The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1911-10-05
Only One Grocery Store Lett.

r. Otuy VIC 0rOCeCy SI0re Lett.
Strong men became towards, and
until help comes from the outside, lit
tie can be done to ascertain the loss
OF succor the injured. Those so for
tunate as to live above the line of
flood were called to help the survivors
of the valley, and the food supply was
soon exhausted, as every grocery store,
with the exception of one small estab-
l1shment, was swept away. Many
went without their evening meal. -
The five or six churches in the town
are all gone, the only public institu-
lions left standing being the hospital
and the schoolhouse. They were 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 Davis house went
down before the rush. The White
Ou0O 0AOIAAO1 AOJO1s was UulAOu anu
it is believed that several persons per.
ished with the building. "
Whole families have been wiped out.
Among them are some of the leading
people in the town. but in the dark
ness and confusion it is impossible to
tell just who are left. The number of
the dead is estimated at from $50 to
1000. the population of the town hav-
ing been 5000 before the disaster.
Through all the three miles of the
valley the scene scarce loses the
aspect of a gorge. Never more than
400 feet wide, and Enclosed on two
sides .Sby high hills, it allowed the
! greatawall of water but little oppor-
tunity to spread out and lose its force.
Down this the flood rushed.
A dangerous situation developed i'm
mediately after the great wall of wa
ter had passed. Austin was piped for
natural gas and the great force of the
flood tore the mains from the streets.
One of them, the largest pipe in the
town, burst in the business section. A
moment afterwards the gas rushed out
and in a twinkling it had taken fire.,
There was no explosion, but the flames
leaped. to a height of twenty feet or
! more and, blown by a strong wind
were communicated to the nearest
| house.. In ten minutes a dozen other
! gas pipes had burst and were pouring
/ their deadly inflamable fluid into the
air.
The dam which burst was a gigantic
concrete structure which in reality
was a double dam. It was located on
a hill a half mile above the village
and spanned practically the entire val.
ley, which at this point is about, one
third of a mile wide and banked by
high hills. The dam held back a wall
of water fifty feet deep and three quar-
tiers of a mile long normally as reserve
power for the great pulp and paper
mill which nestled at its base. i
The Johnstown flood, which is re-
| called by the Austin, Pa, disaster, oc-
Cured on the afternoon of May 81,
1889, and 2,142 lives were lost and
property was damaged to the extent
of more than $9,500,000.
The Johnstown flood followed q
series of heavy rains which caused
the breaking of a dam across the
south branch of the Conemaugh river,
10 miles above the city. The break
! released the waters of Conemaugh
lake, which was two and a half miles
long, one and a half miles wide, and,
in places 100 feet deep. This great
volume of water swept down the mar
row valley at terrific speed, covering
the 10. miles between the dam and
Youngstown in seven minutes.
In the valley between the dam and
Johnstown stood the villages of South
Fork, Mineral Point, Conemaugh and
Woodvale. On Decoration day, 1889,
there were approximately 10000 peo-
pie in these towns. The following day
Mineral Point was entirely wiped out,
with not a house left standing. Meth.
er was there a building left standing
in Conemaugh, and as to Woodvale,
there has been a dispute ever since
the flood as to where the villages real
ly stood.
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