Evening star., 1924-03-31
SIX FLOOD FATALITIES :
ARE KNOWN AS WATERS.
REACH CREST AT D. C.

Continued from First Page.)
throughout the stricken district yes
terday, dispatches declared.
Canal, May BE Closed.
The entire williamsport division
of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal has
been destroyed and may never be re-
built, For more than 100 years ii
has been a lane of traffic from Cum
berland to Washington. and thou
sands of tons of coal have been car
completely covered it, and when the
waters receded today it was found
that its banks had been obliterated.
Ofhcers of the company controlling
the canal said they frankly doubted
if the damage would ever be repaired.
Hancock, Md. the largest city be-
tween Hagerstown and Cumberland.
was still inundated today. 1t is locat-
ed on the banks of the Potomac. and
suffered tremendous damage. Every
/ bridge leading into it has been de-
!stroyed, three-fourths Of the homes in
the place are either wholly or par
TALLY submerged, and at noon today
Methodist Church, occupying the
highest ground in the town. Many
clubhouses along the river bank
were swept away. A Baltimore and
Ohio passenger train and hundreds
of automobile tourists are marooned
there without prospects of being re-
leased for twenty-four hours.
Worst Flood Since 1889.
Dispatches from Hagerstown de-
scribed the worst food seen in that
section Of Maryland since 1889. The
100000 plant of the Potomac Edi-
son Power Company at Williamsport
has lost heavily. The office buildings
are completely submerged and the
power station escaped only because it
had been built high to withstand flood
rayageS. Workmen were ferried to
and from the plant in rowboats.
A pile OF coal worth 100000 has
been washed down the Potomac and
the substations at two of its largest
dams are still out of commission,
without light or power for another
night unless current can be obtained
in sufficient quantities from the main
power station, which is still sur
rounded by thirty feet OF water.
The water has completely subsi led
il has left behind a token of heavy,
sticky silt. ranging in depth from
several inches to two feet, accordin &
to the topography of the land. Mayor
Koou has drafted every man in the
city to help repair streets and clean
away tons of debris that have col
! lected, pifing up twenty and thirty
feet in some places.
Cumberland Loss 5000 900.
The loss in Cumberland alone was
ESTIMATED today at 100000, and
from Westernport came word that
the West Virginia Pulp Paper Com
pany. one of the largest in the world
had virtually been wiped out, with a
loss of another $4,000, 900 Keyser
| w. Va, and McCoole, Nd, twin cities
estimated their loss at more than
$500. 900.
Railroads have been damaged be-
| yond an acceptable estimate. The
! Western Maryland Company's shops
at Cumberland suffered heavy dam
iage. In the roundhouSe engines were
icompletely overturned by the tor
rent Both the Baltimore and Ohio
and the Western Maryland were rum
| ming trains through on schedule time
today. although detours were neceS-
sary at places east of Cumberland.
! a late dispatch from Cum berlanG
said no fatalities were known to have
, occurred in the city proper. The re-
port still persisted. however. thai
three men went down with one OF
| the railroad bridges spanning the Po'
tomac and confirmation cannot bs
! obtained until the list OF missing