Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1916-05-23
Norway Has Bad Water Scare.

i Norway Has Bad Water Scare.
CONDITIONS THURSDAY NIGHT CAUSED
MUCH ANXIETY TO PROPERTY OWN
| ERs.
Not for long term of years has higl
4 water In the lake caused % much anxiet.
to property owners and people Of th'
village In general "a was caused by TIT
heavy rain Of Wednesday and the result
Ing high water Of Thursday Afternoon
and night. Never In the memory OF tn,
oldest citizens has the water risen more
rapidly or assumed more threatening
condition.
The vital spot, the one place that hai
to be guarded above all others, was Of
course the dam at the Cummings Broth
ers saw mill. Everything depended up.
on the strength of this structure to with
stand the tremendous strain to which II
was subject for period of about twenty
hours. 1t was felt that the dam Itself
was equal to the task but whether the
water could be held at the sides Of the
dam and prevented from breaking
through was the question. That 1t wa
held was due solely the fact that q great
amount of work was done.
A large crew Of men was set to work.
All the available bags of various de-
soription about the village were gather.
cd together and filed with sand and
these were used with good effect In
places that were subjected to the great.
est strain, to reinforce the permanent
structures. A system Of electric lights
was hastily strung to allow the work to
be continued after darkness came on.
A considerable number of men worked
throughout the night and were on the
spot at all times in case their services
were needed In any emergency that
might arise.
The water while very high at six
o'clock In the afternoon, continued to
rise slowly and from eight to ten O'Clock
q further rise of an inch and q half was
shown. From this time until about
three O'Clock in the morning 1t held at
practically the Same pitch and then be-
gan very slowly 20 lower. At seven In
the morning 1t was still lowering and
feeling of relief was experienced by all
for it was then realized that unless
something unexpected happened the
danger point had been passed.
The giving way of part Of the dam
at Hobbs Pond, Little Pennesseewassee,
was one of the things which caused
grave fears. This of course released .
great volume of water into the waters of
the big lake. The waters released by
this break covered the main travelled
road in some places to depth of nearly
three feet, where the road which leads
to Gibson's Grove turns off from the
North Norway road. 1t also carried two
small bridges away. An attempt was
made to repair this break Immediately,
but met with little success because Of
the force of the water which carried
away anything placed In its path. Con-
ditions Friday morning had improved to
such an extent that temporary repairs
could then be made.
The logs of the Cummings Brothers,
which have been placed in the lake dur
ing the winter had just been driven un-
der Crockett's bridge day or two pre-
vious. These came down to the dam
and II was with considerable difficulty
that they were doomed and anchored up
near the boat houses. The work was
SO that no lumber was
boom around the short bolts that had
been hauled in large numbers into the
mill yard beloy their dowel mill.
Farther down the stream John Guilt.
mans wood yard was in dangerous pc.
sition and here 1t was also necessary to
build a-boom to prevent bis cord wood
and fitted stove wood from going down
with the water.
Water went into many cellars making
1t necessary to remove goods. At the
Advertiser Office the large bundles OF
news stock all had to be carried to high
or levels. In many cases, pigs, poultry,
COWS and horses had to be taken to new
quarters for the night. In some cases
this precaution proved unnecessary but
it was at the same time the only safe
thing to do. The meadow at the lower
end of Main Street was changed into
great lake, the water in many cases COM
ing up to the foundations on the houses
on the south side of the street.
More or less fear was expressed about
the dam at North Pond but this seemed
to be unnecessary. One could hear ell
kinds OF stories about it's condition but
such reports are expected In time OF ex-
element.
Norway is still on the map. The act
ual damage was small and everyone 10
that serious results did not fol-
low the rise of the water. However, II
the fellow who controls the rain has any
regard for our feelings he will be little
more careful next time. We don't mind
seeing 1t rain in good shape when rain
IL needed, but We must confess that We
think he overdid the job considerably on
this occasion.