Year: 1874

dam, which at last became about twenty
two feet high in the center, was but
little broader at the base than at the top.
1t was built by the days work, except an
addition of four feet to the height, which
was done by contract a year or two later.
1t was also raised foot and half this
spring in the way of repairing the high
way which crosses it. There was an over
flow built of timbers on the west side,
taking the water to four feet below the
top Of the dam. The outlet was by a
fiume built of arched timbers extending
twenty-five feet beyond the face of the
wall into the pond, and nearly in the
center of the dam. 1t was surrounded
by gates in the ends and sides, which
were hoisted when the water was high.
This dam had never manifested any
weakness and seemed thoroughly strong.
The reservoir covered about fifty acres.
Two miles above the head of this pond
S. A Church & Brothers, the present
proprietors, built, in 1866, another dam
to inclose twenty-five acres of water. 1t
was composed of earth alone, dumped
and leveled in layers, and packed mere
ly by carting over. The overflow of this
reservoir was well constructed for safety,
being dugway twelve rods from the
end of the dam and cut directly through
a natural hillock.


There has been considerable uneasi-
ness about this smaller dam, especially
since the Mill River disaster. Until six
weeks ago it was in charge of a wood
chopper, but be had left the place, and
nobody kept any regular supervision
over it.


The Boston & Albany Railroad is by
far the heaviest loser by the disaster.
At Middlefield switch, where the broken
reservoirs emptied into the Westfield
River, fine stone arch-bridge was car
ried off and the track washed away for a
considerable distance, the damage here
being estimated at 100000 Between
this spot and Chester were nine bridges,
many of them stone, and all fine pieces
of masonry The first two coming east
from Middlefield are unharmed The
third, a stone deck bridge, is badly bro
ken, and will cost $4,000 to replace it.
Another stone bridge is cracked, though
no break can be seen. The abutments
of wooden bridge are washed away,
which it will take $4,000 to replace, and
a covered wooden bridge, just before
reaching Chester, has lost its abutments
causing $4,000 loss. East of Chester the
first wooden bridge has lost an abutment,
and the road is washed in several places
Altogether the loss of the road will fall
little short of $175,000.


The leak was discovered by Deacon
Harry Meacham, an elderly gentleman
who is the Collins Graves of the Middle
field disaster. Mr.. Meacham lives about
a quarter of mile from the upper dam;
and, being somewhat alarmed by the vio-
lent and continued rain of Saturday and
Sunday, he concluded to visit the dam
Sunday afternoon. Reaching it about
four o'clock, it appeared all right, but, as
the water was then rising very fast, he sus-
pected that the dam of a little goose-pond,
on small brook emptying into this
reservoir, had broken, and went up to
investigate, but found it all right. He
had but just got back to the dam, how
ever, before he saw a heavy landslide on
the lower slope of the dam. Knowing
what that meant he got out his horse,
mounted him in hot haste, and dashed
down to Blush, below, carrying the
alarm. The warning was in time, for
the lower dam did not at once give way
Upon receiving the contents of the upper
reservoir, indeed, it stood so long that
people almost thought it would not go
at all. At last, however, the flume col
lapsed, a gap of sixty feet opened, and
the local mass of water dashed down
the valley The food reached the lower
valley at half-past four, and lasted about
half an hour at its height, its velocity
not being so great as at Williamsburg, as
the descent was not so rapid.