Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-10-02
that by morning the chaotic conditions

I that by morning the chaotic conditions
will have been relieved somewhat.
Relief Train Arrives.
Shortly after IL o'clock Sunday
morning the first relief train arrived
over the Pennsylvania railroad. -Four
carloads Of food and medical supplies
from the state arsenal composed the
relief loads. This was ordered by Gov
ernor Tener. and the train left Har-
risburg at 4:10 this morning in charge
OF Major Finney OF the Eighth regi-
ment, y. G. p, With eight men, as
guards.
At Sunbury, Pa, twenty-one men OF
| Troop c of the state constahulary, OF
the available men at hand. were taken
aboard and a delay OF an hour was
caused by the loading Of the troop
horses.
Il was shown that there IS need OF
a strong hand to guard the town. Fill
, layers had been at work during the
night following the :-un1or that :he
vaults OF the Austin bank and the
safes Of several stores had been wreck
| ed. The rursor was not true.
The burgess and the Rev P. W.
| O'B-ien. who had been Pastor Of ST.
Augastine's Roman Catholic church
/ :
are familiar with business conditions
and values. estimate the properly
! damage at about $4,000 900. The Bay
! less Company. which owned the dam.
will lose 81 800. 900, according 10 Father
, O'Brien. the Goodyear Lumber Corn
| pany sl.o0o,00o, the Buffalo & SusQue-
! hanna railroad 100000. and the 3ho
! houses destroyed with their contents
! il is said will total 100000 more.
| Had Narrow Escape.
! One Of the pathetic features of the
I day. according to DR.. Thomas H. \
was the practical absence of the chill
Gren among the survivors It is
thought that when the wreckage has
been cleared away ard the bodies of
victims recovcred-aitno many have
been entirely destroyed-it will be
found that large proportion are
those OF children.
Boyd Lockhard. Il young bushes
man Of Austin had narrow esca pc
MI Lockha-d said that when he heard
the alarm given he thought thar some
one was playing practical joke, an,
he went into the street TO watch y.
peoples actions. He looked IN tire al
reCtion of the dam and saw the on
coming food was but three blocks
away.
1T looked like a wall of wood TWEEN
" feet high he said "A. the first
glance did not seq the water az all
because the wood at the pulp mill was
carried before and became sort q
batterinz ram that tore away the build
ings Of the town.
Il ran towards the hill ard by the
greatest effort got above the level Of
the water while it was surging within
ten feet Of me The ground began TO
give way under me. hut managed TO
Chamber 2 few feet farther up and
caught mold Of tree TO which chung
Throngs Of persons came 10 the town
today from all points in the Sinnema-
honning valley below Austin to ascer-
tain the extent of the damage and TO
seek friends and relatives The rush
of the waters had carried away every
means of wire communication and i'm
peded travel.
j. c. Borchard. who lived within half
a mile Of Costello. said that when the
crest Of the food. swept past his home
there We're no signs of human beings
or their houses in the debris.
The entire surface Of the food was
covered with newly sawn timber and
pieces Of lumber" he said "Ir was not
until lapse OF five or six minutes that
pieces Of house tops. broken furniture
and other evidences Of the destruction
Of the town began 70 appear"
Costello Had Warming
The people Of Costello" he said. "re-
ceired ample warning from Austin that
or fifty houses were demolished, only
three fatalities occurred"
The frenen and volunteer. did eff
fective work in keeping off would-be
plunderers In several cases the guar
dians had hand 70 hand conflicts with
the narauders, in which the latter were
vorsted
TIE survivors of the food had not
recovered from the horror Of the scene
this morning. and for many hours none
but strangers visited the ruins. AS the
day progressed small knots Of surviv-
ors met and visited the sight Of the
ruined town. Many striking incidents
Quick Witted Girl
Credit for the quick spreading of the
alarm Was given TO Lena Binckey
telephone operator Upon receipt Of the
Yressaee from the Cliff house that the
dam had broken. she pushed the alarm
button connecting with the fire Depart
men and the engineers office Of the
Goodyear lumber mill below the town.
The engineer tied his whistle down
and the fire bell in the town sounded
continuously. She then rushed to the
street. screaming the warning cry
The dam has broken" Then she fed
for her life toward the steep hillside
at the north end of Main street. Turn
ing toward the valley size SAN the
great wall of water descending upon
the town.
From where stood she said to-
day. the wall OF water seemed fifty
feet high. Above it rose a great cloud
of spray in which houses seemed to
toss. humping against one another
spinning and turning as they fell to
pieces or were swept out of my sight
The noise was appalling.
When fed from Main street there
were scores of persons behind me.
many Of them children. They did not
seem to appreciate their danger.
Some turned into stores as II to
make purchase While ] was looking
down upon them, helpless to give fur
Their warning, the cloud Of mist that
e.ar,.I 70 -racoda mo Hoo1 hid them