The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-07-17
20 MILLION GALLONS
 OF WATER FLOOD CITY
(COntinued from Page D Ire swept away and demolished ant

(Continued from Page D
 were swept away and demolished and their occupants drowned.
 Cement Dam Gives Way.
 The disaster was caused by the glv- ing away of cement dam at Lang wald's Pond. an irregular body be- tween two and three miles from the center populated district of William 5ett- The crest of the dam remained in place but the lower section was pushed out bodily, and the released body of water rushed down the valley for perhaps half a mile, entering Roberts Pond. The rush of water tore out the wooden dam at the lower end of this pond and a high wave swept on down the valley, spreading out in- to a residential district and in places reaching depth of seven feet Both ponds are bodies of consid- erable acreage, and were formed for ice cutting purposes by the building of the dams. The dam at Langwald's the wooden structure at Roberts Pond was smaller.
 Panic reigned among the residents of the locality affected as they were awakened by the roar of rushing wa ter. Many rushed out in an effort to escape but were forced to give up the attempt and instead devoted their at tention to removing children,s elder ly persons, and effects to upper Stor- ieS out of reach of the water.
 Contrary to early reports a sum- mer camp of the Holyoke '. W. c. A. on the bank at LangwaldS Pond was not swept away. The camp is some 25 feet above the of the water and the 25 girls occupying it slept through until six o'clock this morning, awak- ening to find their boats stranded on what had been the bank of the pond.
 Half a dozen or more short streets lying in locality south of the sweep of the waters received the greater force of the flood and there the heaviest damage was done.
 Banks co
 The tracks of the Connecticut river division of the Boston and Maine railroad run north and south through
 W1llIamsett pafallelfng the course of the Connecticut river and the embank- ment which lies east of the main part of the village, served as a barrier and to a large extent diverting the spread ing water away from the larger part of the village.
 Finds Way to River. Near the Williamsett railroad sta- tion at the northerly end of the vil- lage, however, the water poured through an underpass in great volume and swept southward, flooding the main north and south street from Ch1copee to Holyoke and spreading out into side streets to a depth of several feet on its first rush. As the locality is flat. the water quickly drained away, most of it finding it's way to the Connecticut river. Deep deposits of mud were left in all the streets for nearly half a mile south of the railroad station and both troll ley and automobile traffic was virtual ly suspended.
 The tracks of the Boston and Maine suffered heavy damage for the water ate into the embankment. For a tims both tracks were out of commission The southbound White Mountain ex- press from Montreal to New York was detoured at Northampton, nine miles | north of Holyoke, and sent over the Northampton branch to New Haven Conn.,, and thence to New York | Other trains were held up tempor- | arily- Shortly after daylight one line | of the railroad was in shape to oper- | ate.
 It is reported that southbound train 1 had a spectacular race with the ris- l ing water. Reaching the flood area but a few moments before the cress | Of the wave the engineer continued south with increased speed and suc- ceeded in keeping clear of the water only few minutes after the train | had passed the tracks were under 1 mined.
 | The flood area as the water re- ceded presented a scene of desolation | A thick coating of mud was over
 everything. Large vegetable gar
 dens were uprooted and buried. Early today all available police officers and hremen were put to work in an asS | to bring order out of confusion and the pumps of the fire department | were put to pumping out cellars The cause of the giving way of the Langwald Pond dam is being investi- gated. It was reported by the care. taker that there had lately been some indications of leak and the theory is advanced that this might have springs or to undermining by musk rats.