Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1912-10-25
FLOODS CRIPPLED
WEST RIVER ROAD
Mail and Train Service at a
Standstill Yesterday
on Highways-eoston G. Maine Con-
structlon Work Not Affected.

Heavy damage and much inconven-
ience were caused by the downpour of
rain throughout this county Tuesday,
Wednesday and yesterday Traffic on the
West River railroad was held up all
day yesterday by bad washouts, and the
mail which should have reached Brat
tleboro from West River valley towns
yesterday morning did not arrive until
about 10 o'clock today. In Peru, in Ben
nington county, across the line from
Londonderry, Judson d. Bell, 20, is sup
posed to have lost his life while he and
his son, Edward, were fording Sawyer
brook, the bridge having been washed
away. The horse was swept downstream
and was drowned. The boy reached
shore, but searchers were unable to find
his father
There were four places between
Townshend and Jamaica where the
West River railroad was completely
washed away, some of the places be-
ing 10 feet in length, and the shoulder
OF the roadbed was torn out in a dozen
places, one for distance of $50 feet
Two work trains were sent out yester-
day morning to repair the washouts.
one went from South Londonderry and
the other from Brattleboro and they
met near Jamaica this morning
The rainfall in As hours registered 2.5
inches on Ferris r. Vaughan's instru-
ments, which, although 1t is not a rec
ord breaking fall, seldom has been
equalled in two days in recent years.
sixty feet of the bank wall on the
West River road near West Dummerston
was washed away yesterday and the
road was closed to travel The water
was higher than it had been for several
years. The power house of the Twin
State Gas & Electric company was closed
because there was two feet of water on
the floor and the men could not work
Wilson |. Brown. who had a boat land =
ing at the old pumping station and a
power boat and row boat moored there.
had to put out with his power boat yes
terday morning to rescue his landing,
which had started toward the Connecti-
cut river.
one arch of the new Hertzberg bridge
ON the Brook road was damaged by the
high water in Milestone brook yester-
day afternoon. 1t undermined the false
work, which holds the cement together
during construction, and washed away
the cement. One arch has been COM
pleted by Contractor ID. T. Perry, and
this was not damaged. The loss on the
uncompleted arch will amount to about
800.
The Connecticut river rose several feet
and flooded the island. 1t covered the
baseball diamond and flowed under the
grandstand to depth OF Is inches. The
Retreat meadows were flooded foot
of water was running over the dam al
the big Pleasant Valley reservoir, show
ing that the water was "a feet deep in
the reservoir.
The rains did not do much damage to
the Boston & Maine railroad construction
work, but it caused some inconvenience
Driftwood jammed against the tempo
rary trestle yesterday morning so that II
backed up ther ver about 800 feet and
it became so compact that workmen
could walk on the wood to within a few
feet of the open water. A large scoop
was attached to a derrick and the drift
wood was lifted over the bridge and
dropped in the river below, thus break
ing the jam. The water did not damage
the fills.