Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-10-02
TOWN IS WIPED AWAY
Detuge Comes Without Warn
ing, Carrying Everything
Before Ii.
FLOOD DISASTERS
IN RECENT YEARS

1SI4-MHt river valley, near North
anpton, Mass; 144 lives lost.
fs74-Pittsburah and Allegheny rivers
overflow; 200 persons drown.
1sss-johnstown destroyed by break
Ing Of dam In Conemaugh river;
2,142 persons drowned.
fSe4-Oestructive floods in Wisconsin.
1seZ-MlssissIppi valley floods; heavy
loss of life.
soo-GaIveston, Texas, Inundated;
over 5000 lives lost and $12,oOo,-
900 property destroyed by West
Indian hurricane.
teo1-0uebec and other Canadian cit
les submerged.
1so4-Flood caused by cioudburst de-
stroys San Juan del Monbe, near
Manila, with 200 lives
1eo4-Reservoir bursts at BIoemfon-
tein; 20 lives lost.
19o4-Dan bursts on the Hwanq-ho,
In China; hundreds of lives lost.
1eo5-Rock falls in Loenvand lake,
near Bergen, Norway, causing
flood; go lives lost
1eo5-mississippi flooded; damage ST.
ooo,ooo
191o-River Seine overflows; damage
$500. 900; 100000 people
homeless.
Austin. Pa, Oct with the arrtv-
al of a carload of collins here this
morning, the grimness of the tragedy
which practically oblterated this town
was impressed upon the survivors and
a Considerable number of workers,
who today began anew their efforts TO
mine deeply into the hills OF debris.
Twenty victims, including two at
Costello. have been p1aced in a tenn
porary morgue at Odd Fellows hall,
one of the few buildings standing in
the ruined district
Well informed investigators now
place the total dead at not more than
200, with a possibility of it not ex-
ceeding $50.
RECALL FORMER SCARE.
Questioned as TO the cause of the
sudden failure of the Bayliss Pulp
and Paper company's dam, citizens
and business men accustomed to Wis
iting Austin shake their heads omi-
nously. They recall a scare year ago
last January when a considerable
leak was discovered in the immense
along the rim of the dam was re-
moved TO relieve the pressure and a
14-foot patch was placed where
needed. the alignment of the upper
edge of the dam gradually became a
slight arc instead of a straight line.
DELAY II Fatal.
This bulge caused worry on the
part of citizens and led 10 a some
what recent inspection. Certain pro-
tective measures were determined
upon but the delay was fatal.
4 never went to sleep in a hotel
on the main street there" said a Wis
iting railroad official today, with
out mighty fervent prayer that the
apparently inevitable might be de-
layed / always felt We might be /
swept away during the night
DREARY PICTURE.
There is little hope that any Of the /
bodies remaining in the wreckage /
will be found intact. The aspect at
Austin, Costello and the valley be-
yond is as dreary as il is appealing
The towns are pictures of desolation.
The valley side hills in which they
lie are still Uttered 10y shattered .
homes and remnants of prosperous
places of business and manufactur-
ing plants.
PROPERTY Loss MILLIONS.
No reliable estimate Of the prop
erty loss can be so soon made, but
Il will not be less than eight mil
lions The paper and lumber in
dustries are utterly destroyed. Be
low the torn dam today the valley
for a mile OF more is swept practic-
ally clear TO bedrock and Freemen's
Run. the reservoir feeder. swollen by
last nights rain. is sweeping through
new channels where the main busi-
ness portion of town once stood.
SAVED BY NRNING<.
Costello. three miles away. Is as
badly shattered as Austin. Only the
loss Of the floods momentum and The
timely warnings siTeE by operators
no riSSed their lives 10 do so held
the death list there 70 two
PRONOUNCED UNSAFE.
Wilmington. Del. Oct 2.-E. Cha
Ky Hajton. ciyil eng!neer who designed
the dam at Austin. Pa. which broke