Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1912-09-03

north, between Merrill and Toma-
hawk, broke all of the dams north of
us to the Tomahawk dam, and as
each dam gave way a large pond or
lake of water was let out to add to
the floods fury. When it reached
Wausaa it had reached formidable
proportions and during the night,
bridges were washed out: dams brok-
en-; railroad tracks washed out and
great damage done, in fact it was the
highest water ever known here. 1t
will require six or eight months to
put back things in shape from that
flood Two weeks later, another flood
came which, if it had been added to
by the water in the various dams
north of us to Tomahawk, we would
have equally as high water as
that of July 24th. This water could
do very little damage as there were
no dams to break nor bridges it could
reach. 1t did wash out the repair
work which had been commenced and
thereby greatly delaying things.
On Saturday afternoon at three
O'Clock the clouds were so heavy in
the sky that the city was in semi
darkness, SO that lights had to be
turned on generally This was fol-
lowed by deluge of rain, the like of
which has never been surpassed in
the knowlege of our oldest inhabitant.
This continued Saturday afternoon
and night and early Sunday morning
the river was at very high stage and
hundreds of men were at work trying
to save property by hauling sand and
building up embankments. A large
section of the gill on Shingle street,
which had been built up since July
oath, was again washed out. A Golfer
dam which had been built to allow
the repair work on the high bridge
abutments and the guardlock held
back the water, otherwise the DAM
age to the fill on Shingle street would
have been much greater. The fill at
the west end of the guard lock was
again washed out. The water
throughout the day kept rising very
fast and created no end of excitement.
The July food carried out the iron
railroad bridge, crossing the river
above the falls from Baker & Stewart
island to the west bank of the Wis
consin river. This cut off the tracks
to many mills and factories on the
west side of The river. 1t had taken
the railroad companies four weeks to
build a temporary pile bridge, which
had been in use since last Wednes-
day. During the month the factories
affected had 80 haul their lumber and
goods to various parts of our city and
load them onto cars at very heavy
loss. The piles for the nearly con.
structed bridge had to be placed, nee
essarily, closer together than the
piers of the bridge which had been
destroyed, and it was not long before
logs and floootrash piled up against
the bridge and formed a. dam which
threatened the destruction of the
Barker & Stewart mill and lumber
yard and that part of our city along
Single street and the dams and
mills in that vicinity 1t became nee
essary at three o'clock Sunday after
noon to blow the bridge out with
dynamite which was done. The river
kept on rising and at So'clock Sunday
evening the pumping station was
again flooded and it was impossible to
get any water. AS our citizens, were
cut off from water in their homes on
the oath of July, they kept close
watch and when it was evident that
the station was again to be flooded
they filled up every receptacle with
water and were prepared for siege
of twenty -four hours or more.
The rivers in this vicinity we're all
very high. The Eau Claire is out of
its banks, also both Big and Little
Rib rivers.
At Schofield the road was covered
with water from the hill below the
cemetery in all low spots TO the Eau
Claire river, and the street cars could
only run to {; short ways below the
hill.
NOTES
The Temporary bridge from the
Barker & Stewart Lumber Co.'s
island to the west bank of the river,
and just completed since the big flood
on July 24th, ON account of jam OF
logs and fioodtrash forming against
it, thereby threatening the above
named island and the entire plant
thereon, besides again endangering
Single street and the electric light
and power plant, was dynannited at
about 3 O'Clock in the afternoon by
order of city authority and the Street
Railroad management. This turned
the volume Of water into the main
channel of the river anti thus partially
relieved the situation, but greatly tc
the detrinlent of the west side ship
pers. And thus they are again great
| ly disconnected in conseq aence of the
present situation.
The pumping station was out o.
commission again Sunday night. Al
noon the boiler and engine nom be
gan to be flooded and at about So
there was suspension of operations or
these premises until midnight wher
the water ccmmenced to go down anc
with the help of the city steam firt
engine watel. was pumped out of the