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

The general aspect OF the debris in.
dicates that hundreds of thousands of
jayelin-like splinters and shreds of
buildings were shot through the first
aCcumulatiOns of ruins by the debris
subsequently hurled on by the rush
ing waters.
The policing conditions today are
practically perfect a twelve.hour
downpour Of rain served to materially
reduce the number of incoming sight
seers and to this extent the police
were relieved. The state constabu.
larry, state sanitary engineers and
chief officials of the state health de.
partment are cooperating in the meas.
ures for protection and relief.
Property Loss Many Millions.
The aspect of Austin, Costello and
the territory beyond today Is as dreary
as it is appalling. The towns are pic.
hills in which they lie are still lit
tered by the shattered homes of their
people and the remnants of prosper
Gus places of business and manufac-
turing plants. No reliable estimate of
the property damage can be soon
made, but it is safe to say it will not
be less than $S,000,000.
Two Industries Destroyed.
The paper and lumber industries
are utterly destroyed. The timber
supply indeed was rapidly nearing ex-
haustion and at the best it was
thought five years from now the in
dustry would be practically at an end
In fact about 200 families had
moved from Austin this fall. Five
hundred more would have gone with
in the next year or two unless some
industrial development came in to
hold them.
Questioned as to the cause of the
sudden failure of the Bayless Pulp
and Paper company's dam, citizens
and business men accustomed to Wis
it Austin shake their heads omeni-
ously. They recall the scare of a
year ago last January, when a con
siderable leak was discovered in the
immense structure.
Knew Dam Was Buigine.
Although the two feet of water a.
long the rim of the dam was removed
to relieve the pressure and a four
teen foot patch was placed where
needed the alignment of the dam grad
ually became a slight arc instead of
a straight line This bulge caused
worry to citizens and led to a recent
inspection. Certain protective meas
ures We're determined on but the de-
lay was fatal
Always Feared a Break.
81 never went to sleep in a hotel
on Main street here" said a visiting
railroad official today, without a
mighty fervent prayer that the APP
parently inevitable might be delayed.
always felt that we might be swept
away during the night"
Below the torn dam today the val
ley for mile or more is swept prac-
tically clean to bedrock and Freeman S
run, the reservoir feeder swollen by
last nights rain, is swooping through
new channels where the main bust
ness portion of the town once stood
Costello, three miles away, is pro.
pOrtionately as shattered as Austin.
and the timely warnings given by
operators who risked their lives to
do so, held the death list to two.
1t is estimated that 1000 buildings
have been torn from their founda-
tions and crushed in the flood or have
been destroyed by fire. The water
made it's way through the business
section of the town and left only four
buildings standing. The valley of
Freeman run is narrow and the town
was built along it's banks. All the
buildings in the lower part of the val
| ley We're swept clear of their fOunda-
lions by the torrent and many of those
which remained quickly fell a prey
| to the flames. There was no one to
attempt to stop the fire and it was
allowed to burn itself out, the sur
vivors of the flood standing idly on
the hillsides, stunned beyond the pow
err to act. A feeble effort was made
| in the lower part of the town, where
the flood soon spent its force, to save
l property anu ilNtS, Jul IL Ndo SpOl q
| die.
The few who We're trying to bring
some order out of the chaos We're
handicapped by the cries of the be-
reaved and unfortunate. The extent
of the disaster will not be known for
hours. Scenes of indescribable sad
ness marked the village during the
| early hours of the night. Many wo-
men who had lost their children wan
dered in the darkness, crying their
names in the vain hope that they
would answer, while here and there a
worn and broken man stood at the
ruins of his home, dazed, wondering
when the bodies of his family would
be found But it is the general be-
| lief some of them never will be re-
covered Many We're burned in the
fire and others were ground to pieces
| by the masses of timbers and stones
swept down by the flood.
The railroad shops, where the de-
bris piled high and which resisted
| for time the force of the water, prob
ably will prove to be the death cham
Der of the majority of the men who
| were employed there. \ rescuing
party attempted TO reach the interior