The Washington herald., 1911-10-02

below. bodies are strewn along the banks
Of the Sinnemahoning Creek. Who they
they are. from whence they were car
ried, no one is able to say as yet.
With the rush of water past and the
fire peril removed by the rain, starva-
tion and exposure stares the stricken
towns of Austin and Costello in the face.
1t is bitter irony. too. that no drinking
water can be had
Austin depended on natural gas, piped
from Boullet, four miles away, both for
fuel and light The mains are gone and
its few houses that remain on the hills
have reverted to the candle and lamps
that can be found. Adding to the misery
the rain is pouring down tonight, the
air is cold. and there are no stoves that
burn wood, the only fuel available in
town.
Sanitary Officers in Charge.
The State department of health has
taken charge Of the wrecked town. A
large force Of doctors, nurses, and sani-
tary officers arrived to-day and plans
are being perfected to remove to places
of comfort all the residents not needed
in the work Of salvage. The sanitary Of
ficers will remain to combat any out
breaks.
the responsibility for the horror upon
the Bayliss Pulp and Paper Comany that
maintained the dam and the Common
wealth that permitted 1t to be used.
Half an hour before the break occurred
Inspector Bailey, employed by the COM
pany, made a tour of the work. He had
just started for the office and he had
not arrived when the concrete dam
broke in five parts, letting out half a
nf to- h4
pecting town.
Just below the dam were $4,000 cords
OF wood piled ready for the mill that
was to make them into pulp. The wood
was picked up and hurled like battering
ram against Austin, which fell like a
town of reeds before the onslaught.
Among the dead are the parents and
sister of State Senator Frank E. Bald
win, a member of the Catlin commits
sion, now investigating the Philadelphia
city government. His mother was blind
and his father crippled.
Stories of Miraculous Escapes.
Many stories Of miraculous escapes
were told to-day. Tommy Talwer a
baby, is one who barely escaped alive.
Searchers were looking about the ruins
when they. heard a baby crying. They
found the infant still clasped in the
arms of his father who. though uncon-
scious and buried in mud to his shoul-
ders, held the child above him. When
released Mr.. Talwer's leg was found to
be broken Both he and the baby are
at a hospital Mrs. Talwer and her
daughter perished.
william Robinson, who has but one
arm, had the strangest escape of all.
H was standing at an open window on
the second floor OF the Commercial
House when the water hit the hotel.
So terrific was the impact that the air,
driven out Of every opening in the
building, blew Robinson across the street
to the roof OF another house. The hotel
was demolished.
when the deluge came, saw the CONNER
cial Hotel collapse, and rushed up two
flights OF stairs In the Goodyear House,
smashed through a skylight, and es-
caped.
A barbed wire fence along a hillside
parallel with the stream was a barrier
that caused the death OF many
Mrs. Harry Sykes and her three chill
dren, who had clambered to the hill
side, were stopped by the cruel barbs
and perished.
James Leewan was made a raving
maniac. He was employed at the Bay
liss mills. and slept on the second floor.
He was CARED a mile floating on wreck
age. He lost his mind when told that
his wife and four children had drowned.