davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Detroit times., 1911-01-06
Sheets and Cases

At acc. worth 59c-Seamess Sheets 72x90. well made
soft finish and good serviceable quality.
At &c., worth 70c-Seamless Sheets 72x90-a good
heavy quality and standard grade OF cotton
At sc, worth 67c-Good quality S1x90 Seamless
Sheets, nicely made and a good wearingssheet.
At sec, worth 80c-Heavy Seamless Sheets S1x90,
made OF finely woven durable cotton with finish
The Detroit times., 1911-01-06
Closing Out Some Odd
GraniteWare at About
Half Price

Good, clean, new stock and re-
mainders OF three OF our very best
and most popular lines. Blue, pink
and white wares, but broken lines,
which must 30 before inventory.
Kettles. Sauce Pans, Pals, Tea and
Coffee Pots, Soap Dishes, Wash
Basins. Stew Pans. etc. at about
half price, but tomorrow ought TO
clean them up. SO don't be late.
The Detroit times., 1911-01-06

At csc, worth $1.2s-Crocheted Spreads. hemmed and
full size. They pure white, good heavy quality
and shown in assorted patterns
At $14e, worth $1.95-Hemmed Fringed Crocheted
Spreads. closely and durable. Double bed size
and five designs to select from
At $1.2e, worth $1.65-Hemmed, Crocheted Spreads,
well made and serviceable: large size
At $1.ss worth $25o-Marseiles Spreads, either
hemmed or fringed with cut corners They extra
large size have fine, soft finish and shown In six
designs.
The Detroit times., 1911-01-06
Lamps Are Reduced

About a hundred lamps must be
sold at some price TO clean up.
Both Gas and Electric Lamps. all
bought for our present seasons
business.
$500 Lamps for. 1915
$3.50 Lamps for. SAYS
$1,000 Lamps for. ....... S6.75
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

the drainage of Freeman creek and
backed up the water for three-quarters
of a mile over across in extent. II was
the source of power for the BayleSS
Pulp and Paper Company.
A year ago last spring the original
dam broke and the town of Austin was
inundated. After considerable agita-
ton the corporation was given permits
siOnto erect a massive concrete struc-
ture, supposed to be danger-proof.
The breaking of the dam was discov-
cred yesterday afternoon about 2:3O
o'clock by party of men standing near
the structure.
The first news of the holocaust was
sent to the outer world by Edward
Stump, Bell telephone lineman. Stump
said:
Describes Scene.
Il was working on top of a pole in
the center of the town. when l heard
an awful roaring, and at the same time
saw the water coming down the narrow
valley. Yelling to my companions on
the ground, We started up the hill. Part
way up the incline, we rushed into a
house, found telephone with local con-
nections. l tore out the box, FASTENED
to climb a pole on the outside, where |
set up a connection on a long distance
wire, calling Heating Summit, and Gale
ton. The sight that greeted my eyes
was horrible. Words cannot describe
my feelings as | gazed on the scene of
devastation and wreckage, where just
a few minutes before lay the pretty
town of Austin. throbbing with the busy
happiness of a bright autumn day.
1T was sickening. a sight to turn
strong men into weaklings. We could
see the water washing over the lower
part of the town, the business section,
crumpling the immense buildings as If
they were cardboard. On and on the
terrible thing spread until the valley
as far as we could see, was covered
from hill to hill with a writhing stream,
broken here and there by the remains
of some structures.
Floating bodies could be discerned in
the distance. At that time we had no
idea of the extent of the horror
Today's scene in the valley of death
has been equaled only once or twice in
America. For miles down the narrow
valley open fields are strewn with the
wrecks of buildings and dead bodies.
Many faces are marred, torn, mangled.
and burned beyond recognition, and it
is probable that hundreds of bodies will
be buried without names ever appearing
above their graves.
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

Many are thought to have died dur
ing tie night that might have other
wise lived had they been cared for.
Turner street, one of the thorough
tiaI street of the town. md contained
many handsome homes. Many of its
residents, including Senator Baldwin 8
family, Mrs NJ. o. Collins, wife of the
late superintendent Of the Goodyear
Yards; former Register and Recorder
William Nelson. and Mrs. Stark
weather, were killed. 1t is impossible
to ;ell exactly how many We're drowned
or killed, and no one is able to give a
list of the names of the missing.
The Bell Telephone Company had run
it's line TO within three miles of Austin
this morning, but ii will lie late tonight
or early tomorrow before anything IKE
good communication can he established
with the stricken town. the arrival OF
the State and national help already en-
route is GnXiOusly awaited by the peo-
pie With the receding OF the water,
4 has been found tfat the torrent aug
out a gulley ten feet wide and four
feet deep through the heart of the
business section Of the town.
Telegraph connection has been eX-
tended to within several miles of Aus
tin. but only meager reports or the teTA
ribIe events are available. These how
the drowned or killed. Many bodies
have been burned beyond Identification,
and it will be days before anything like
order can be worked out of the chaos
that reigns today.
Baldwin's Family Gone.
A report this morning gives the
information that the entire family
of State Senator Frank E. Bald
win, excepting himself, persisted in
the flood. This includes the senator's
wife children, aged father and mother,
and sister. Mr.. Baldwin was uninjured,
although the loss to his property is
enormous All of the reports that reach
the outside world are full of accounts
of heroic deeds, where children gave
IN their lives to help brothers and sis
ters and parents persisted in the water
irving to save babes.
At the time when the dam burst all
of thS men were in the mills at work
and only the women and children at
home and in the streets. The ringing
Of the fire bells sent the populace into
the streets, where they were caught In
a death-dea!ing trap that snuffed out
lives with one breath.
The dam was a concrete structure
fifty feet high, 500 feet wide and about
100 feet through at the base. 1t checked
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Lecture by Mr.. Britt
Opens Y. M. c. A. Series

Hon. James ]. Britt, Third Assistant
Postmaster General, will speak in the
assembly hall at the Y. NJ. c. A build
ing this afternoon at o'clock on Re
ligion and the Public Service" The talk
will be of especial interest to young men
in the Government employ. President
George Otis Smith, of the association,
will preside.
The address of Mr.. Britt will be the
opening of the winter series of meetings
that are always conducted By the Y
NJ. c. A. For the rest of the month the
following speakers are announced: Oc-
tober s. DR.. Eugene May, author and
lecturer, on 1.-The Greatest Roman of
Them All:'' October II, DIR. George l..
Macintosh, president Wabash College.
THE Warp and Wool of Life" October
%, Frank NJ. Morrison, secretary Amer
lean Federation of Labor, .'Labor's
True interpretation" October %, Will
liam Knowles Cooper, general secretary
Y. II. c. A, Religion and Efficiency,
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Mrs. Pauline g. Wayne
Speeding Westward

"Sneedfnr toward Milwaukee as fast as
Pennsylvania express train can travel
Is Mrs. Pauline CULVER Wayne. AM
erica's most famous COW. who Is to be
placed on exhibition at the State dairy
show which opens there next week.
Mrs. Pauline eft Washington yester-
dav afternoon. her spirits high. The
White House COW will remain at MIL
waukee till the close of the exhibition,
October IS. She then will be taken TO
Chicago. and will he the stellar attrac-
zion at a dairy exhibition there. She
is due to return to Washington about
October Is.
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

COUDERSPORT, Oct. 1.-The Bayless
Pulp and Paper Company owned the
cam which broke at Austin, carrying
death into the valley below. 1t was two
years old, and was Sc feet across and
80 feet high. Its construction was Of
cement, and on numerous occasions X
was demonstrated that the engineering
work and material were faulty.
On January %, last year, the dam
sprang a leak, and a panic ensued in
Austin and other towns below, the peo-
pie fleeing to the hills for safety.
Owing to the great size and imror-
lance of the dam the American Society
of Engineers of New York sent experts
to examine and report Upon the work.
The Engineering News of that city
thereafter exposed the defects in the
dam, directed attention to the peril 10
which the corporation owning il was
exposing 1000 souls living in the village
below. The Bayless Pulp and Paper
Company did not heed the warning, and
DID not mend the defects in til" dam,
which held 200, 900, 600 gallons of water.
T. Chalkley Hatton, of the American
Society of Engineers. made a full :cch-
meal report, which was published in
Engineering News March II. 1870 page
81.
The following is the substance:
How 1t Was Built.
THE dam was composed of cylopean
with large quarry stones
from one-half to two cubic yards, en-
bedded firmly in wet concrete. These
stones were placed so as to break
Joints, both as headers and stretchers,
surrounded with not less than six
inches of concrete. The composition
Of the concrete was one part Portland
cement, three parts sand, and six parts
of broken stone. There was no incli-
ma ton on the part of any one connect
ed with the work in the first place
to slight it in any particular.
THE work was done by c. J. Britnall
& Co, BinghamtOn, n. Y, on a per-
plan. The work was consid-
cred first class.
THE dam was completed December,
! 909, contained 1880 cubic yards of
lnncrete. and there had been excavated
or foundations 1895 cubic yards, and
), 800 cubic yards of embankment,
costing, exclusive of engineering, $7l,-
S21.4S.
when completed there was one
small vertical crack 5l.3 feet on the
extended from the top to the ground
wide.
Later in December another crack
appeared 1913 feet to the east of the
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Eyewitness Describe How Waters Ragged Mission Of Death and Ruin
PEOPLE OF AUSTIN
DREADED COLLAPSE.
For More Than Year Inhabitants of Stricken Mill Town
Feared Bursting of Dam-Frame Houses in
Gully Flume Were Traps.

For more than a year the people of
Austin have feared a catastrophe such
as has now overtaken them, according
to r. L. Ross, Of Washington, who has
been 4 frequent visitor to the little
Pennsylvania town.
Mr.. Ross, who is a craftsman in the
Coast and Geodetic Survey, married
Miss Sara f. Watkins. Of Austin. Mrs.
Ross knew many Of those who were
drowned when the Bayless dam broke,
and size is Ill today as she reads, one
after another the name Of some friend
who was caught III the waters that
swept the city.
''C Mess one has been to Austin" said
MIR. Ross today. st is difficult to under
stand how closely built was the little
city, numbering perhaps 5000 inhabi-
tants.
High mountains are on either side
Of a narrow valley, through the center
Of which the main street of the town
runs. In breadth the town is hardly
more than a couple of city blocks. 1t
seems really a town built in a big
gully. so there was no escape when the
Bayle5s dam broke.
above Austin. Between the town and
the stored water was a pulp mill and
right below was row after row of
dwellings and one business street.
Typical Mill Town.
1T was a typical mill town and
many of the inhabitants were thrifty
and prosperous. The majority of the
homes. however. were built of frame,
instead of brick. and 1 can see readily
how easily the great flood of water
tossed them about and drowned. their
inmates like rats.
For year or more the people of
Austin, the greater number of whom
worked for the three pulp mills in the
vicinity. have dreaded the collapse
of the big dam.
"Once before the dam sprang aleak
and the people fed to the hills The
great structure was REINFORCED, how
ever, and a feeling OF partial security
returned. Yet these folks of the lit
tie valley. hundreds of whom are
dead today. always had a lurking fear
that some day the pressure of water
would overcome concrete and that
they would have to flee again for their
lives.
"On my visits to Austin. prior to nv
marriage and since, l often have
heard discussed the strength of the
great dam that overlooked the CITY
ana tnat hel0 In check the waters
from two streams. When one went
to sleep in Austin he faced the pos
sibility that in the night the waters
would come and sweep him and his
all away.
Hoped For Warning.
There was present always the hope,
and in some it amounted to- convic-
ton, that the break would come slowly.
II break it ever did-that there would
first be a Iesk that would give ample
warning so tie people might seek the
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

hills as they did a year ago. Perhaps
none Of the more doubtful ones antici-
pated that the entire structure would
go in the twinkltng of an eye and that
disaster could overwhelm the town as
it did late yesterday"
Mr.. Ross description of Austin causes
one to appreciate the helplessness of the
hundreds who went to death without
warning when the big/dam broke. The
topography of the surrounding section is
this:
Above the town and in between the
two hills that hemmed IT in from the
outside world stood the Bayless dam.
Using its stored waters was the pulp
mill and on down the valley. beyond
the mills, stretched the homes Of its
employees. Turner street ran from one
end Of the village to the other. Below
the village proper was another mill and
at this point the valley swerved sharp
ly to the left. joining valley that ex-
sharp turn, hardly two miles from the
big dam, that houses and human bodies
are piled in confusion today.
Course OF Wreckage.
After they had torn houses from their
foun6a: lions, after human beings had
been tossed about like 50 much drift
wood, after iron and brick and steel
had fought fdtIlely against them, the
winters virtually dumped the entire
town Of Austin against another hill set
Cross-wise at the end of the valley.
Then the flood stream turned to tne
left and vent its way to broader ex-
panses, where it's fury became less and
where 1t spread into more tranquil
being.
Although the idea seems incnngrlcus.
fire added to the work of destruction
done by water. Austin has natural gas,
ordinarily a blessing, but in this in
stance a curse. The waters wrecked
gas mains and somehow the fumes
started. Many persons MANNED by the
wall of water, hut with lingering hope
of life, were afterward killed by flames
that consumed the wrecked home in
which they were penned.
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
ENGINEERS KNEW
DAM WAS FAULTY
Technical Magazine Publish ed Report of Defects Com
piled by Expert-People Once Had to Run
for Their Lives.

spill water This crack was similar to
the other and appeared to be due to
contraction, as there was no evidence
of settlement. They could not have
been the result of water pressure, be-
cause up to this time there had been
no water in the dam.
Filled To Overlooking.
'1n January. 1910, the weather grew
warm, some rain fell, and the heavy
SHOWS were rapidly melting, and
within three days the dam was filled
to overlooking.
"On January % large slice of earth,
forming the eastern wall, below the
dam, dropped down eight feet and part
ly slid into the valley, and some water
came down in the slide, which was evil
Water in large quantities began COM
ing up through the ground from fifteen
to fifty feet down stream. showing that
the water had got under the dam
through the embaHkment and through
the rock strata. On the next day sec-
ton of the dam slid out al the bottom.
''One crack opened four inches and
the other four and one-haf. The
movement covered a period of about
eight hours, when 1t STOPPED.
THE 3S-inch pipe, which was built
through the center of the dam as a
draw-off, had been capped by the COM
pany with wooden cap attached to tho
bell of the cast-irun pipe with wrought
iron clamps contrary 10 the advice of
the designing engineer. He recommend
ed valve cap. This cap began at the
foot of the spill water. and it had be-
come, of course, impossible to remove II
when the water was wasting in such
large volumes over the spill water. The
company had so built il because they
did not anticipate that the pipe would
rave TO be used except for clearing out
the bottom when the water was low.
Dynamite Used.
ITO relieve the pressure on the dam
a small section of concrete was re-
moved by dynamite on the right side
just where the dam entered the bank.
This opening was made about four feet
below the water line, six to eight feet
wide. AS the whole town was much
alarmed for fear this opening was not
sufficient to relieve the pressure, about
seven tons of dynamite in bag of sand
were lowered over the spillway until II
rested upon the top of the 36-inch cleail-
out pipe When this dynamite was eX-
ploded by means of a battery 1t blew
the wooden cap clear off the Clean-Oul
pipe, and in about sixteen hours the
dam was empty.
1T was then observed that portions
Of the embankment had been washed
away Some of il went cut under the
cam; a major portion went out through
the 36-Inch clean-Out pipe.
1T vas also observed that the up
stream face of the dam was intact, eX-
Cept for the vertical cracks"
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
ENGINEER TELLSOF
SEEING DAM BURST,
TRIED To SAVE CITY
Ran to Telephone, But Cen
trail" Had Been Swept
Away in Flood.

My God, boys, she's giving way!
A group of men, lettering on Satur-
day half-holiday, stood near the Dig
Bayless dam above Austin, Pa, late
yesterday afternoon. One of them mad
Just said something about the WONDER
full strength of the concrete structure.
A moment later there came prenmi-
nary report, like the pop of a pistol;
one of the party saw a little hole In the
far corner of the dam, and the water
had begun to pour through. He yelled,
and the watching men tore up the hill
side. What followed is told by Harry
Davis, a Buffalo and Susquehanna loco
motive engineer.
Looking at scores Of dead bodies and
a devastated town, Davis said at Austin
today:
I'VE stood watching the dam. A mo-
ment before the collapse, there. was
nothing to indicate that the dam would
give way, or that it was weakening.
There was a sudden sharp report, ana
a little hole appeared is the west end
of the dam. A comparatively small
stream of water begun to rush through.
Saw 1t Give Way.
zone of our party, realizing the tragic
significance of the slight break, yelled
agonizingly:
Look out, boys, she's giving way"
zone look was enough, for then the
hole was growing and the impatient
waters were gaining in volume. We
started up the hill, fleeing for our
own safety and knowing as the rush
Of TIE water met our ears mat IL
meant death to hundreds of the un-
warned below.
Hooking back we saw that the hole
had grown to twenty feet in width
and that it extended almost the entire
heighth of the dam. A SECOND later
there was another report and II seem
ed then that the whole structure had
given way. The sound was deafenlng
There was a house near by, just at
the foot of one of the hills. 1 rushed
into It to telephone to the central in
Austin. AS / entered the house
:ifty-fOOt wall of water seemed 10
start on it's mission of destruction
down the valley.
Called Central.
ct got central at Austin. I had no
time to say anything except:
1.-The dam is gone
SCI knew that every one in Austin
would know what that meant. for
many had been dreading it. Central
didn't have much time to warn the
people. The water was already rush
ing toward the town, just a little
more than a mile below the dam. l
guess central did the best she could.
haven't seen her since and she may
be dead for all I know.
''I started on down the hills to Aus
tin then. AS neared the city. but
a few minutes behind the flood: / saw
that the havoc had been all that we
dreaded 1t seemed a clean sweep OF
the ALLEY. Houses had been crushed
like eggshells. The timbers were Pill,
ed up against the railroad shops and
soon the fire broke out. No one seems
TO know how the fire started. for the
flames appeared in a dozen places at
once.
"The rest NAV be ina gined. It can
not be described. Whole families
were wiped out The survivors went
about the muddy streets weeping
historically. no one able to help the
other"
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

VICTORY In 3 DAYS
If you know anyone who drinks alcohol
In any form, regularly periodically let send my
FREE book, Confessions of an Alcohol Slave"
i drank beer at first, then gradually deve-
oped into q drinker OF strong liquors. When drinking
heavily wouldn't hesitate TO pawn my coat or break
would drink quart OF whisky, rum or GIN daily.
Often some mixed drinks and beer too.
I damaged business, health and social
opportunities, made family miserable, lost real
friends and became q burden upon all except the
saIoonkeepers, who cheerfully took my money for
the poison they gave me.
a hopeless case Various "cures" did me no good.
But now have q Joyous message for drinkers and
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
WOND ERFUL

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power faith would still be drunkard, because an
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reiolced so greatly at having found true relief that
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The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Rev. Bready Retires
From Capital Work

The Rev. Stuart Bready, assistant
pastor of the Church Of the Covenant,
gave up his work today, and Thursday
will leave the city for the West, where
he will accept a pastorate. He is sue
ceeded by the Rev. Bernard Braskamp,
OF Iowa, who today assisted in the
morning services at the church. Dr. w.
w. Moore. president of the Union Theo-
logical Seminary. of Richmond occu7
nied the pulpit this morning.
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Hoped For Warning.

There was present always the hope,
and in some it amounted to~a convic-
ton, that the break would come slowly.
II break it ever did-that there would
first be a lesk that would give ample
warning, so the people might seek the
The Washington times., 1911-10-01
Mothers. Wives, Sisters

while drifting from bad to worse, as all
slaves OF King Alcohol do, Unexpectedly found
quickly restored. became and am respectable
man, enjoying every benefit of freedom from the ac-
cursed alcohol speedily and naturally lost all desire
for drink. took less and less. began 70 prefer tea,
coffee, buttermiIk and other non-alcohol1e liquids;
the craving for liquor ceased, could sleep
perfectly, my stomach became well and recovered
from other ailments which now know were duo 20
NV indulgence drink.
The Washington times., 1911-10-01

EDWARD J. WOODS,
534 Sixth Ave-, 755 C New York, NY.