Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-07-23
RICHMOND PEOPLE ARE
NARROWED At MONTREAL
AL In Safety, However. Notwith-
standing Floods in Western
North Carolina.
SECRETARY ACKLEr RETURNS
State Secretary of Y. VI. {. \. Back
From Blue Ridge Association Near
Black Mountain. Describes Condi-
tions-Had Very Narrow Escape.

ssg All anxiety felt 10y relatives in Rich
Y nlond Of DELEGATES attending the Pres
ssbyterian summcr assembly at Montreal,
Il and for those visiting at the SUNNI or
4 encampmeut OF The Nouur Mems Chris
y tian Association, which is being held
Sat Blue Ridge near Black Mountain. in
5 the flood-swert section OF North Caro-
! lima, was rcIicNed Yesterday by the re-
turn home &. state Secretary s a.
s Ackley. OF ,.,. lounc Meas Chris
.&tian Association
MIR .>ckiey. who spent ten days At
{ the summer camp. arrived in Richmond
tsyesterday afternoon AT o'clock, hav
& inE been en- route home since Thurs
iday. Communication had been cut off
i; from the noodcd sections the entir
Ii week, and no advice had been received
Sin Richmond as 10 the welfare of those
s..attendins the meetings from this city.
awhile they were in the heart OF the
storm. MIR. Aekley said. they were about
Va 300 feet above the railroad. on the
screst OF tho mountain, and did not
Suffer undue damage
Those attending the sessions were
P5put to considerable Inconvenience for
: several days, but this situation was
forced to stay in the community
I for lack OF transportation facilities. all
a delegates Jared well. Rev W. w. Moore
) president OF Union Theological Semi
mary, is attending the sessions OF the
Montreal meeting. aud was farinc
we'll, Mr.. Ackley said
/ PARTY LEFT blue RIDGE
ON LAST THURSDAY
Mr.. Ackley and large party left
I Blue Ridge Thursday. travelling by
teams to Ashevile, a distance OF
eighteen miles. From Asheville they
4 were able 10 travel over a branch line
OF the Southern Railway. the only one
open III the section, as far as Murphy
and thence To- Knoxville.
q After several days, citizens Of
Asheville were able TO get supplies out
Ito us and other sections" Mr.. ACkicy
!. said. and after that there VAS no
3 trouble. Our camp and that at Mon
threat did not suffer very much al
\ though both our reservoir and swim
trming basin we're completely filed with
2 sand. The storm was the worst that
: Asheville and vicinity. I was told. had
!, OK pArienced in 100 years. IL had been
raining necessarily for ten days be
( fore the cloud bursts. 1t was said that
8 there were two cloud bursts. and |
4 don't know whether or not VIC We're
them both, The storm broke early
]. Sat urday morning, and while we no
\ sticed that IL WAS raining unusually
hard, we did not take undue notice of
II. At daylight, however. We found
that all communication had gone, and
3 a little later that there were no trains
running. This was all that We knew
for several days. Until refugees passed
US.
IL was told that on the Southern
y Hallway, near Marion, fill had slid
away from the railroad tracks lcav-
ing the rails and crossties suspended
iii the air. AZ another place, on the
+ Swananoa River, An all-steol bridge
was swept down the river for pcrha Us
a quarter Of a mile, remaining intact
There were three washouts on the
road near RidGecrest in the space Of
two miles. two OF them being bridges
and one fll tina! gave way.
nvsp FIFTEEN FEET IN
FEW MOMENTS At BII.T,ORE
II was told that AT Biltmore and in
the immediate valley, the water rose SO
rapidly that residents did not have
time 10 escape from their homes. In
this section, while the people were
at their breakfast tables the waters
rose fifteen feet in a very few min
utes. II WAS apparently wall OF
water that rushed down tho beds Of the
mountain streams There was six fee;
of water In the railroad stntion =,