New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-12-09

before torrent was surging south on
with Avenue, swapping Easements and
cellars and uprooting tho sidewalk
faCstoncv.
According to their weekly habit.
Kate Muilissu and Bridget Powers.
laundrcsscs, were discussing the af-
fairs Of the day over a sociable pot Of
tea ir the basement OF the sedate
Berkeley apartment hotel at 1916
O'Clock A. 1;f-. Patrolmsn Patrick
hcCsrr'p. already Nading knee deep
it ttc flood 20 summon help. heard sp-
IealnC hricAs which omansted from
tho basement of The Berkeley. many
feet below the street level. on the
Ninth Street corner
Policeman Rescues Women
FROM "a source a. mysterious as that
Of pre-, tidigit5tor's rabbits, the CT
lclcnt McCarrcn materialiZcd a ladder
which uc lc. down clucerly into the
water which almost nlled the well OF
taC arcawsy between the hotel base
utvt wal, and tho street. Then he
oc-cou'cd 90 TIC window level and
entered.
Tho two Homcu were standing upon
a shelf, win water above their apron
homs. a., chat, alternately screaming
and nr1y,ue. \ half-cmpty teapot.
bobh'u~ un and down with a jaunty tilt
Ir thc "atcry turmoil about them. was
tGc only relic Of the feast Of five min
Ltes before.
McCarrcn carried the women out. dis
cardIug his oycrcoat and wadiug chest
high in water 10 do so. When they
were safe and drying in the upper re-
cIons of the hotel the patrolman dis
covered that his OverCost. with his
shield pinned on Is. had been washed
away and was not 10 be found. Nc
Csrrcn went home to change his
clothes, and his place was taken by Pa
trolman Stanley. Some one who had
seen tho policeman running with lad
der sent I'm a superfuous fire alarm.
Employees OF the Water Supply De
partment had closed the water gate and
made connections around the break
which relieved the water famine in the
lower part of Manhattan. the fremen
had departed, and Patrolman Stanley
stood ON a convenient msnhole at
Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. usher
ing trucks and limousines east and west
with impartial hand and bordering on
the frcakish fate which had cast Nc
CatyCn for the role of hero at the
stsidest point Of Manhattan Island.
Shot Into the Air
suddenly the manhole and IT. human
burden were violently aCitated. The
ioEmor shot q core Of feet into the
air. add the latter 4 lesser uumb Der. iu
proportion 20 his volume ard weight.
AlChtIDC ON an Tours ten feet from
his still soaring post his face .tudy
sea disturbed meditation. Patrolman
STANLEY pocred over his shoulder to
find the cause Of mis- flight A column
Of FIRE roared ten feet above the spot
where he had stood d second before. e.
TIE reserves from the Mercer Street
police station. who had been sent home
only an hour before; the frcmen, who
had answered the false alarm the gas
men, the electricity men and reinforce
mCuts from the Department Or Water
Supply. Gas and Electricity were called
IN hurry With the earth about them
swept away by the food. two of half
q dozen gas mains had saggcd and
bucElcd. and somehow the .,as had
caught fire.
Explosion after explosion shook the
ueighborhood. Irregular apertures ap-
peared here and there i'm Fifth Ave
nue's pavement with each Getonation.
The holes increased constantly IN size
and number. cracks zig-zagged across
the asphalt, connecting with one an.
other. and sections Of the pavement
hogan TO drop into the depths below.
Again. as the food had swept down
10 EIGHTH Street and west 10 Sixth
Avenue. Eighth and Ninths streets and
the intervening block on Fifth Ave
ruc were closed to traffic Candles
winkcd in the houses nearby, but still
the emergency crews strove in vain to
plug the burst pipes. Longer and