The Washington times., 1936-03-19
A|RF|ELDS UNDER WATER;
COAST GUARD, ARMY,
NAVY Modified
CONTINUED from Page ~

CONTINUED from Page II
all government employees who live
in virginia be excused from work
at noon so they may reach their
homes safely. The Executive order
was issued after Highway Bridge
was closed at 10:30 this morning,
Chain Bridge was closed and there
was danger that Memorial Bridge
might be closed by the rising
waters.
Car Lines Closed
All street car service south Of
Pennsylvania Avenue was closed
down after the rising water en-.
tered the pits and short circuited
the third rails. The Capital
Transit Company arranged to have
buses placed in service to trans
port Government workers and resi-
dents Of the area.
Fears that two men had lost
their lives in this vicinity were ex-
pressed when watchers from the
shore reported they saw two bodies
Swirling in the water. The current
was so swift that small boats were
unable to reach them.
the river; small barns and other
buildings filled the mad torrent.
Thousands of persons crowded Key
Bridge and other high vantage
The on-rushing waters carried
all in their path. Boats and
houses on the river banks were
torn to pieces in the whirlpools
and rapids; bodies Of animals
from upstream farms were seen in
spots to watch the approach Of the
flood.
At noon the water at old Chain
Bridge stood 44.4 feet above the
mean and, at Key Bridge, it stood
17.6 feet, rising at rate OF a
little less than foot an hour.
Bridge Under Water
Chain Bridge was under water,
for the first time in many years,
and the height Of the water was
only q little less than the all-time
height established during the
great flood of 1889, with the peak
yet to be reached. Engineers ex-
pressed fear that the piers could
not long stand the battering of
the water and the debris 1t car
ried.
Scores of summer cottages on
both sides of the river were swept
away. Only half a dozen were left,
and they were in danger OF crash
ing any minute.
The torrent tore dozen boats
from moorings and smashed them
against the piers of Key Bridge.
The Potomac Boat Club had water
up to the second floor.
The Sycamore Island Canoe
Club was washed away in the flood
early this afternoon. Approxi.
mately so canoes housed in the
clubhouse were carried down
stream with the flood. Only one
small portion of the clubhouse was
left standing.
Island Submerged
DempseyS Boat House, well
known to WashingtonianS, was
almost out of sight as the water
came up almost to the rooftree.
Roosevelt Island was entirely cov-
cred with water, only a few tree
tops being visible as they &C
quired a necklace Of debris.
Below Key Bridge, K st. was
flooded to Twenty-eighth Street,
the water standing six feet deep in
places. Further down stream, the
water crept up Seventeenth Street.
The John Paul Jones Statue
stood magnificently in water three
feet deep.
Grinding waters Tapped at the
base Of the sandbag parapets
thrown up last night to protect the
Federal Triangle and downtown
Washington from the flood.
Within this barricade workmen
were pressed into service and threw
up second line of saDdbags
around the power sub-station that
serves the Navy and Munitions
buildings, while within employees
were busy removing valuable rec
ords to upper floors.
The fish wharf was covered
with water, as were other docks on
the Washington channel. Passen-
gers on the Norfolk boat landed in
life boats, leaving baggage on
board. Fish and commission mer.
chants moved supplies and pre-.
pared to evacuate stores.
Navy Yard Closes
Hains Point was under water,
the tea room and golf clubhouse
partly inundated. Across the chan