The Oskaloosa herald., 1911-10-05
persons Joined in the ter.

Imprisoned persons Joined In the ter.
rife thunder OF the food.
The course of the food was through
the business center of the little viii
lage A majority Of the buildings
We're of wood, and those which were
rot Immediately wrecked by the tor
rent were soon IN flames.
Many Rush Into Flood.
So sudden was the onslaught OF
winter that many persons had no time
to fee to the hills, while others. re-
ceiving the warning and believing II
WAS fire. fastened TO the center Of the
town, only to be caught in the food
ard swept away.
The water passed quickly, Having
desolation in its wake. Houses had
been crushed and tossed about like
toys, while hundreds of bodies had
been carried down on the crest Of the
surging torrent.
With the passing of the water those
who had fed to the hills fastened to
return to their ruined homes in search
of relatives and friends.
Young Saved by Ball Game.
One factor that saved many lives
from the food was that Of the younger
element had gone almost en- masse to
ball game few miles from Austin.
A team Of Austin boys was playing a
rival nine and the game was half over
when news of the catastrophe was
received. The boys divided into
squads, one set rushing ahead to join
the work of rescue, while the others
cared for the girls in the party, many
of whom became hysterical and we're
unable to proceed.
Costello Also a Mass of Debris.
Austin is desolate, and where for
merly lay town four blocks wide
and a mile long between green hills
there is today only ruin The larger
area of the town is swept as clean ami
as fat as a football field, for Austin
was built without cellars. All about
the barren center, along the hillsides
and at one end, where these hills mar
row until they become a gully. debris
is piled high.
The commissioners of Potter coun-
ty have issued a mandatory order to
the village officers of Austin that all
unclaimed bodies must be burned
within twenty-four hours. They can
not be held or buried in the vicinity
for sanitary reasons. At the end Of
the allotted time funeral service will
be held. and then the dead will be
placed on funeral pyre and burned.
Costello, three miles below this
place, Is another Austin on a smaller
scale. II nestled, with it's 500 inhabi-
tants, in the Sinnemahoning valley.
1t looks as though some gigantic force
had picked up the town and carried
it away bodily and strewn its rubbish
on its site. The number of dead there
is not yet known. ..
Between Austin and Costello and
far below bodies are strewn along the
banks of the Snnemahoning creek
Who they are and whence they were
carried no one is able TO say.
Pouring Rain Adds to Misery.
With the rush of water past and the
fire peril removed by the rain, starva-
ton and exposure stare the stricken
towns of Austin and Costello in the
face. 1t is bitter irony, too. that no
drinking water can be found.
Adding to the misery, the rain is
pouring down, the air is intensely cold
and there are no stoves that burn
wood, the only fuel available in town.
The state department of health has
taken charge of the wrecked town.
A large force of doctors, nurses and
sanitary officers hove reached here
and plans are being perfected to re-
move TO places of comfort all the resi-
dents not needed in the work OF
salvage. The sanitary officers will
remain 10 combat any epidemic
Blame on Company and State.
The townspeople openly place re-
sponsibility for the horror upon the
Bayless Pulp & Paper company, the
firm that maintained the dam, and the
commonwealth that permitted 1t to
be used. Half an hour before the
break occurred Inspector Bailey, en-
ployed by the company, made a tour
OF the works. He had just started for
the office and had not yet arrived
when the concrete dam broke in five
parts, letting out half a billion gal
Ions of water upon the unsuspetting
town.
Among the dead are the parents
and sister of State Senator Frank E.
Baldwin, member of the Catlin COM
mission, now investigating the Phila-
delphia city government. His mother
was blind and his father crippled.