The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1911-10-06
TOWN ALMOST DESTROYED

| cIu pdiI VI Tie SIdIc, was SWCpI ouS
of existence late Saturday and hund-
reds of its people were killed by a
flood which followed the breaking of
the Bayless Pulp and Paper COM
panys dam, mile and half above
town. Almost 500,0O0,000 gallons
of water rushed over the place in Il
wall ten feet high, wrecking every
structure on its path.
| Austin, ON Saturday a busy mill
town of 5000 persons, is only ghost
of a town today, Torn to pieces by
water and eaten by fire, the wet and
charred remnants of its buildings,
believed to hold the bodies of many
persons, are strewn along the valley
edge, piled in rows on the main
street of the business section, or
swept i'm scattered masses far down
the ravine.
With the arrival of a carload of
coffins here this morning, the grim
ness of the tragedy which has practi-
cally obliterated this town was i'm
pressed on the survivors and con-
siderable number of workers, who
today began anew their efforts to
mine deeply into the debris. Twenty
victims, including two at Costello,
had been placed in a temporary
morgue at Odd Fellows hall, one of
the few buildings standing in the
ruined district.
Plans for the funerals were being
made today.
The most essential matter in hand
here, aside from the persistent work
of clearing away the more accessible
ruins is the completion of census
of the living Austinians. If the death
list aggregated anything like the
enormous number some have esti-
mated, the health officials realize that
conditions demanding proper atten-
ton will arise within a few days in
the ruins. There is indeed possi-
bility that $50 will be the total.
There is little hope that any of the
bodies found remaining in the wreck
age will be found intact. The general
aspect of the debris indicates that
hundreds of thousands of javelinlike
splinters and shreds of buildings were
shot through the first accumulation
of ruins by the debris subsequently
hurled onward by the continuing
flood.
The policing conditions today are
practically perfect. A 20-hour down
pour of rain served to materially re-
duce the number of incoming sight
seers, and to this extent the police
were relieved. The state constabu-
ulatory, state sanitary engineers and
chief officers of the state health de-
partment are cooperating in the
measures for protection and relief.
The aspect of Austin, Costello and
the valley beyond today is as dreary
as it is appalling. The towns are pic
lures of desolation. The valley side
hills in which they lie are still litter
ed by the scattered homes of their
people and the remnants of prosper
Gus places of business and manufact-
uring plants.
No reliable estimate of the prop
erty loss can be made, but 1t Is safe
to say it will not be less than $8,-
100000. The paper and other indus
tries are utterly destroyed. The tim
ber supply, indeed, was rapidly near
ing exhaustion, and at the best 1t
was thought that five years from now
the industry would practically be at
an end. In fact, about 200 families
had moved from Austin this fall.
Five hundred more people would
have gone within the next year or
two, unless industrial development
anew came in to hold them.
Questioned as to the sudden failure
of the Bayless Pulp and Paper COM
pany's dam, residents and business
men accustomed to visit Austin shake
their heads ominously. They recall
the scare of year ago last January,
when a considerable leak was discov-
cred in the immense cement struc-
ture.
Although two feet along the rim
of tn dam was removed to relieve
the pressure and a 14fOot patch was
place where needed, the alignment OF
the upper edge of the dam gradually
became slight arc instead OF a
straight line. This bulge caused wor-
ry on the part of the citizens and led
to a somewhat recent inspection. Ger
tain protective measures were de-
termined on, but the delay was fatal.
Below the torn dam today the val
ley for mile or more Is swept prac-
tically clear to bedrocks, and Free
mans run, the reservoir feeder, swol-
len by last nights rains, is sweeping
through new channels where the
main business portion of the town
once stood.
Costello, three miles away, is pro-
portionately as shattered as Austin.
Only the loss of the foods momen-
tum and the timely warnings given
by operators who risked their lives
to do so, held the death list to two
Death List Not Large
Austin, Pa, Oct. 3.-Relief work
of the night and early morning re-
vealed no new horrors and Austin
today believes that it knows the worst
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