The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-10-05

AH.ilu, IA Food, followed by fire
killed. 500 persons IN Austin, when
u" great dam Of the Bayless pub
and Paper company went out, releas
IN. ano"y0nno gallons Of water.
hne.drnr" and business blocks werr
destroyed and almost every person IN
tn" .'s OF 800 inhabitants was lei.
homeless
ra-. sing through Austin, the water
Ganpr On to the little town OF Costello
i1.r mites below here. completely wip
iug out the place The population o.
tI" town was between 400 and 500
Iaofuirds OF the inhabitants per
lsh.l
Houses CrumbIed Like Paper.
WITHIN q i"w seconds after the dam
v.N out he water was on Austin
VIII aI, u.s. force Houses and stores
rr'mhJ"i before it like so much pa.
u.r aud men, women and children
wnr" picked mp like mannlkins snd
hurled along BY the Hood
.Ir" ragged among those building
thai were left standing in the mids,
o. a"irliug waters
tn" fir" was caused by broken ga
mains, and the people we're frantic
Ih" scenes rival the JOhnstown hOr
ror Thieves started to work, and q
II, uzi"d mob Of citizens kicked one o.
the marauders SO frightfully that b.
died
Water Rushes on Without Warning
The wall OF water swept over tn.
town and the residents had no war;
ing until the town was engullcd
There were people In from the sur
rounding country and mani OF thes"
were drowned
About mile and hall from tho
town Is situated the plant of the Bay
less pulp and paper mills They have
been constructing large Coucret"
dam and millions Of gallons were Doe
hind It. as the rains have been con
tlnually increasing the capacity
The structure had been weakened
by men working on il and wIfu.It
warning. the entire wall brok" away
and the food swept down SInn.ua.
honinG creek, hit the little viIIas" Of
Costello swept It away and carrie ed
the fragments into Austin wh"ra he
death list is the greatest Austin lad
no warning
Dam Held 5oo0oo,OOo Gallons
The dam. hich was $50 feet .10g
and 20 feet high, was 81 feet rh.. At
the base and held back more than 30
millions gallons OF water It IaE he.
tween two mountains and oycrnra ed
the town
For tho drst time since It's .ln.
struction. two years ago. the "a'nr
was running over the top just before
/ the break, and many went from AUS
tin, half a mile away to see tho m
usual sight.
Men were In the streets, women
nursing babies in their homes AMI the
awful calamity came on them una,
wa'es.
Reports state that the wall OF water
wa twenty feet high 1t passed over
the town and then rapidly subs,dul.
Mcn. women and children were tossed
about on its crest like egg sh"us
Those in thr south end OF the town
had bare resemblance OF a chance
The hills were close by and they ran
for their lives
State constabulary were rushed 10
the scene and assisted the suffering
and quelIed what violence prevalent
at the scene OF the horror Thieves
Immediately made their presence
known when the waters from the dam
receded and began to rob the bodies
of the dead who had been caught IN
the onrush Of the waters.
In several instances were the thleve
caught by grlefstricken citizens who
stopped long enough from their
mourning over the dead or missing to
Immediately pounce upon the body
robbers and beat them to a pulp. Sew
eral Of a band OF robbers were thus
caught and terribly beaten and kicked
and left dying where they fell
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