People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 August 1895 — SWEPT BY A FLOOD. [ARTICLE]

SWEPT BY A FLOOD.

CLOUDBURSTS PLAY HAVOC IN THE WEST. Large Portion of the Town of Soeorro N. MSwept Away and Many Persona Drowned Wyoming Campers Caught in the Bashing Waters. Albuquerke, N. M., Aug. —A cloudburst at Socorro, a few miles south of here, Tuesday afternoon caused a flood in which at least seven persons were drownend. About 2 o’clock two clouds were seen approaching, driven by consisting currents of air, a rain cloud from the east, a storm cloud from the west. Near Snake river, about eight miles from this city, the clouds met. Soon a great river poured thrr>agh the principal street of the town. Huge bowlders, bridge timbers, logs and thousands of small stones came down with the mighty mass of waters. Nothing could resist the torrent. It swept men along with it in its mighty rush. To the great mass of debris carried down from the mountains on its crest, were added the timbers of many homes. Struggling in the mass were men, women and children in danger, not alone from the swift-rushing waters, but from the stones, timbers and pieces of furniture which were being dashed against them. The scene after the great wave had passed was one,of desolation. Portions of the city had been swept out of existence. A hasty count revealed the fact that over fifty houses had been entirely swept away, in many places nothing remaining to show that a building had ever stood there. Those which were still standing were badlydamaged, and few of them are worth repairing. After a careful examination It is known that over 200 houses are damaged to a greater or less degree by the water and the mass of debris it carried with it. Men, women and children were rushing madly to and fro searching for relatives from whom they had become separated when the flood dealt its first blow. Hundreds were missing, and it seemed that the list of dead would mount high. It has not yet become certain by any means, for many inhabitants of the town are yet missing. Nearly an enntire family, that of Joseph Durant, was swept out of existence. The bodies of six of the members have been recovered. Others are still missing’ Sweeping down the valley the flood continued to carry all before it. Five bridges were swept out on the Santa (Fe road and miles of track were undermined and destroyed. All stock in the valley is believed to have been lost. Crops have been totally destroyed. In this vicinity alone the damage to property is estimated at $1,000,000. Towns south of here are reported to be flooded and the destruction of property is said to be complete.

CAMPERS DROWNED. Wyoming Pleasure Seekers Swept Away by Floods. Casper, Wyo., Aug. I.—A cloudburst near here played havoc with the campers in the valley of Garden creek. The first thing the flood reached was the pleasure resort at the head of Garden creek. At this point all the buildings were crushed and swept away and the original site of the hotel at this point Is buried beneath debris twenty or more feet deep. From here the water followed the course of the creek and demolished everything in its path. This flood of water in its rush down the side of the mountain found many campers up and down the creek, either sleeping or just about ready to retire for the night. S. Newby and his family had retired for the night, when suddenly they were surrounded by water, and a race for life commenced. Newby says that he heard his wife scream for help. He tried to catch hold of her. but missed and in the next second was being carried on by a great rush of water. That was the last he saw of his wife and baby. Newby grabbed the limbs of a floating tree and after drifting about forty rods was thrown on a bank. The body of Mrs. Newby was found beneath a pile of debris twenty feet high. The boy has not been found. Near the Newby camp Samuel Harrison, lately of Alliance, Neb., was camping. Harrison’s two children were caught in the great flood and carried away. The bodies of the children were recovered. One of the children was a boy 12 years old, and the other a girl of 16. FREIGHT TRAIN DERAILED. Cloudburst Does Immense Damage In Colorado. Cripple Creek, Col., Aug. I.—A freight train on the Florence & Cripple Creek railroad was caught in a landslide and derailed near Adelaide Tuesday night. A succession of cloudbursts occurred at the head gs Eight-Mile creek, about twelve or fifteen miles north of Adelaide. Engineer R. M. Gove and Fireman Murice Lyos saw the water coming down the creek. Lyons managed to escape by climbing up the side of the mountain. Gove is. supposed to have been drowned. Brakeman Dolan is thought to have lost his life. f The flood was caused by a cloudburst and a wall of water twenty feet high rushed down the narrow canyon. Three lives were lost and four employes of the railroad company are missing. The dead are: MRS. CARR, aged 40. MR. TRACEY, aged 30. Cook, name unknown. The missing are: R. M. Gove, engineer, aged 35; has a wife and child at Florence. Dick Dolan, brakeman, aged 30; has a mother at Florence. Frank Caldwell, brakeman, aged 24. C. C. Hitchcock, night operator at Florence. The hotel, which was owned by Mrs. Carr and Mrs. Tracey, was completely demolished, but the waiters escaped. There were two landslides, one at Adelaide, the other at South Four-Mile. The latter landslide covered the railroad track for about 100 feet. V Colorado Is Flooded. Denver, Col., Aug. -1. —Colorado has been visited for two days with the most destructive rains and cloudbursts in the history of the state. At Boulder, forty miles north of Denver, three inches of

rain fell in four hours, damaging crops to an inestimable extent. Irrigating ditches and flumes have been damaged along their entire length. At Catskill in New Mexico, the Red river went on a rampage, bridges were washed out and several families in the town had to flee for their lives. From a score of other points in the mountain come reports of heavy rains and cloudbursts. Travel on all the mountain roads is interfered with, and it will be weeks before the damage to some of them is repaired. Western Rivers Rising. Wichita, Kan., Aug. I.—The Arkansas river is higher and reports of damages continue to come In, swelling the aggregate losses, which it is impossible at this time to approximately estimate. The Missouri Pacific railway has men at work trying to stop the river's encroachments on the western appproaches of its bridges.