The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-11-23
FLOOD IN W~|NSTON-SALEN
North Carolina Town Swept by
Waters From Dam.
WALL OF STRUCTURE GIVES WAY
Nine Persons Were Killed In the onrush
oft Waters and Others Were Injured
Big Pond Formed in Centre OF the
Town-Authorities Bury the Dead and
Care For the Injured.

Ofthe Waters ana Otners were lnJureu
Big Pond formed in Centre of the
Town-Authorities Bury the Dead and
Care For the Injured.
Winston-Salcm, y. Cropping with
4 roar like the crack Of doom on the
handsome dwelling house Of Martin
Peoples. ncar the centre of this village.
at ) o'clock in the morning, the north
side of the big municipal waterworks
reservoir smashed the building to splin-
tiers and released 100000 gallons Of wa
ter that surged in a tremendous wave
over the heart of the residence section
| on that side of the city. Nine persons,
seven of them women, were killed by
the fall of the wall OF drowned in the
mighty outrush that followed it, and
four were injured. The flood swept a
path through all that part Of the vii
lage, travelling more than half 4 mile
to Belos Landing before it spent its
fury on the plain. 1t scooped up house
after house and carried them along at
%frightful speed, drowning the dwellers
in several before they awoke. -Four
homes were swept several hundred
yards from their foundations and
thrown in shapeless masses against the
high ground that stopped them.
1t was in the stiffness of the hour be-
fore the dawn that the hand of death
fell on the ~place-stiller than the dead
of night, when weary men were deep
in the last Of their slumber and none
was awake in the neighborhood to
sound q warning cry. That a tunult
Of shouts would have aroused the
doomed in time to give them a chance
for their lives is doubtful, though. One
terrific note was sounded by the wall
as it gave way under the strain OF that
vast bulk of water it prisoned. Then
followed the fearful roar of the water,
the shrieks of the few who
awoke with moments left in
which to face their death, the grinding
of timbers, the swift beat of falling
bricks on the PROSTATE sides Of houses
and in a few minutes q mass of hui
man and building wreckage was float
ing on the torrent that sped northeast
toward the Southern Railway cut.
Yet in the height of it's fury the flood
performed strange acts OF seeming
mercy. It killed or MANNED more than
a dozen, but it carried a negro named
Davis and his wife in their bed out Of
their ruined house for 500 yards with
out harming a hair of their heads. The
Davises were asleep when the huge
| column of water struck their little
home. Over went the tiny building,
torn from its frail foundation, to which
the floor still clung, so that the upper
part of the house was an open shell.
The bed righted itself in the swirl with
out throwing either of them off. Gasp
ing for breath after their sudden i'm
mersion, they found themselves tossing
on the torrent, their bed 4 boat. They
dashed past unscathed dwelling houses
| clasped in each others arms. praying
aloud in momentary expectation or
death. Suddenly as it had seized them
the flood cast their bed upon 4 rub
bish pile, and. safe after their agony
| Of fear, they picked their way to firm
er ground.
81 cannot describe my experience
when I was floating on the mac rush
ing stream Of water" said l.. u.
Payne, Il travelling salesman, Of Green
boro, who was hurt too terribly even
to be taken to a hospital. Others said
! they thought they were in the midst OF
an earthquake. It was not until they
had been in the water for at least a
! minute that they realized what a
happened. Then they recalled that the
reservoir wall had been regarded as
unsafe by many persons, II that
there had been a feeling the authorl-
ties should remove it, particularly as
the village had erected 4 s%tandpipe
from which an ample supply could be
, obtained. Cries broke from the sur
rivors as they were borne away by the
food. BY that time almost everybody
In the unflooded parts Of the village
was engaged in the rescue work, which
was organized by common action, and
for upward Of an hour was without di-
rection. Mayor o. B. Eaton took
charge Of the work on his arrival.
Arrangements for burial Of the dead
and care of the injured were made ear
ly in the forenoon by the Board Of Al
dermen. The Board also directed an
immediate search of an enormous pond
made around the fallen wall by the set
thing of the water. It was feared other
bodies might be found at the bottom.
The Aldermen gave orders to drain the
pond. Much criticism Of the authori-
ties for the condition of the reservoir
was expressed. The wall was thirty
feet high when q company Of sixty vii
layers constructed the reservoir twen-
ty-three years ago. After running the
works for thirteen years the corpora
ton sold the whole plant to the munic-
ipality, which added ten feet to the
height of the wall. The reservoir was
briming when the collapse occurred.
1t was only five blocks from the cen
tire of the business district.