The daily banner., 1919-08-15
STORM DAMAGE MOUNTS
UP WITH LATER REPORTS

I
Eastern Shore Cut Off-Telegraph
And Telephone Wires DoWn-Elec-
trio Service Partially Out of Com
mission-Brfdges Washed Away
And Crops in Many Sections Are
Completely Ruined.
AS later reports or the damage
wrought by the rain and wind storm
of Wednesday are received, the sit
uation is found to be much more
serious than the earlier reports in
dicated. The first reports indicated
that traffic had been suspended only
on the branch lines OF the Delaware
Division of the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, while later reports show that
the entire division was put out of
business, not train running out Of
Wilmin gton yesterday and TO trains
yet, with the exception Of few To-
cal trains, which are operating be-
tween Mount Pleasant and points
South. The most serious trouble
occurred near the canal, where the
onrushing waters washed out con-
siderable portion of the line and al
so got in back of the cement and
stone abuttments, washing out a
considerable portion of the dirt
which had been used to. fill in and
making the track unsafe for quite a
distance. Further along near Dover
there was another washout, and still
further down there was a Washout
below Harrington. These washouts
were all serious, requiring consider
able time to put into such shape as
to make traffic safe, but in addition
to these. there were large number
of minor ones, all of which had to
Tbe fixed before trains could be run
safely.
This morning there had been but
one train run over the line since
Wednesday, this being a work train,
upon which were a few men passen-
gers, all women passengers being re-
fused on account of the unsafe con-
dition of the road. Mail matter
from northern points, which had
been routed over the Delaware Divi-
sion, has been held up more than
twenty-four hours, and no mail will
likely be received over this line, as
the indications are that there will be
no service over the line before Sun
day. All northern mail for the Pc
ninsuIa at this item is being routed
via Baltimore and Claiborne, and
probably will be brought to Cam
bridge by the mail truck from Balt1-
more.
On the Cambridge and Seaford
Branch of the P, B. & W. Railroad,
there is a washout at SINNERS Run,
a short distance above Williamsburg,
which will have to be brfdged before
train service can be resumed. This
washout is about sixty feet long, in
stead of eighty, as reported yester-
day, and is from twenty to forty
feet deep. An attempt was made
yesterday to fill it in by dumping
large quantities of stone in it, but
this did not improve the situation,so
pile driver was brought down and
the work of bridging has been star,
ted.
On the Maryland, Delaware and
Virginia line, which runs from Love
Point to Rehoboth, the bridge at
Tuckahoe, not a great distance from
Denton, gave way yesterday morning
as a work train was going over it,
with the result that the fireman on
the locomotive was killed and the
engineer badly injured. Six or sew
en- of the workmen who were being
out on another portion Of the line
were slightly injured.
This morning the stone bridge on
the State road at fredericksburg is re-
ported to have given away, stopping
traffic On the State road above Fed
eralsburg. The railroad bridge at
fredericksburg has also given way, the
railroad men being taken from the
work at SINNERS Run in an endea-
vor to save this bridge, but being un-
able to do so.
Telephone and telegraph service
has been seriously interfered with,
it being impossible to get messages
through to many points yesterday, al
though today the situation is much
better.
Wednesday afternoon the electric
service was off for a little over two
hours and this morning it was OFF
about an hour, the trouble this morn
ing being due to a broken wire be-
tween Cambridge and East New Mar
ket.
Reports from various pats con-
cerning crop conditions are very dis
couraging. The tomato situation is
extremely critical, most of the fields
of them being ruined, while in no
cases will there be more than one
half a crop. Fruit trees have been
.denuded of almost all fruit, corn lies
fiat in the fields, in many cases up
rooted, and in some cases the water
still civers portions of the fields, so
that nothing can be done.
Later reports from railroad circles
indicate that there may be a partial
resumption OF traffic on the Della
ware Division sometime tomorrow,
the resumption depending upon the
time when the track at the canal,
just above Mt. Pleasant, can be got
ten into condition, the road-bed at
that point having been washed out
for about a half mile.
The following dispatch from Fed
eralsburg gives description or the
situation there:
fredericksburg, Md, Aug. IS.
Completely isolated from the
outside world, with telephone and
telegraph wires down, no trains
since Tuesday, crops ruined and
bridges washed away, this town has
just experienced the worst storm in
tits history. The town itself resem-
bles a modern Western Hemisphere
Venice. The main business street is
foot deep in water, and staid busi-
ness men, divested of conventional
attire and wearing one-piece bathing
suits, ply the impromptu canal in
boats.
The storm began at 3 o'clock Wed
nesday morning and the rain fell un-
ceasingly for "a hours. A northwest
wind backed up the Nanticoke river,
undermining bridges and doing in
calculable damage to fruit and crops.
All of the fruit was beaten off and
the trees were, in many instances,
practically denuded of their limbs.
The tomato crop is completely ruin
ed. Corn is leveled to the ground
and looks as if hurricane had pass