The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1916-07-22
From The Daily Item, July 1s.

From The Daily Item, July 19.
The trestles Of the Coast Line be-
tween Sumter and Columbia and Of
the Southern between Sumter and
Kingville over the Waaeree river have
been swept away and the Coast Line
trestle at Remini over the Santee may
be swept away at any time Is the
news from the floods this morning.
What the damage is it Is impossible
to say at this time, as the river is six
miles wide and no estimate with the
least degree of certainty Of the loss
can be made at this time. The offil
cials Of both roads have done all that
they could to preserve their property,
but their attempts were unavailing
and now they are merely hoping that
the damage will not be as great "a 1t
now appears 1t is, when the roads are
covered with water for distance OF
three or four miles. ss
However, 1t is a certainty. that Sum
ter Is cut off from all direct communi-
cation with the west by railroads and
1t will be for several weeks to come.
The length of time required to repair
the damage done depends entirely on
the amount Of damage. -,
\ At noon today 1t was stated That Il
least 1000 feet OF the two and a-half
miles Of trcstle over the Coast Lane sk
Malta had been swept sway, holl
sisass RslsI ts:'si 81 s sgs's s|Rs 8 s
whether It would Withstand the forpe
OF the water which was nine feet high.
or. according to reports. than was the
fiood OF 1908. which II withstood. was
merely a matter Of conjecture. The
crest Of the food was expected to be
approaching at that time and it was
thought that 1t would reach the Wat
cree crossing sometime about o'clock
today and that shortly thereafter the
water would commence to fall. There
are no direct communications between
Sumter and the river. either at the
Southern or Coast Line bridges there
fore 1t is impossible to say just what
the river Is doing at this time. or what
had been learned at that point.
At 6 o'clock Tuesday afternoon all
trains passing over the Coast Line
track at Malta were annulled and the
last train to pass over were those from
Columbia yesterday afternoon. At
that time the water was up to the
track IN places and still rising rapid
ly. At the same time the trains
over the Coast Line bridge at Remini
were annulled and no trains have
been across there since the train from
Augusta came in Tuesday evening.
Yesterday about three hundred load
ed box cars were carried down to
Remini and placed on the Coast Line
trestles to hold them in place on the
coming Of the flood. The water this
morning was over the tracks and still
rising, the crest being expected down
there tonight some time. In 1908
when the water was not nearly so high
as 1t Is now all of the trestles there
were swept away and it was reported
that the bridge was bent. However,
the bridge did not go and it is hoped
to preserve the bridge and trestle in
tact this time, despite the added
depth to the waters.
No danger is expected from the
bridge over the Santee at Santee now
and 1t will take about two days for
the crest of the food to reach that
point. The Coast Line officials have
new dam and bridge there and hope
that 1t will withstand the flood, it be-
Ing built as a flood proof bridge and
causeway.
Trains Operating.
The Coast Line reports that all of It's
trains to the north Of Sumter are op-
Grating, although it is cut off to tho
west. The lines between Maxton and
Sumter; Florence and Sumter, and
on to the north; between Sumter and
Charleston, and between Florence and
Lanes are now open and operating on
regular schedules. Trains have been
and are still operating daily between
Sumter and Wedgefield, and between
sumter and Remini, 1t being impos-
sible, Of course. to go beyond those
places because Of the flooded rivers.