The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1911-10-20

cover n survivors. The railroad
shops. where the debris is piled high,
and which resisted for a time the
force of the water. probably will prove
to be the death chamber of the ma
jority of the men who We're employed
there. A rescuing party attempted to
reach the interior of the ruins but
were driven back by the smell Of
burning flesh.
Only One Grocery Store Left.
Strong men became towards, and
until help m from the outside, lit
tie a be done to ascertain the loss
Or succor the injured. Those so tor
tunate as to live above the line of
flood were called to help the survivors
Of the valley, and the food supply was
soon exhausted. as every grocery store,
with the exception of M small eStab-
lishment, was swept away. Many
went without their evening meal.
The five or six churches III the town
are all gone, the only public institu-
tons left standing being the hospital
and the schoolhouse. They were above
the flood line.
Among the principal places Destroy
ed was the plant OF the Emporium
Lumber Company. not a vestiSe of it
being lett. A part of the plant Of the
Bayless Pulp and Paper Company,
whose dam CAV way, also disappeared
under the raging waters. and the Com
mercial hotel and Davis house went
down before the rush. The White
house. another hotel. was burned and
it is believed that several persons per.
ished With the building.
Whole families have beer wiped out.
Among them are some of the leading
people in the town. but in the dark
ness and confusion it is impossible to
tell just who are left. The number of
the dead is estimated at from $50 to
1000. the population of the town hay
ing beer 5000 before the disaster.
Through all the three miles of the
valley the scene scarce loses the
aspect of a gorge. Never more than
400 feet wide. and inclosed on two
sides by high hills, it allowed the
great wall of water but little oppor-
tunity TO spread out and lose its force.
Down this the flood rushed.
a dangerous situation developed i'm.
mediately after the great wall OF wa
ter had passed. Austin was piped for
natural gas and the great force OF the
food tore the mains from the streets.
One OF them. the largest pipe in The
town, burst in the business section. \
moment afterwards the gas rushed out
and in a twinkling il had taken fire.
There was no explosion. but the flames
leaped to a height of twenty feet or
more and, blown by a strong wind
We're communicated to the nearest
house. In ten minutes a dozen other
gas pipes had burst and We're pouring
their deadly intlamable fluid into the
air.
The dam which burst was a gigantic
concrete structure which in reality
was a double dam. 1t was located on
a hill a half mile above the village
and spanned practically the entire val
ley, which at this point is about one
third of a mile wide and banked by
high hills. The dam held back a wall
of water fifty feet deep and three quar-
tiers of a mile long normally as reserNe
power for the great pulp and paper
mill which nestled at its base.
Tie Johnstown flood, which is re-
called by the Austin, Pa, disaster, oc.
Cured on the afternoon of May 81,
1889, and 2,142 lives were lost and
property was damaged to the extent
Of more than $4,000, 900.
The JOhnstOWn flood followed a
series of heavy rains which caused
the breaking of a dam across the
south branch Of the COnemaugh river,
IS miles above the city. The break
released the waters of COncmaugh
lake, which was two and a half miles
long, one and a half miles wide, and,
in places 100 feet deep. This great
volume of water swept down the mar
row valley at terrific speed, covering
the IS miles between the dan and
JohnstOWn in seven minutes.
In the valley between the lam and
JOhnstoWn stood the villages Of South
Fork, Mineral Point, Conemalgh and
Woodvale. On Decoration day. 1889,
there We're Approximately 10000 poo
! pie in these towns. The following day
Mineral Point was entirely wiped out,
with not a house left standing. Meth
err was there a building left standing
in COnImaugh, and as to WOOdVale,
there has been IA dispute ever since
the food as 10 where the villages real