Paterson By the food are
terrible and incalculable. Estimates Of
the property loss are frequently put
mt over S2,000,0O0, but figures will be
lacking until the waters have sub
sided. A number of buildings on the
banks of the river have been destroyed.
Immense washouts on the streets and
railroads have stopped all travel on
trains and trolley cars. Great damage
has been done to factories and their
machinery along the river.
The flood had reached Fair street
early in the day and threatened. to
wipe out the business portion Of the
city. The city almshouse was COM
pletely cut off. The whole Of the First
Ward, comprising TotowaI and Hal
den, is completely isolated and sur
rounded by water.
The first death reported was that Of
Norris Riley, a lineman employed by
the gas and electric light company.
some wires, when the food undermined
the pole and it fell with crash in the
basin Of the falls, sixty feet below.
hurting Riley to instant death. He
sank underneath the raging water and
never came to the surface.
The body of Nellie Hartley, who was
swept from a bridge ever the Oldham
Brook at Haledon, was found tangled
in a wire fence on the meadows of
Monroe street,
The Straight street bridge, the larg-
est and most substantial in the city,
collapsed early. It had withstood the
storms Of twenty-five years, and was
thought to be as strong, if not stronger,
than the more recently built structures.
The Hillman street bridge was car
ried away shortly after 9 o'clock. The
wreckage of the. town was carried
against the Mofit and Wagarom
bridges, carrying them away. A little
later the Hudson River Trolley Com
pany's bridge collapsed.
On the railroads the case is hardly
less serious than in Paterson itself.
The Erie system is completely tied up,
and but a partial service is installed
on the Delaware, Lackawanna and
Western road. The Susquehanna road
has suspended its service. and railroad
men, like city officials and merchants,
wait upon the mercies Of the ever-ris-
ing river.
The work Of relief was pushed dur.
ing the day as rapidly as possible, and
some scores of persons Of the contin-
gent whose dwellings had been washed
away were temporarily provided for
at Apollo Hall, where a subscription
started in the morning hours reached
several thousand dollars by nightfall.
Paterson, fire swept, tornado swept
and now for the second time, Hood
swept, has had plenty Of experience in
caring for the victims of its disasters,
and Is taking the present situation phil
losophlcally. There Is no hustle OF
confusion in organizing relief commit
tees. They seem to be standing bod
les. However, the city is sheltering
and feeding 1900 homeless persons. 1t
Is estimated that 5000 persons have
been made temporarily homeless, but
more than two-thirds Of them are being
cared for by their friends.
While the most spectacular damage
was done at Paterson there was great
loss by floods at other points. A high
er tide in the Delaware than has Geen
recorded for thirty years flooded the
Philadelphia and Camden river fronts.
interrupting ferry traffic and submers-
ing piers and business places on Dela-
Indict Twenty-Five For Lynching OF Negros
The Grand Jury of Moore County,
Tennessee, has returned joint indict..
ment against twenty-five members OF