The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1928-03-15
EIGHT PROBERS
TO FIX CAUSE
OF Dam BREAK
City, County Officials to Sift
Reports of Flood
Disaster.
ESTIMATE TOLL AT 275
Tractors, Dynamite Being
Used in Hunt for Bodies
Believed Buried.
BIZ United Press

BIZ United Press
LOS ANGELES, March Height
separate official Investigations start
ed inquiry today to determine the
cause and fix responsibility for the
St. Francis dam disaster.
Coroner o. L. Reardon of Ven
tura County, called inquests at OK
nard, Moor Park, Fillmore and
Santa Paula.
These will precede a major in
quest Friday by Coroner Frank E.
Nance of Los Angeles County.
These inquestS and Investigations
undertaken by Jess Stevens, Los
Angeles city attorney, and Asa
Keyes, Los Angeles County district
attorney, will determine the legal
aspect Of the case.
Stevens chief interest as head of
the city's legal staff lies in the la
bility in which the city may be in
volved. He interpreted the situation
as binding the city for damages
only in case there is established
negligence or carelessness in build
ing or operating the dam.
BIZ United Press
SANTA PAULA. Cal, March IS
The hunt for bodies of victims of
the st. Francis dam disaster was re-
Sumed today in the Santa Clara
River basin with dynamite, tractors
and all kinds of farming imple-
mentS.
Additional hundreds of searchers
slowly cut their way through debris
and piles of mud and sand left by
the flood that swept the valley after
the dam broke.
The unofficial list of dead and
missing stood at between $50 and
275, with 300 or more still missing
and many of them believed buried
under debris or swept out to sea.
Efforts of searchers were centered
today at a point near Satiscoy, where
the river bed widened and the flood
spent itself. Eleven bodies we're
found there Many other bodies are
believed buried in this death cache
where tons of clay and sand we're
deposited.
Find Eleven Mutilatcd Bodies
The eleven bodies recovered we're
badly mutilated and lay huddled in
a basin-like grave. 1t is believed
that many of the 300 to 400 reported
missing will be found in this sector
The parade Of grief stricken
mothers, fathers, brothers and
sisters continued today along the
sixty-mile stretch of river basin.
From morgue to morgue they went,
seeking missing loved ones.
While the search for the dead
went on, reconstruction efforts
gained new headway as telephone,
railway and highway workers sought
to re-establish broken communica-
ton.
Pestilence-the inevitable viitSor of
flood-swept cities-brought new fear
today to the stricken Santa Clara
river valley.
Move to Stop Disease
While Searchers continued their
disconsolate hunt in Crevices, de-
bris and mud for more bodies
health authorities moved swiftly to
avert the spread Of disease over the
wasted region.
Weather conditions were such
that pestilence, once started, soon
would gain tremendous headway
health authorities said.
Water in the region was tested
by authorities, and preparations
were made to inoculate all flood
survivors for typhoid.
The damage toll mounted as fur
ther checks were made. Conserva-
tive estimates today placed the
damage at about $15,000,000, and ii
may run much higher.
The loss to farmers and fruit
growers in the region alone will be
at least $5,00O,0O0, A. H. Call, county
horticultural con- ni.niSSioner said. The
top soil of the fertile valley was en-
tirely washed away, and in most
cases retillage will be necessary, he
said.
A report that a leak had been dis
covered in the dam several weeks
ago was denied by officials. They
also denied that the dam was oi
faulty construction.
Says Dam Solid
The dam probably will not be re-
constructed.
Stanley Dunham, construction en-
gineer, said that the structure was
anchored on bedrock and was one
of the best engineering feats of its
kind ever accomplished.
A company of 200 militiamen wa'
expected to be transferred to active
duty at the flood area today.
The guard was ordered to assist
peace officers in the enforcement o1
law and to keep morbid sightSeer;
away. Hundreds who f1ocked to the
scene hampered the work of reliet
workers.
Food and clothing supplies are
almost adequate, it was said.