The Washington herald., 1908-08-24
CHURCH FLOODED
DURING SERVICES
Miniature Niagara in the
Temple Baptist Basement.
F0UR-INCH MAIN WAS BROKEN
Pastor Included Mention of Mishap
in Course of His Sermon. and Ad-
mOnished Worshipers Not to Be
AIarmed-Mr- MacfarIsnd Plays Part
in Having Basement Pumped Out.

Uudisnayed by the roaring Of a minia-
ture Niagara steadily filing the basement
Of their church with water from the
city reservoir. members Of the c0ngrega-
ton OF Temple Baptist Church. Tenth
and y streets northwest. assembled in
the auditorium last night 20 participate
u the Sunday evening devotional exer-
cises.
Although the rushing water escaping
from a broken 4-inch main made il diff
cult 10 hear the voice OF the minister
during the sermon. little heed was paid
20 the wet state of affairs below
The how of water was not checked until
after the close OF the services The dam
age is estimated 90 BE- from 800 10 800
Referred TO Latest Flood.
Rev. Or. j. : Sewers. Of Ohio. who IS
filing the pulpit in the absence Of Rev
J. J. Mai-- the pastor. made only one
ailUsion % the flooding OF the basement
Re cautioned the congregation not 10 be
frightened, explaining the noise was
caused by water flowing from a broken
pipe. He said he did not think the damage
would amount 20 much. and in his prayer
rather than detrimental result In the work
Of the church.
While the services were IN progress a
number Of persons gathered about the
exterior Of the building and peered into
the darkened basement va-iousIy guess
ing as % the state oC affairs. Chairs. Ia
hles. maps. a broom Or two. paper. and
objects Of varied sizes and values foated
about in the banquet hail and Sunday
school room. Meanwhile the fOw il
creased the depth Of water. which rapidly
rose until ii threatened 70 aow out Of
windows into the street and alley on
the north side Of the church
At this juucture employees Of the Dis
trict IN the water department arrived.
and. after a brief investigation. stopped
the flow. II was seen the water did not
fall. and a consultation was held. 4 de-
cLsion was reached that the fire depart
uen- should be called
Deputy Chief Wagner. who s in charge
Of the department. in the absence Of
[ Chief Belt. was located At No. engine
house. He made a hurry run 70 the
I scene. where lie learned that the pecu-
i liar circumstances n=csssitated the au-
Z thoritr Of q District Commissioner. Com
missioner AIacfarland gave the necessary
Z permission. and No. engine was caIlde
twenty-siN-foOt suction sleeve con
nected with the engine was run into the
+ basement. and Ia g few seconds water
was being pumped from the church in
/ two large streams. which ran down the
alley 20 Tenth street. wetting the fete OF
about ffty persons gathered 10 watch
I the work 0f the men
/ The water was pumped at the rate OF
about 80 gallons a second Nearly forty
| five minutes were consumed in reducing
{ the depth Of the dirty hU.d to eight inches.
Cause of the Trouble.
/ The accident was caused by defective
fitting in four-inch galvanized pipe
I which supplies the building ! three
inch pipe, inserted IN the end Of the big
main and secured with solder. became
loose. permitting the water TO escape
I IN a large stream.
Tie break was discovered by J N
/ Cation. member Of the Epwortn League
/ Of Temple Baptist Church He heard a
! roaring sound in the basement and ran
I down stairs TO investigate The stream
/ Of water had extinguished the lights and
I the basement was in darkness Gatto1
/ stepped into water up 10 his knee and
I beat a hasty retreat He notified DIT
I Sewers, who called the water depart.
] menI.
! officials OF the church, say had they
! been provided with means Of shutting of
I the flow tie disaster could have beer
I averted. II is said the church was flooded
/ by a break in she main about six months
{ ago. and aside from the repairing Of the
Z pipe no steps were taken to prevent Al
Z accident Of q similar nature.