The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-10-05

llIleQH udWu, II ISNGdkCO q SlitStiS
scene of death and devastation. Austin
itself, Saturday a busy mill town of
5000 persons, many of whom We're en-
joying the fine autumn afternoon as a
Saturday half holiday. is only a ghost
of a town today. Torn to pieces by
water and eaten by fire, the wet and
charred remains of its buildings, be-
lieved to hold the emains of 500 or
more persons. were strewn along the
valley edge, piled in rows where the
main street Of the business section was
swept in scattered masses far down the
ravine.
Spectators, many of whom barely es-
capped being victims of the disaster,
and hundreds of persons from sur
rounding towns looked down from the
steep hillsides on Austin and Costello
through a veil of fog this morning to
see the wreckage here Of some 400
houses, a score Of business blocks, three
churches, and several large lumber mills
and three miles farther down the river
at Costello the ruins Of more thai SO
buildings.
The Stricken District.
The scene of the obliteration of Aus
tin covers an area three-eighths of a
mile wide, n one and three quarters
miles long. This comprised the busi-
ness section n the valley residence
portion and was bounded by Main,
Ruckaber and Therm streets and Co.'S
NSA1S fSiAoS toeeSo ~ SSSSL 49,
oughfares. Nearly a mile above stood
the mammoth concrete dams of the Bay
less Paper and Pulp company, 600 feet
long, So feet high and 80 feet thick
at the bottom, taperirg TO a thickness
of three feet at the top.
Back of this had lain a reservoir of
water a mile and a half long and an
average OF 8 sss:=assp.= Directly III
front Of the dam stood the plant Of the
Bayless company. with four main
L ,,s1J;~~ - Cto,lraI ltrt, ,oor h,y yrr,s,
1000 cords of 50-inch wood and slabs
and also a portion of the company's
immense timber stock, totalling in the
Austin valley $4,000, 900 feet of hard
wood and %, 900, 900 of hemlock. This
was a five-year supply, practically the
last large cut Of the region. 1t was
valued at 81 1000.
A mill stream, Freeman run, flowed
through the town into Sinnemahoning
creek, leading to the Susquehanna
little place of comfortable frame houses
and more substantial business build
ings along the main street, which ran
from side to side across the avine
The principal business buildings in
cIuded the brick structure occupied
: Jointly by the Austin bank and the
,, postof1ce, the department store of A.
= R.. Buck, the Goodyear hotel and the
l Commercial house and numerous gen
eral stores.
Houses Telescoped.
: Five minutes after the dam burst this
t stage had been swept of its setting.
Along the foothills were thrown tele-
e scoped houses. At either end of Main
street brick buildings acted as buffers
: as the 25-foot wall of water rushed
downward, against which it's mass OF
debris, almost hill high, wood, steel
and brick were piled, a mixture of the
contents of stores and homes and OF
q varied length timbers and sticks.
5 The wreckage of the dam had beer
u as complete as it was sudden. Two
n immense sections from the top to bot
e tom, $50 feet wide, We're thrown GU
q bodily k the immense gates of {
canal lock. The outward setting wa!
more than so feet, and on either side
y the remaining structure began gradual
ly to crumble away. Repairs las
spring had consisted of a patch of ce.
ment Ia feet square One of the sew.
y cred connections yesterday began d
II that patch.
The cause of the breaking is q mat
re ter which the district attorney of Pot
i ter county will investigate. The Bay
L. less dam was examined by experts nor
lie thar q year ago and recommendation
IS were made looking to it's safety. TIL
II district attorney has secured the name
of some of the experts who submitte,
the report and will summon them t
testify at an inquest to begin thi
&, week.
Id Many Children Dead.
s. One of the pathetic features, accord
~ ing to DR.. Thomas Stypes, chief of tn
l. state d~ispensary, was the practical alb
s. sence of children among the survivors
It is thought hat when the wreckag
le has been cleared away and the bodie
Of the victims recovered-althoug
III many have been entirely destroyed
a. would be found hat a large %rroportio
m were those of children.
II A ,r{ ~ ~r a1aat{1T, ry,, -, -z-ror ;
ed the town hall at the time the foo
a broke. A hatless man dashing by yelle
in to the crowd about the booth somethin
ed about "the dam bursting and the cleo
ton inspectors and voters dashed OF
eel and took to the hills, leaving their ba,
lg lots unmarked. Some escaped, Ii
a many We're too late and were whirle
r into the debris which formed a da1n
I itself just below Main street.
pit Two Dead in Costello.
Costello, Pa, Oct. 2.-While the tow
ey of Costello was almost destroyed by IL
ny food, it's death list is only two. TT
ne victims are Edward ". Earle IN MI
Hodges.
n That the fatalities were not propo,
on ~t!onately as large as those in Austin
idue to a successful warning given
% the impending disaster. Edward Youn
In. a workman in the Standard lumber IN
IN in Austin, II whose home is in Co
er- tello, heard the roar of the flood viii
SO. it was still a half mile away and h
frst thought when he first saw the VIZ
of water was his wife and little on
a three miles away. Coatless and hattie
aft he then jumped on his bicycle al
81 raced for Costello. He shouted a war
ing as he passed ISOLATED houses who
on. occupants fed to the hilltops. Ty
ted minutes in the van Of the food
dashed into Costello shrieking his me
rs sage and Costello, almost to a me
us fed.
In touns ss a - NE notie, snou.eu
: ried their children to safety.
About so buildings were destroy
, here. The principal hotel was twist
about and wrecked, the railroad staff
Avn swept away and much of the to,
" damaged seriously.
fcers and $50 soldiers.
Z r- Tho 5icrotch alIu f1,,+ +p,o AZ