New-York tribune., 1911-10-02
SURVIVORS TELL HOW
DEATH SWEPT VALLEY
Women Sacrificed Lives to Save
Children, Men Fought to
Aid Families.
GIRLS LEG CHOPPED OFF
Great Weights Hurled About
Like Straws When Mass OF
Wood Was Forced by Great
Flood Toward Town.

/ they talked freely almost garru!ouSly' !" /
| the nervousness OF the terrible experiences |
| they had faced.
| Boyd Loclihard. young business man OF
Austin, had narrow escape. Mr.. Lock
hard said that when he heard the alarm
given he thought some one was playing
! practical Joke and ne went In the street
20 watch the peoples actions. II" looked
in the direction Of the dam and saw the
oncoming food was only three blocks away |
1T looked like wall OF wood twenty
five feet high" he said. AT first glance
| did not see the water at all, because the
wood at the pulp mill was carried before
tho water and became sort OF oatterlns
ram. that tore away the buildings or the
town ran toward the hill. and by the
greatest effort got above the level or the
water while II was surging within ten rect
of me. The ground began to give way un-
der me. but / managed 10 Chamber te"
feet further and caught hold OF tree 10
which I clung."
! C. Porchard who lived within half
mile Of Costello. said to-day that when the
crest of the flood swept past his home
there were no signs Of human beings or
their houses in the debris
THE entire surface OF the food was COW
cred with newly sawn timber and pieces or
lumber" he said 1T was not until
LAPSE of five or six minutes that pieces OF
housetops, broken furniture and other evi-
dences of the destruction Of the town be-
| gan 10 appear.
Had Ample Warning Below.
"The people Of Costello" he said, re
ceiyed ample warning from Austin that
the dam had broken, and although forty
or fftv houses were demolished, only three
fatalities occurred
one of the most pathetic in the long list
| of tragedies is the case of James Leeman
a night worker, VINO was asleep at MS
home and did not hear the alarm. When
the rush of water swallowed up N's little
| home he was tossed out on pile or foat-
ing debris and eventually hoated a mile
and half below the village Wounded
and bruised he made his way back, only
10 find that his wife and four children had
| perishcd Leeman went violently insane
and several men were required To hold MN.
! w. D. Robertson, another night worker.
watchman at the Bayless mills, was asleep
on the third story of the Starkweather
building when aroused by the roar Of the
food. He stepped out on balcony COM
manding view OF the onrushing waters.
/ Houses were tossing about like corks,
he said 81 was transixed with horror.
unable to make move to save myself.
The entire building lurched forward and
then collapsed ] fell two stories with the
building and found myself protected by
bridge which had formed by wedged tim
bers. I escaped, and l am mighty glad TO
be here 10 tell about it. have three little
| kiddies in Erie Thank God they were not
here"
Robertson was badly injured
One Armed Man Escaped.
Frank Robinson. one-armed stenosra-
pher. was also on the third story OF the
Starkweather building when the flood came
He said he heard the fire whistle, but paid
no attention to it, and the first thing he
knew the floor gave way beneath him and
the whole building fairly lurched across the
street He was hurled through window
and landed on top of debris on which he
foated to safety.
! Robert Cransie said:
"I was about 100 feet below the dam
when II gave way ] saw the wall Of water
rushing down on me, and although 1t
noured over me at least thirty feet high,
II threw me fat on the ground. Somehow
7 came bobbing up TO the top Of the twist
ing. gurging mass and grabbed the
branches OF a tree as It shot past me. |
was rescued while clingins TO 1t last
night"
EmuIoyes of the Bayless pulp and paper
| mill had as thrilling experiences as any
There were two hundred and fifty hands at
work yesterday when the flood came Fifty
os then, were young women, employed on
the first floor. II is thought that all ex-
cent five Of these escaped. A dozen were
injured NJ A. Devereaux, who was en-
Moved in the grinding room, grasped the
shafting above him when saw the wall or
the mill cave in. The whrling countershat
caused him to lose his grip and he sank In
the waters He was again tossed UP and
caught in the tangled machinery in whose
yicelike grip he was rescued, after calling
for two hours for help. He was taken to
the hospital. with both legs broken.
Saw Her Leg Cut on.
Mary Rlaitz. an employe in the counting
room. told the reporters in the hospital to-
dav how II feels to have a leg amputated
with an ak.
81 was busy at my books she said,
"when suddenly there lurched through the
wall one Of the big pulp grinding stones
NJ The mill AS | leaped aside to avoid 1t
the ceiling caved in and the water followed
and passed over me. Rescuers found me
ninned beneath the grinding stone. They
tried TO release me. but failed. The great
stone was too big 70 move and felt as IL
| should surely die there.
"'Get an axe and cut my leg off,'
told them But no man would volunteer
cut IT Off / pleaded. You can stand II
IL | can
.I looked up and saw Joe Venarge. a
friend OF mine You do it, Joe. for me- l
nIeaded. was in awful pain, and nothing
could be worse torture than what | was
enduring. IL can't do that Mary he
said.
II asked a big man back Of him TO do It,
He picked up the axe. BY the lantern
light I saw the descending blade glisten. l
think he chopped it four or five times be-
fore they could pry me loose
In the hospital DR. Ashcroft said that the
stump had been dressed skilfully. and that
the pucky girl would recover.
Joseph Mckinney. an employe of the
Rayless mill struggled TO get over the
board fence topped with barbed wire. which
proved a death trap for scores He had
his little child by the hand. Unable TO
Get over II himself. Mckinney threw his
child over the fence TO safety and met
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