Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1919-02-07

Out of the flood and debris which
accompanied a partial wrecking of the
Hortonia Light & Power Company
plant in Middlebury last Saturday
afternoon, Chester A. Ingalls, of Sails
bury, assistant superintendent at the
plant, and Arthur Bird of Brandon
have emerged with privilege to claim
one of the most miraculous escapes
that was ever the good fortune of any
two men, They are today ready tc
return to work at the plant where les!
than week ago they had an experience
which no one would envy them, anc
which probably could never be re-
peated with such good fortune.
The scene of their thriller was about
a mile north of Middlebury at the old
site of the Green Mountain Pulp Com.
pany's mill along side the Otter Greek
and Seymour street, where last July the
Hortonia Light &. Power Company
purchased the mill property and began
the construction of one OF the Com
panys series of hydro electric stations
which it is building at various stations
throughout the State
Up to last Saturday the work on
this new station had progressed to the
point that one of the generating units
was complete, and two days before the
accident it had started operation for
testing purposes and was just about to
have its current linked with the long
distance transmission lines which are
already carrying power from Lake
Dunmore, Salisbury and elsewhere to
Port Henry and other industrial points
At about 3;45 o'clock on Saturday
afternoon Superintendent Samuel Ba-
con, Assistant Superintendent Ingalls,,
Arthur Bird, and Others of the Com
pany's workers were in the new gem
Grating station making final adjust
ments in the apparatus there. The
generating room, marked point 6 in
the accompanying photograph, is the
temporary shelter of the dynamo,
which is to be later displaced by a
brick building to run along side the
three water wheel units which are to
comprise the station. Outside of the
station at the point marked 9, half a
dozen Spaniards were at work drilling
in the river ledge in preparation for
the foundation of the next unit. The
men inside of the dynamo room were
suddenly shocked to discover water
seeping through the big concrete wall
which prior to the accident had stretch
ed from point Z to as shown in the
picture. This wall was two feet thick
about 40 feet wide and 30 feet high
The outside timbers of the concrete
wall which had been left standing
ever since the concrete was poured
were heard to be creaking, and it did
MT take long for everyone to agree
that the wall was going to give way.
The Spaniards outside scrambled away
from the scene while the men in the
generating room rushed up some back
stairs that lead to the roof of the water
wheel pit
Mr.. ingalls, rushed to the point mark
ed |, where there was the wheel of
flood gate, which he hoped to turn in
time to relieve the pressure on the
straining wall. He had, however, bare
ly reached the gate when the wall
gave way and all of the roof, with the
exception of the small corner of it
which is shown hanging in the picture,
fell into the flood carrying Mr.. ingalls,
with it.
Bird, who was in the vicinity of the
point marked 2, was more violently
precipitated, and with the tons of water
which were let lose from the wheel pit
he was swept, together with great