Amador ledger., 1907-03-22
A BIG FLOOD.
Streams Higher than Since the
Great Flood of 1878.

o me biggest flood known IN thi
1 section since 1873 was witnessed earl
tuesday morning. 1t had been rain
D ing almost continuously for thre
? days. lt was warm rain, and tn,
snow far up ID the mountains wa
melted by the stcrm, the waters from
which, added to the natural heavy
rainfall brought down the streams il
torrential force. The Mokelumne
} river rose very rapidly. For some
time 1t rose in the nelghborhoon oil
Big Bar bridge at the rate of from c
to 8 inches per hour.
All the branches of jackson creek
were very high higher than they have
been known since the great food of
1878, when the big New York
reservoir broke, which coming on
heels of an unprecedented cIoudburst,
during which three inches of rain tell
around jackson in the space of 20
minutes, caused a flood never before
witnessed IN this neighborhood. The
main bridge, on broadway was swept
away, and, the whole of Chinatown
was carried down the stream by the
north fork, several lives being lost.
> During the whole of last Monday
night the rain fell steadily. Monday
the creeks we're not swollen much,
but during the, night the waters rose
rapidly. Soon after midnight the
middle fork was so high that night
watchman SParker, aroused the resi-
dents bordering on that stream, so
that they might be on the guard.
Mrs Rocco had her chicken COOP
built on the edge of the stream near
the main bridge. completely swept
away, but saved the chickens about
one hundred in number. Several
thousand feet of lumber piled Oh the
bank in the rear of Ii. Wallis lot
sailed down the current.
The footbridge over the south fork
of Jackson creek beyond the Zeila
mine was carried away, and struck
against the tootbrIdge at South Jack
son, several hundred Yards distant,
knocking out a section of that. There
was no way of reaching town from
the county south except by way of
the foot bridge near the Good Hope
mine, and at Harry Jones. For
vehicle travel communication was
shut off tor nearly two days.
In other parts of the county the
damage done is considerable. A
serious break occurred on the line
of the ditch above the Tabeaud
reservoir, and Tuesday the company
was employing all the men available
to fix up the breaks. The power
plant was not damaged to any extent.
The waters of the Mokelumne river
were aWash of the barn. 1t is said
the river rose at least u feet. The |
sulpherets bin of the Easy bird mine
was washed away, and the floor of the
FIipp mill was under water. The air
compressor building of the Gwin
mine was flooded, bringing the
machinery to a standstlIl.
A pretty sight was witnessed near
the Zeila mill about s O'Clock Tues
day morning. The branch power
line, leading from the main line to
the mill, crosses the creek. One of |
the poles carrying the wires is located |
IN the creek bed. The high water
washed around this pole t. such an
extent that it fell. and the wires be-
came mixed up. a number OF persons
were watching the flood waters at the
time. Johnny Garbarini noticed the
shaky condition of this pole, and
called to the others to be on their
guard, as some we're holding the guy
wires. When it fell, there was a
pynotecnIo scene that was grand.
The wires tor distance of a couple
of hundred feet were ablaze, and the
buzzing, Kissing sound was louder
than the noise of the 40 stamp mill of
the Zella. The heat simply melted
the wires together. No damage was
done to the mill machinery, but it
brougeht the mill to a standstill. AS
a result of this break, the transformer
of the street light system in front of
the Union House on Main street was
put out of commission, and had to be
replaced by new one.
N hri NJ
river below Lancha Plana was carried
away during the flood, making two
costly structures lost as the outcome
of the recent high water. Amador
county will have to stand one half
the expense OF their rebuilding. In
addition there ale tour other bridges
that it is in contemplation to build
this season, namely at the south fork
near the Zeila mine, at the Ellis
place below jackson, at Aukum, over
the Cosumnes river, and one in the
valley at the Clifton ranch This
work Will entail heavy outlay; but
they are all imReratively demanded d
by the necessities OF traffic.
The passenger stage from this CITY
vent clear through to lone yesterday
Traffic on the l. tS II. road
was suspended, on account of the soft
OF the roadbed. No land
slides or washout had occurred, but
The management decided that it was
4 l.