Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1911-10-02
Preliminary Canvass By State
and Local Authorities Shows
First Estimates Were Exag-
gefatedl Due to Panic.
RUINED TOWN PLACED
UNDER MARTIAL LAW
ConStabuIay Guards Wreck
age While ReScuerS Search
For BodieSi Food and Shelter
For Injured and Homeless.
my Morning Journal Special Isa.ea w,rsl

NV Morning journal Special Leasesi WlreJ
! Austin, Pa, oct. 1.-The curtain of
night which was run down ON the
Austin flood hardly before its victims
had all been claimed and its surviving
spectators fully realized how great
tragedy the elements of water and
| fire had enacted In the natural amphi-
theater OF the Allegheny mountains
here, was lifted at dawn today, re-
vealiug 4 ghastly scene of death and
devastation.
Austin itself, yesterday busy mill
town of 5000 people, many of whom
were enjoying the flne autumn after
noon as saturday half-holiday, liz
only a ghost of a town today.
Torn to pieces by water, and eaten
/ by fire, the eharred remnants of its
/ buildings, believed to hold the re-
mains of two hundred or more per-
sons, were strewn along the valleys
edge, piled in rows where the main
street section WAS, or swept In scat
tered masses far down the ravine.
/ Spectators. many Of whom barely
escaped being victims OF the disaster,
/ INV FA1ittAf1N " NhiNNES AfbHA SUR
rounding towns. looked down from the
steep hillsldes on Austin and Costello
through veil Of fog this morning to
see the wreckage here of some four
| hundred houses, a score OF business
blocks, three churches and several
| large lumber mills. and three miles
| further down the river at Costello tho
Ifuins Of more than fifty buildings.
The flood did not spend its force
until II raced more than ten miles
from the reservoir. Wharton, still fur
ther on, suffered somewhat, but is
practically intact. The loss OF life at
Costello. where the residents had
warming, Ia believed TO be but three.
The furious flood let loose when the
l}ayless Pulp and Paper company's
dam crumbled yesterday afternoon.
picked up a huge battery Of heavy
timbcrs In the mill yards at the foot
of the dam ana with these thousands
of planks and logs rammed path
through the town with terrible havoc.
At the hospital today there were
but six injured for the care or the
small army of persons and nurses who
poured into the devastated town all
night and today The medical supplies
remained unused IN the cars rushed
here hy the railroads
The state constabulary arrived this
afternoon and took charge Of the sit
uatlon which seemed too appalling for
the local committee which worked all
night. Immediately orders were issued
to the railroads 10 bring no more
sightseers 10 Austin and signs placed
nn tho chief roadways permitting no
one to pass but workmcn. Hundreds
of automobiles and carriages were
urned back
During the night searching parties
With engine headlights, automobile
amps, pine torches and improvised
antcrns Of every sort pokod their way
nto every pile OF wreekage that was
possible, seeking any who might be
live, but scarcely a body was found
n which life was not extinct. The
light had been one of horror which
eyerely tested the mettle of the men
,hom circumstances had pressed into
erVice as first aid resCuers. Men who
AT the touch OF q dead body
ct about indifferently searching man
led bodies for papers OF Identification
The immediate scene Of obliteration
# Austin covers an area three elghths
u n mile wide and one and three
inarters miles long. This comprised
he business section and the valley res
denee portion and was bounded by
lain, Ruckaber and Horn streets and
costello avenue. crossed hy lesser
Nearly mile above stood the mann
moth concrete dam Of the paper and
'ulp company. six hundred feet long.
itty-tWo feet high and thirty feet
hick at the bottom. tanerlng to
thickness OF three feet at the top.
Back of this dam yesterday lay res-
rvoir OF water mile and a half long
md m average OF thirty-flve feet
leep. Directly in front of the dam
TODD the plant OF the Bayless company
With four main buildings. Stacked
Ugh nearby were 700 ,O00 cords of fif-
y-inch wood and slabs, and also
Ortion of the company's immense
imher stock totalling In the Austin
alley, 100000 feet of hardwood
nd 25,000,000 feet OF hemlock. This
ms five-year supply, practically tho
lst large cut of the region. 1t was
amed at S2.000,O0O.
A mill stream, Freeman Run, flow-
4 through the town into Sinnema-
oning creek, leading to the Susque.
ANNA rIvpr frha tpm., tranar xrao a