The copper era., 1905-02-23
ANOTHER BIG FLOOD
 VISITED CLIFTON FRIDAY LAST.
Not as Disastrous as the One of January
 10th, but Much Damage Was Done.

1891 was a record breaker at that time. and while it is generally con Ceded that there was more water in the river at that time than during any of the floods since then. less dam age was done to property interests then than in any one of the three recent floods. This is probably owing to the fact that at that date Clifton was much smaller town than at the present time.
 The flood of June. 1905, was con- fined to Chase creek, and no damage was done to any other part of the town. During the flood of January 10th and Friday last, all parts of the town suffered, except Hills addition, which escaped more lightly than other sections.
 The climatic conditions on Friday last were almost identical with that of January 10. Rain fell steadily and slowly Thursday and Thursday night. and continued during Friday. Along in the afternoon the dOwnpour in- OIcdSCu dllu Dt ddl thC river was d raging torrent and all most bank full, but up to that time very little damage was done. As dark came on and the rain continued people who lived in the flood dis tricts, which includes the greater portion of the town, commenced to pack their household effects, and many of them moved out. Between waters rose nearly two feet, causing great excitement and uneasiness, as it was generally feared that the snow waters were then coming down from However, at l o'clock the tempera- ture dropped suddenly, and instead of rain the moisture descended in snow, which is quite unusual in Clifton. doubtless saved the twon from much greater damage, as it almost imme- diatcly brought the river to q stand still, and couple of hours later it commenced to fall slowly. However, many people who considered them selves comparatively safe up to that time, then moved their household eff fects out into the storm, or into neighboring houses, and sought shelter on higher ground.
 The water was not quite as high as during the flood of January 10th, though no doubt the river carried much more water, for the reason that the bed of the stream had been side cut away by recent floods. Had it rot been for the sudden drop in temperature, however. which checked the flow of the water from the mountains, it is probable that by Saturday morning Clifton would have witnessed the biggest flood of it's his tory, or at least since the settlement of the country by white men.
 All day Friday Chase creek was in full flood, but as no damage was then done, and as the stream is short, draining only small section of country, it was thought that part of town was safe, but the volume of water increased after nightfall, and by l2 o'clock the water was higher than it was even during June, 1903. It reached its highest point about 3 o'clock Saturday morning, when the Catholic church went down with d crash which could be heard above the roar of the rushing waters. and | the ccaseless grind of the immense boulde~s, which were hurled along 1 the darkness with the ve- loCity of d railroad train. The | natural creek bed had been filled l with borlders and debris. causing the | swirling torrent to find its only out let down Copper avenue, the princi- pal business street of the town, and | on to the Frisco river. For for Railroad avenue the l head of that thorodghfare had been | previously blocked with heavy tim vented the water from finding an outlet through the railroad yards. as was the case in other floods. which was q great saving in expense and to the A. & N. NJ. railroad and the business houses and residents )f the street.
 ALONG CHASE CREEK
 The upper part of the town of Chase creek was not injured. The first house to be wrecked by the rushing waters, was an adobe build ng owred and occupied by Romulo Chavez as d saloon. The building collapsed, and was a complete loss. together with all of it's contents. It w2S flooded 70 depth of four or five feet. An adjoining building Of stone, also owned by MT. Chavez. and o. cupied by d restaurant, was flooded several feet in depth, but the build ng was not injured.
 On the opposite side of the s-eet some small adobe buildings were filed almost to their ceilings with sand. and the buildings wrecked.
 The Catholic church. which was arge adobe building, is complete wreck, nothing remaining bat the -oof and the belsrv, with the bell