The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-01-28

Employment - Boats Used on I'M
portant Thoroushfares - Boys Use
Rafts-Rescues Occur-Wheeling and
Cincinnati Also Affected.
Pittsburgh recently suffered millions
of dollars damage as the result of the
greatest flood in the past forty-seven
years of its history. Thousands of
men and women have been thrown out
of employment homes have been mum
dated and wrecked, and altogether
great suffering in many directions has
been the result Excessive rains in the
mountains, swelling the rivers. caused
the flood.
Interspersing the details and incl
dents of hardship many ludicrous re-
ports relating to the fun that accom-
panied the high waters rush upon the
city have been made. Pittsburgh citi-
Zens, like the dwellers in other great
cities where disasters have come, are
possessed of hopeful qualities. They
make the best of their misfortunes.
Rowboats Used In Streets.
For instance, when the water began
to sweep down their main streets the
people merely hauled out all the old
rowboats they could get and became
ablebodied seamen. Many Venetian
scenes have been pictured by the cam
era at different points about the city.
The flood also swept down with a
certain degree of damage upon Nc
Kees Rocks, Wheeling, East Liverpool
and Cincinnati
About 10000 schoolbooks, most of
them in excellent condition, purchased
by the taxpayers of Pittsburgh for the
education of their children at cost of
from $4,000 to $4,000, practically
We're ruined and were all but afoat in
the basement of public school.
The boxes containing these valuable
volumes are very big and heavy, so
they were not exactly tumbling around
like educational houseboats, but they
were getting theirs" just the same.
Loose books in scores dotted the rip
pling, still rising pool Several of the
smaller boxes rose to the occasion and
the surface and meandered slowly
about among the gigantic specimens in
whose company they have been off the
job so long, as though sightseeing
Thrilling Rescues.
Conditions in nearby boroughs were
about the same as in Pittsburgh. Two
thrilling rescues were made at the
small bridge which crosses Streets
run, connecting Hays borough with
Homestead. But for the timely arrival
of employees of the Second avenue
5;uieion Of tho Poi1yvovc
company these two persons probably
would have been drowned. Street cars
from Hays borough could not cross
the bridge, as the water of the creek
was two feet over the walk of the
bridge. The two persons who fell in
were trying to follow the example of
hundreds of persons who were walk
ing across the railing of the bridge.
The first to receive a cold plunge
was Tony Vallia of Rand Station. He
fell into the water, but managed to
hang on to the girder of the bridge,
where he was rescued by street car
men. Miss Nellie Allen, aged sixteen, of
Hays, attempted to cross the bridge in
a similar manner, and she also took
a cold plunge. Friends rescued her.
Fearing that lives might be lost by
persons trying to cross the bridge, the
railways company secured a large
wagon, drawn by four horses, and cart
ed the people across the flooded bridge.
School closed-Boys Use Rats.
At Millvale there were no sessions in
the First ward school for a few days,
as the building was entirely surrounded
by water, and it was impossible to
get the pupils and the teachers to the
building. The children didn't seem TO
mind it in the least, as many of the
boys improvised rafts and enjoyed
themselves by padding around the
school building.
With over 1,400 men thrown out of
employment and many business houses
and homes inundated, the flood in Etna
and Sharpsburg exacted heavy toll.
Several hundred families were ma
rooned in their homes, the water about
them ranging in depth from several
inches to four feet Business in both
of the boroughs was at a standstill.
There was considerable suffering
among the food victims. Many fam
lilies were confined to their homes
completely surrounded by water, with
but a scant food supply, while some
were without any fires, the supply of
coal and wood, which was laid in
when the water began to rise, becom-
ing exhausted. The gas supply was
low, and some of the portions of the
towns were without any.
Street car service in both Sharpsburg
and Etna was badly crippled.
Residents of Etna are suffering
most. Hundreds of homes in low dis
tricts were flooded, the families being
forced to the second stories of theiI
homes. The high stage in the Allegheny
river caused Pine creek to overflow its