The Norfolk weekly news-journal. (Norfolk, Neb.) 1900-19??, 1911-10-06

OF twenty feet or more, and, blown
10y strong wind, were communicated
to the nearest house. In ten minutes
a dozen gas pipes had burst and were
pouring their deadly innammahlc flu.
id into the air. Men who had rushed
forward in the hope of doing some
good were overcome and fell, while
others were caught in the flames and
moderated. The street became a
glowing hell, and there was no saliva.
ton for those who CHANGED to he
near. How many persisted at this
point is not known, but one estimate
places 1t at a score
In Austin the bursting of scores of
natural gas mains after the buildings
were swept away added fire to the
general horror of the flood, and hun.
dreds of those imprisoned in the
wreckage were burned to death
The contents of the great dam,
which was filled to overlooking by the
heavy rains of two weeks, swept
through natural gorge in which the
towns of Austin and Costello were
situated While many of the residents
of Austin ran to the hills, bordering
the town, the warning given by the
blasts of the Bayless mill whistles
was too brief for hundreds of others
Parallels JohnstoWn Flood.
The catastrophe parallcled in many
respects the destruction by flood of
Johnstown, Pa, in 1882 in which
more than $500 lives We're lost.
The extent of the loss of life and
the destruction of property cannot be
known for several days. The proper
ty loss will surely be several million
dollars.
Within an hour of the first general
knowledge of the calamity special
trains bearing physicians, nurses and
food supplies We're on the way to the
scene. Hundreds of ambulances bear.
ing resCuers also toiled over the rough
and tortuous mountain roads to lend
aid The food supply of the town was
destroyed and immediate aid to sur.
vivors is urgent
Hundreds of those who escaped
We're seriously injured in the collapse
of their homes and the panic of the
rush for safety.
Temporary hospitals were fitted VI
in nearby farmhouses and imprOvised
structures fashioned from the wreck
age. The Red Cross also made prepa
rations for immediate aid to the sur
ViVOrS
The intense heat of the fire sweeping
from the natural gas mains made il
impossible for resCuers to visit the
scene of destruction for many hours
LOoters We're among the first on the
ground, and Gov. Tener dispatched q
large force of police to the town tC
protect the victims
Dam Built Two Years Ago.
The dam was built two years ago
1t was $50 feet long, spanning the lit
tie valley formed by Freeman run, and
rising to a height of forty-nine feet
1t was of concrete, thirty-tWo feet
wide at the base and said to be con
struCted after the most approved plans
of modern engineering. The basin be
water until this week, and today it
was noticed that water was runnins
over the top of, the structure. Many
persons went out Of the town, a mile
and a half away, to see the unusua
sight, and it was while they We're
watching the overlooking water thai
the first break occurred.
Many Miraculous Escapes.
Many instances are told of miraCu
lous escapes from death. Mrs. Mans
way was bathing her infant child when
the great wall of water swept into
the town. The house was torn from
its foundation, crushed almost instant
ly, and the entire family drowned. DR.
MansWay was at the Pennsylvania
hospital on the hill, safe from the
flood, performing an operation, and es
capped. He is almost vile with grief
and spent the hours of the night in
an agoni2ed search for his loved ones
Police chief Dan Baker, candidate
for sheriff of Potter county, was on
Main street when the alarm was Civ
en-. His house was only short dis
lance away. He ran to it with all his
speed and arrived in time to give his
wife and family warning. They fled tC
the hills and escaped.
William Nelson, one of the most
prominent merchants of the town, and
his wife We're lost. 1t is said they
We're walking on Turner street when
the wall of water rolled down that
thOroughfare. Their bodies have not
been recovered.
Churches All Gone.
Every house on Turner street was
destroyed. The five or six churches
in the town are all gone, the only pub
lie institutions left standing being the
hospital and schoolhouse above the
flood line.
Among the principal places destroy
ed was the plant of the Emporium
Lumber company, not a vestige of it
being left a part of the plant of the
Bayless Pulp and Paper company
whose dam gave way, also disappeared
under the raging waters, and the Com,
mercial hotel and the Davis house