The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-06-06
MINES CLOSED
DOWN AND CITY
IN DARKNESS
Eight Inches of Snow at Butte
s Completes Havoc Wrought
by the Rain.
FLOOD SITUATION IN
MONTANA ALARMING
KANSAS TOWN UNDER WATER
M'LEOD, ALBERTA, IN Sc
RloUS DANGER.

:. !: :.s,.a.s
= Butte, Mont, June Eight =
- inches OF snow on the level, =
= washed into slush by a driving ::
= rain that set in at daylight, cut =
= OFF Butte from the outside world =
= today. Telegraphic communication ::
:: was not restored until noon. ::
- Overhead power wires are so =
:. badly tangled with light wires that ::
= Mayor Corby viii allow neither =
= street car nor light power TO be =
- turned on tonight, hence the city =
- viii be dark again and the street ::
= cars may not run tomorrow. The ::
= mines are also closed down. ::
= The report from A1issoula that =
= the MOulton dam, above Butte, ::
= had burst is unfounded. The dam =
= Is In no danger. and despite the ::
= great amount Of precipitation here =
= the damage has been very slight ::
.''.~.T':'
Helena and Butte. Mont are prac-
tically cut OF from the outside world
this morning. Rain is still falling heav-
fly throughout that part of Montana.
and traffic on the railroads. already
demOTalized by washouts following a
weeks almost continuous rain. win be
tied up for several days. Every lit
lie trout stream and brook in central
Montana is a raging torrent. while the
Big Hole. Clark's Fork and Missoula
rivers are twice and three times their
usual width and overlooking the low
lands. threatening railroad bridges and
causing serious washOuts on the rail-
roads in dozens Of places.
All Over the State.
East and west of Helena on the
Northern Pacific. north and south of
Helena on the Great Northern, and also
on the Oregon Short Line north and
south of Dillon passenger trains are
stalled, with no hope of getting through
until the waters go down and work OF
repairing the tracks can be taken up.
Out Of Butte both the Northern Pa
cific and the Great Northern are tied
up by washouts. The Postal Telegraph
had a wire into Butte this morning
long enough to learn that the power
house supplying the electric lighting
and telegraph power was threatened by
the floods
Wires Are Down.
The wire failed a moment later and
Butte therefore is probably without
"A "
ion wires failed early this morning
north of Dillon. Mont, as a result eth
er of the failure of the power house
at Butte or WashOuts along the Big
Hole river. The latter stream is seri-
Ously threatening the big bridge a mile
and a half north Of Dillon. and Oregon
Short Line passenger trains are tied
up on either side. with no prospect of
the blockade being broken for at least
twenty-four hours.
Hundreds of men are at work dump
ing rock along the river banks near
The bridge, in the hope Of saving the
structure from destruction, and the
railroad officials this morning expressed /
themselves as confident OF success. It /
is still raining heavily, however, around /
Dillon, and probably. therefore, all over
the region north.
Gloomy Picture Drawn.
A telephone message received tonight /
from Butte, Mont, gives gloomy pic /
Iure Of the flood situation in central and I
southern Montana. No trains, no tele- /
graph wires, 10 electric lights, no street /
car service and continually falling rain I
is the substance of the report. The resi- /
dences and offices tonight are lighted by /
candles Three feet OF water in the low [
er part of the city has forced the fur I
naces at the Butte Reduction works 10 I
conda is out of commission
Great Damage at Helena.
Since o'clock tonight the sole tele- /
graph wire available during the day has /
been down and the only connecting link /
with the outside world is the copper ]
thread of the telephone company For d I
few minutes in the afternoon telephone !
communication was open TO Helena Ii 1
was then reported that thousands OF dol /
lars worth of damage had been occa- /
stoned in that immediate vicinity within /
the last twenty-four hours. In the Gal
latin valley twO-thirds Of the crops IL /
was declared, are ruined The East Hell
ena smelter stands in water three feet i
deep and has been forced 20 suspend Oper-
atoms. Railroad traffic is at a stand |
still.
Interruption of all forms Of communi- 1
cation has prevented the situation al other 1
Montana points from being learned. There 1
Continued on Page 2.