The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-01

fare. Their bodies have not been re- 1 covered.
 Every house on Turner street was destroyed by the flood and the debris
 piled high along the little valley.
 The five or six churches in the town | are all gone. the only public insti-
 tutions left standing being the hospital
 and the schoolhouse.
 Among the principal places destroyed
 was the plant of The Emporium Lumber
 company, not a vestige of 1t being left l A part of the plant of the Bayless Pulp
 and Paper company, whose dam gave 1 way also disappeared and the Commer-
 cial hotel and Davis House went down. l The White house, another hotel, was | burned and it is believed number of persons perished with the build ing.
 Whole families have been wiped out.
 among them being some of the leading | residents of the town. In the darkness
 and confusion it is impossible to tell
 who is left The number of dead isa- estt-
 mated from $50 to 1000, the population of the town having been 3200, or lit Btle less before the warrior of flood and fire came.
 One of the spots where the force of the flood was most severely felt was at the junction of Freeman's Run with another stream, becoming continent. A primary was being held. They did not heed the warning shout and all are be- leved to have been carried away Not a trace of the building in which the election was being held could be found. The building held number of rec ords.
 Harry Davis, an aged engineer. was
 standing near the dam when it broke.
 Even while searching for the men in
 the neighborhood he found time to an-
 swer the telephone after the flood and
 give graphic story of the disaster.
 Davis did not live far from the dam.
 His house being on the hillside, he wa;
 in safety
 l Davis Describes Flood In describing the flood. Engineer
 Davis said:
 Tt was a wonderful sight. There
 was nothing to indicate the dam was I about to give way. With a sharp re- port hole appeared in the west end In moment water poured through and 1t was seen immediately the aperture
 was growing bigger In 50 seconds II was 20 feet wide and extended almost the entire height of the dam. Then there was another report and 1t seemed 1 as if the whole structure was giving away
 [ T fled to the nearest high ground in | Austin and persons scattered in every direction. It was apparent all the great
 mass of water behind the dam was } going out Some were caught and be- fore could tell what was happening 5 the flood was tearing down Freeman , run, wall 50 feet high. and sweeping [ everything before it. The sound was deafening I rushed tc
 telephone and called the central office , She did not have much time to telephonc the general alarm, but I think she die her best I guess she is dead. I hay,
 heard nothing of her since.
 When I entered Austin I met an aw, , full sight The water had torn througl 7 the place, taking all the principal build
 ings and crushing houses like eggshells , Then the fire broke out. The timbers and sides were soon in flames. I knew , there were men in the shops and they , were soon In flames. How manyaI canno say, but there was no way to help them
 They were probably being burned tC death. A
 1T have not seen any since. I don : know how the fire started, but it seemed
 as though it began in a score of place: at once. l looked for the Bank of Aus tin, but it was gone. It was swep away, I guess, because I did not see i
 burning. The worst of all was the erie of the women and children. Most all o the men were at work and they were 2, 3 home alone.
 
 . by the telephone girl. The fire bell wa rung and the people believed there wa
 fire. Some of them rushed to the busi 5 | ness section and were caught in In water. Those not drowned were crushe . in the crumbing buildings and othef
 were caught in the flames. It was frigf ! ful. cannot begin to tell it all. little children playing in yards a home were caught up like jackstraws [ 2 tossed about on the flood. Cattle I horses were likewise swept away, : even the, sidewalks were torn up n and above it all were the shrieks of 5 hundreds of poor people who could escape I do not know how any Il got away. ilss r Many were caught in burning Il ings tand 1t will be week beff D real extent of the calamity y known."
 e All the mem 5ers of his family Il at home when the dam broke e first to give details of the e Mrs. Elliott and her daul n drowned. They were wali street. Impeleds by the inst e preservation mother and da le into the nearest building. IT q house of one of their friend 7 had they entered the door wns le proaching avalanche of water Wa l. them. The house collapsed. Persons >, ~ the hillside saw u uisappeal. Mrs ss Elliott was seen rtaching for her chil l. and then with arils elapsed about eacl
 other they were swept from view.
 With them a min lost his life also H ii made an attemIt to save the woman le but was struck by a floating log am s- his body was f9undl along the bank o To the creek before 10 o'clock. ,e While Austin is suffering all the tor Is lures of ruinsd community. those o ly it's people who had relatives living ii r. Costello, a toy1fof 45o people; three mile 'ii away, fear fyrjther safety. Costello 1t
 self was reported wiped out as the flood te reached tie Sinnemahonng river 'n Through aD the three miles the vaile. n. Scarcely loses the appearance of gorge ,e Never moH than 400 feet wide and en "a closed on two sides by hills. 1t allowed d the greatI mass of water but littie op Il portunityto spread out and lose It's force
 Those h9e who know the nature of th' ;. country through which the little stfean Id passes gre convinced great daniase has l. lll fCONTINUEp ON PAGE 7l