The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-02

! toss. humping against one another.
spinning and turning as they tell to
. pieces or were swept gu, of M sight
/ The noise was appalling.
When ned from Main street there
| We're scores OF people behind me. many
! OF them children. They did not seem
to appreciate the immence Of their
danger.
Helpless to Give Further Warning.
some turned into stores as ii TO
make q casual purchase. While | Was
looking down upon them. Utterly hep
Less to give further warning, the CLOUD
OF mist that seemed to precede the
Hood hid them from view. and mo
ment later the green water buried the
houses from my sight"
Chief Of Police d. l.. Baker took
an informal census to-day. and from
his list calculated that at least 800 OF
the residents were unaccounted for.
But ). 81 Siebert. chairman Of the
Citizens Committee. anu Michael Muir
rim. the burgess. pointed out that this
reckoning necessarily Is Inaccurate be-
cause many OF those who escaped the
Hood arc wandering about to-day try
ing TO house themselves and those de-
pendent upon them.
Burgess Murrin said to-day that in
his opinion not more than 100 lives
, were tost.
1t is possible tina, this figure will
cover the loss he saio. and it is
possible that there will be not more
than 100 dead
The burgess and the Rev L. W
OBrien. who had been pastor OF ST.
AuEustine's Roman Cat Ollie Church at
Austin for many years. and who are
familiar with bus ness conditions and
values. estimate the property dam
age at about s6.000.000. The Baylcss
! Company, which owned the dam. will
lose sl,5oo,0oo, -ccording 10 Father
O'Brien: the Goodyear Lumber Com
pany, $i.000.cO0; the buffalo and Sus-
quehanna Railroad $500. 900. and the 300
houses destroyed with their contents.
it is said. VIII total {l.0o0.o00 more.
Children Arc yictim..
One OF the striking and pathetic
features of the day. according to DR..
Thomas II. a. styles chief of the State
dispensaries was the practical alb
| sence of children among the survivors
1t Is thought that when the wreck
age has been cleared away and the
bodies OF victims recovered-althouEh
many have been entirely destroyed
/ II Will be found that q large proportion
are those of children.
Boyd Lockhard. a young business
man of Austin. had a narrow escape.
Mr.. Lockhard said that when h"
heard the alarm given ne thought
some one was playing q practical joke
and he went In the street to watch the
peoples actions. He looked In the
direction of the dam and saw the on
coming flood was but three bloc.ts
away.
1T looked like "a wall of wood TWEEN
ty-tive feet high" he said. AT first
glance did not see the water at all
because the wood at the pulp mill
was carried before the water and be-
came a sort OF batterng ram that
tore away the buildings of the town. |
ran towards the hill and by the great
est effort got above the level of the
water while II was surging within ten
feet of me. The ground began to give
way under me. but managed to clam
Der few feet higher up and caught
| hold OF a tree TO which I chung"
Throngs Visit scene.
Throngs Of people came to the town
| to-day from all points in the Sinnema
honinG Valley below Austin to ascer-
tain the extent of the damage or TO
seek friends and relatives. The rush
of the waters had carried away every
means OF wire communication and i'm
peded travel of any kind.
THE people of Costello" said ]. c.
Rorchard. who loved within half a mile
of Costello. received ample warning
| from Austin that the dam had broken
and although forty or nifty houses were
demolished. only three fatalities oc-
Cured"
The annihilation of the town Of Aus
tin came In a beautiful autumn after
noon. The fine weather had attract
ed many of the younger element to a
ball game in nearby town and luck
lily they escaped the fate of their many
friends and relatives. Women were
about the streets for their Saturday
afternoon shopping, and these and the
merchants who were selling them
goods were caught by the on-rush o.
water almost before they had time to
think of escape. There were small
crowds amusing themselves also at