Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-17
Damage in North Carolina
Estimated at S6,O00,000
to 100000
TWO WOMEN ARE FOUND
=, TIED TO TOP OF A TREE
Scores of Industrial Plants in Ashe-
vile Are Idle and Miles Of
Railway Torn Up.

ASHEVILLE, n. c.. July Y
The death list from the flood
that overwhelmed this section Of
North Carolina was increased tc
eight today. Reports from Madl-
son county said two lives were
; lost and that ffty-three houses
were demolished in Marshall.
: The water was -receding today
and no more fears are entertained
for the breaking of the dam at
Lake ToNaway.
The body OF Miss Charlotte
Walker, a nurse, was found today
at Biltmore. Miss Mabel Foiste1,
another nurse, and Miss Louise
Walker also lost their lives at
Biltmore. These, with the death
of Lonnie Trexter, white labor
er, and Luther Frazier, a negro,
bringing the list to eight.
Many Families Homeless.
Seventy-fve families, mostly cotton
mill workers, residing in the lower Sec
tfons of Asheville, lost their homes and
are being cared for by citizens re-
lief committee.
Attempts to revise estimates of dam
age to mills near Asheville today
brought little hope that they have
suffered to an extent less than re-
ported last night.
The damage estimated for this section
remained at se.oOo.o 900 to s1o,ooo.ooo.
Asheville still is without gas or
electric power and the price of gaso-
line had gone to a dollar gallon. No
. trains left today and none arrived.
On the Murphy division of the
Southern railway. however. trains are
running form waynesville to Murphy.
The main line toward Washington is
open beyond Salisbury.
Estimates fthe Damage.
The Swannanoa and French Broad
rjfers that rose out of their banks in
this section yesterday, flooding the viii
lage CT Biltmore and leaving AsheviIle
without gas or electric light and power.
were falling rapidly today. and it was
thought that the greatest danger to
this section had passed. Estimates of
property damage already have been
placed at from S6,0oo.0 900 to 100000
while the total loss to crops. lumber
mills. cotton mills. highway and rail-
road bridges and miles of railroad
track throughout the area that has felt
the food was expected to grow as be-
lated reports came in.
Miss nellie Lipe and Mrs. Leo Null
holland. reported drowned yesterday
when the home of their father. J. c.
Lipe, at Biltmore, was washed away,
were found today tied in the top of a
tree. according to reports received here
Wide Area Is Affected.
The area that felt the effects Of the
flood extends from eastern Tennessee
through southeastern West Virginia.
southwestern Virginia. across North
Carolina roughly to Wilmington. and
embraces virtually all of South Caro-
lima. Should the dam at Lake Toxaway
yield TO the flooded waters pressing
against e. devastation in that section
would be followed by floods down the
savannah river watershed that would
imperif Augusta, Ga.
The immediate cause of floods around
Asheviile Sunday was the bursting of
the dam at Hendersonville. n. c., and
that at Kanuga- Volumes of water
swept down the Swannanoa ricer, en-
gulfng portions of the Vanderbilt es-
tate and the village Of Biltmore laid
George w. Vanderbilt Two nurses
from the Biltmore Hospital are thought
to have been drowned. Persons here
familiar with the Biltmore section ex-
pressed the belief that damage to the
Vanderbilt estate might have been
heavy and thought the Biltmore nurser-
les probably were flooded. Biltmore is
cut off from Asheviile by a mile OF
water.
Down the French Broad valley swep,
another food from the broken dams
until lower Asheville was inunda ted
and scores of industrial plants were
damaged. Several hundred mill work
ers are being cared for here, theiI
homes having been washed away. The
Southern railway depot here and the
Glen Rock Hotel. both a mile and a
half from the business section of Ashe.
willie, were covered with water several
feet deep. Two laborers were drowned
trying to carry food to persons
Earooned in upper floors Of the hotel
Heavy Damage Near Charlotte.
Near Charlotte. ". c., which also re.
ported heavy damage, eighteen mer
working on railroad bridge were car
ried away when the bridge went down
and either were drowned or ar.
nlarooned in tree tops.
At Charleston. S. c., approxinaatel,
thirty men composing the crews of 81,
targes are missing. The barges wer,
torn from tugs during the hurricane.
1t was thought today that seyera
days must pass before railroad seryic,
could be restored to Asheville ant
Heudersonville and II probably will b,
week or more before normal schedule,
are re-established throughout tn,
flooded section.
At daylight this morning rescuin,
parties sent ovt by the Southern Railwa
Company from Charlotte located Residen
Engineer Joseph Killian and two othe
r,en clinging to a tree top about a mil
below the point where the bridge over tn
Catawba river. twelve miles from thi
city, went out with them and eleven othe
smploxse yesterday afternoon Every e1