Evening star., 1912-07-15
RESULT OF cL0UDBURsT
High Wall Of Water Descends on
City From Cherry Creek.
SMALL DWELLINGS DESTROYED
Mayor Arnold Organizes Relief
Parties-Telegraph and Tele-
phone Wires Are. Down.


less. several deaths are rumored and
million and half dollars worth of
property is In ruins here today as the
result Of cloudburst which resulted in
the overflow of the shallow bed of Cher
ry creek through this city from 10 O'CLOCK
until midnight last night. The big city
auditorium today is a refugee camp. At
dawn 500 of the homeless were gathered
there and are being fed by the city.
Twenty-Five children from six months to
six years old. whose parents may have
been lost, are in the care of police
matron.
After directing relief and rescue work
all night Mayor Arnold organized relief
parties at dawn to begin the search of the
course Of the flood, which Is a trail OF
wrecked dwellings and other debris heap
ed in the current of the South Platte
river
Rescued From House Tops.
John A. Quigley. his wife. mother and
baby were the first rescued. His mother.
sixty years old, stumbling back into the
current, had to be rescued a second time
Fred Olsen. eight years old, stood alone
on the bank crying for his mother and
baby sisters. He had saved himself by
swimming.
We'll get Them" said Mayor Arnold.
A~wagon plunged through the flood te
the Olsen home. where three rescuers
| entered and returned with the mother
and baby. squad Of patrolmen rescued
score from house tops on Market street
and hurried them in a hay wagon to the
,,ditovi,.ro
The chamber of commerce opened a re-
| lief subscription this morning. The flood
| is without parallel in the history of the
| city.
Unless it is decided TO play a shortened
course the beginning of the Western Coli
Association championship tournament to-
| day will be postponed, the flood having
crossed the course. reducing the available
holes to nine.
Reports along the course OF Cherry
creek early today Indicate an augmenta'
! ton of the loss OF property In the out
lying districts.
Note of Warning.
Had it not been for a note of warning
sounded over the telephone from an un-
known source to the city hall just be-
fore the crest OF the flood reached the
| city many could not have escaped death.
Many fed in their night clothes and
that many more were caught In the flood
while sleeping is the general belief.
The crest Of the cloudburst was pre-
ceded by a storm with a wind velocity
Of forty-eight miles an hour at o'clock
yesterday afternoon. In two hours hard
| rain the streets were flooded. the tram
way lines were out of commission, hum
dreds were marooned in the parks around
the city and fifty miles of city roadway
TEoy 20 a
| hours, during which the car lines were
returned to schedule time.
At about $50 last night the cry OF
warning of the coming flood reached the
city hall and Mayor Arnold. Within
thirty minutes wall of water many feet
| high descended on the city from Cherry
creek, which flows through the Country
Club grounds, passing within five blocks
of the city hall. the county hospital. the
west side court, out to the South Platte,
five miles distant.
It ripped out concrete walls that con-
fned it for two miles. destroyed bridges
and hundreds OF small dwellings, driving
| the occupants from their homes or to
members Of the police and fire depart
ments.
Passengers Are Marooned.
Reaching Union station, the torrent
rushed three feet deep through the yard.
putting locomotive fires out, Narrowing
several hundred passengers and closing
the city to incoming or outgoing traffic.
In half an hour miles of tramway lines
were Put out of commission, while q
sewer undermined broke and flooded Cap
itol Hill, the aristocratic section Of the
city. A general call to physicians met
with speedy response. The cellars of
downtown stores and hotels were flooded.
This morning the flood was at receding
point and the parties organized during
the night by Mayor Arnold We're pre-
pared to begin the work of surveying the
flood damage and aiding its victims
Not until the telephone and telegraph
lines are restored today will the full ex-