Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1911-10-04

sown. mHny ssrlKlng Incident
Of the food and escapes were re-
counted. Credit for the quic]
spreading of the alarm was givel
to Lena Bimekey, a telephon
operator. Upon receiving >th
, message from the Cliff house tha
the dam had broken, she pushee
the alarm button connecting will
the fire department and the en-
gineer's Office of the Goodyear
lumber mill below the town.
The engineer tied his whistle
down and the fire bell was sound
cd continuously. She then rush.
cd to the street, screaming tha
warning cry, ''The dam has
broken" Then she fled for her
life toward the steep hillside at
the north end of Main street.
Turning toward the valley, she
saw the great wall of water de-
scsnding upon the town.
"From where I stood" she said
today. "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 I fed from Main street
there were scores of people behind
me, many of them children.
They did not seem to appreciate
the imminence of their danger.
"Some turned into stores as if
to make q casual purchase
While I was looking down upon
them, utterly helpless to give fur
thsr warning, the cloud of mist
that seemed to precede the food,
hid them from view and q mo.
ment later the green water bur-
led the houses from my sight,"
Chief of Police D. E. Baker
took an informal census today
and from his list calculated that
at least three hundred of tho resi-
dents we're unaccounted for.
Bark s. NJ. Siebert, chairman of
the eitisen's committee, and
Michael Murrin, the burgess,
pointed out that this reckoning
necessarily 10 inaccurate because
many of those who escaped the
food are wandering about today
trying to house themselves and
those depending upon them.
Burgess Murrin said today that
in has opinion not more than one
hundred and fifty lives we're lost.
1T is possible that this figure
will cover the loss," he said,
land it is possible thet there will
be not more than one hundred
dead"
The burgess and the Rev. P.
W. O'Brlen, who are familiar
with bus!nes conditions and val
uss, estimate the property dam.
age at about $6,000,00O. The
Bayless company, which owned
the dam, will lose 81 500, 600, the
Goodyear Lumber Company,
81 900, 600, the Buffalo & Sus-
quehanns RaiIr Dad, $500. 900 and
the three hundred houses de-
stroyed with their contents, it il
said, will total 81 900, 600 m re.
One of the striking and pathet.
ic fer lures of the day, according
to DR.. Thomas 81. A. l1gtes,
chief of the state dispensaries,
was the practical absence Of chill
dren among the survivors. It is
thought that when the wreckage
has been cleared away and the
hodies Of victims recovered, al
though many have been entirely
destroyed, it would be found that
. large pr portion of them we're
children.
Boyd Lockhard. q youag busi-
ness man of Austin, bad a narrow
escape. Mr.. Lockhard said that
when he heard the alarm given,
he thought some ono was playing
Q practical Joke, and he went into
the at eet to watch the peoples
act ons. He looked in the direc-
tlon of the dam aud saw the on
coming flood was but three blocks
swsy.
"It looked like q wall of wood,
twenty-five feet high" he eaid.
SAT first glance I did not see the
water at all because the wood at
the pup mill was carried before
the water and became sort of
battering ram that tore away the
buildings of the town. I ran TO-
wards the hill and by the create at
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, but l man
aged to Chamber Q few feet further
up and caught hold Of tres to
which I clung."
Throngs of people came to the
town from ell points in the Slime
mahonlng valley below Austin 80
ascertain the extent of the dam
age or to seek friends and rela.
tives The rush of the waters
had carried away everv means of
wire communication and lmpeded
trave. of any kind.
"The people of Costello" said