The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-08-04
ERIE GR0PES MID
FLOOD WRECK ACE;
so PERSONS DEAD
Scores of Homes, Dozens OF
Factories Swept Away.
Hundreds Are Shelterless;
Property Loss $3.OOO,OOO.
CITY TAXED TO AID STRICKEN
Day Dawns With Water Rush.
ing Down Streets.
Gas Mains Are Severed; All
Traffic ParalyZed.
Hundreds Are ShelterleSsi
Property Loss $3,OOO,OOO.
CITY TAXED TO AID STRICKEN
Day Dawns With Water Rush
ing Down Streets.
Gas Mains Are Severed; All
Traffic ParalyZed.

+
shortly before noon today estimated
that fifty persons perished in last
nights flood. Mayor Stern at 10
O'Clock said the number probably
would not exceed twenty-five, but
after a survey of the debris and
checking over a list of missing. COro-
ner Hanley raised the estimate to
fifty.
Although Coroner Hanley's figures
were based largely upon lists of miss
ing, many of whom were later located,
he did not lower his estimate as these
names came in and other city Off
cials were inclined to accept his esti-
mate as the more accurate made.
Eighteen bodies have been recovered
up to noon, of which ten had been
identified.
The identified dead:
EMMA OSBORNE, A years old.
JOHN DONOVAN, city fireman.
SWEENEY ANDERSON, 60.
JOHN HIGGINS, 40, a printer.
JAMES HIGGINS, II, son of John
Higgins.
MRS. JOHN HIGGINS, and infant.
MRS. CORA ANDERSON MAIN, %.
KATHERINE E. CARROLL
THOMAS LANGDON.
Rescue Forces Augmented.
Rescue forces of police, firemen and
life savers were augmented during the
day by civilian volunteers and prep
arations were made to work by ar
tificial light during the night. The
immense piles of Wreckage form bar
riers from fifty to seventy feet high
in the mile course of the flood
through the city's business section
and the task before the workers is a
tremendous one. Some buildings
we're 4 srl e7ish--fl while others ~ e1s
tossed virtually intact upon the hills
between which the torrent rushed.
The bodies of some of the victims were
found q mile from the spot where
they were caught by the rush of water
and it is considered likely that some
were carried out into the lake.
Streets Running Rivers.
Daylight here broke over a flood
str cken city with its business streets
running rivers of water. Property
damage estimated at three million dol
lars, scores of homes and dozens of
factories swept away, and hundreds
made homeless were some of the re-
suits OF the storm
After almost an aiI-day rain, a heavy
thunderstorm eliminated in a cloud
burst. Fer an hour residents along
the course of Mill creek, through the
center of the city, watched the slow
l!Se of the stream, due to q rainfall
OF nearly three inches in six hours.
Mayor Stern has made a request for
company of the Sixteenth regiment OF
Pennsylvania National guard to patrol
the ruined section of the city.
The entire police and fire forces of
the city working under the direction
of Mayor W. J. Stern and other city
officials recovered fourteen bodie
from an area that included approxi-
mately one-half of the devaSted dis
trict
Dam Swept Away.
At S:45 o'clock the Glenwood dam
three miles above the city burst, and
huge wall of water swept down
through the city carrying with it the
homes of those who had waited until
the last minute to leave, and in sew
eral cases the families still refused tC
seek safety
Four blocl.s on either side. of the
stream including State street, the main
business artery of the city were COW
cred with depth of from six inches
to five feet.
Ear today gas mains all over the
city were cut off and telephone, street
car and electric lighting service were
paralyzed.
Danger from Falling Poles.
Danger from falling high telephone
wires became apparent soon after
dawn and heavy guard of police
and volunteers were thrown around
the flooded section. Many poles
weighted with wires and undermined
by the flood, dropped into the streets.
The charitable societies, the armory
hotels and hastily organized shelter
clubs last night gave refuge to hun
dreds who saved but their own live:
and a few meagre belongings. The
darkness, the danger of broken elec-
trio wires, and the twenty-five mile
current of the flood made the work
or rescue extremely perilous. The life
saving crews from the Lake Erie
shore front and the members of the
naval mllitiA today are searching fol
bodies.
The narrow escape of Fire Chief Nc.
Mahon with four firemen in a success.
full attempt to rescue three women
led to the report of their death. but
tCondIued on Page TwoJ