SPECIAL EDITION MARION PROGRESS. JULY 19. 1010
ASHEVILLE CITIZENS
CLAIMED BY FLOOD
Five Known Dead and Property Damage Es
timated at Ten Million Dollars.
Through the courtesy of J. H.
Morrison, who walked here from
Asheville Tuesday, arriving late
Tuesday evening, the editor of The
Progress was in possession of a
copy of The Asheville Citizen pub
lished Monday giving a detailed
account of the storm of Saturday
and Saturday night in and about
Asheville and a summary of The
Citizen’s account is as follows:
Exacting unknown, with the
property loss exceeding three mil
lions of dollars, Asheville is abso-
. lutely isolated from the outside
world and finds herself helpless in
the grasp of the most terrific fl'K>d
conditions ever known here. The
loss in the vicinity of Asheville is
^estimated at $1,000,000. The dead
are Capt. J. C. Lipe, Biltmore;
Miss Nellie Lipe, Biltmore; Lon
nie Trexler, Asheville; Mrs. Leo
Mulholland, Biltmore, and Luther
Frazier, colored, who wasdrowned
while passing provisions through
a window at the Glen Rock Hotel.
Miss Mabel Foister and Miss
Charlotte Walker, Biltmore hos
pital nurses, are reported drowned
but this is not confirmed.
The bodies of Capt. Lipe and
dauijhters had not been recovered
up to last night.
Added to the list of four known
dead is an account of an eye wit
ness who st'ited that he saw four
bodies crushed by the wreckage
floating in the stream being swept
through the arches of the cement
bridge.
At a point above Biltmore a
house was carried almost whole
out in the river with two men
clinging to the roof.
The Weaver Power plant, sup
plying Asheville with lights and
power, has been seriously damag
ed by the flood. It will be a period
of several days before the machin
ery can be put in order. The sub
station is almost submerged.
The unknown dead will long re
main a secret of that angry flood
swirling a mile wide througl) th#
lower portions of the city, and
men, women and children were
seen on wreckage and buildings
down the river by thousands of
spectators massed on the West
Asheville bridge who were help
less to aid.
All trains are suspended in all
directions and the Southern rail
way does not know when traffic
will again be resumed. The South
ern railway depot is under water
almost to the ceiling of the first
floor. Guests at the Glen R(xjk
hotel have taken refuge in the
second story of that building and
boats are being used to rescue
them.
There will be a shortage of ice
and all farm products, and the
supply of gas is almost exhausted.
The gas plant is ruined. The sub
station of the Asheville Power and
Light company was out of busi
ness yesterday and it will be many
days before the city again has cur
rent for lights or car service.
Any number of railroad bridges
have been washed away by the
flood. Freight cars, oil tanks,
scores of dwellings and entire lum
ber yards have been swept away.
At Biltmore th« number of
houses swept away is not known.
The waters are now in All Souls’
church on an elevated place.
The Biltmore passenger deoot is
under water and the S*uthern Rail
road leading to Salisbury has prob
ably gone by now.
The Southern railway is undoubt
edly the hardest hit as result of the
terrific flood The tunnel at Old
Fort is blocked and slides on Saluda
mountain are still coming. The
Southern Railway has no definite
idea as to when traffic will be re
sumed. They have bridges down
in all directions.
The town of Marshall is probably
gone.
In Henderson county the loss
must be enormous, three dams giv
en a\^ay there, and narrow escapes
from drowning are many.
LakeToxaway still holds, accord
ing to information last night.
Conservative estimates of dam
age to roads and bridges is placed
at not less than half a million dol
lars.
Property losses suffered by in
dustrial plants in and about Ashe
ville is estimated at ten million
dollars.
Little is left of Azalea and the
lumber plants, while property at
that place suffered a loss of $120,-
000.
Hendersonville Isolated.
Hendersonville, July 16.—Hen
dersonville is cut off from commu
nication with the outside world,
with the exception of badly crio-
pled wire service, as result of the
heavy rain storm yesterday, last
night and today. The plant of The
Hendersonville Light and Power
Co. was put out of commission last
night and the city reservoir over
flowed with muddy water, render
ing its contents unfit for use. Not
a train has arrived here since 9
o’clock last night and the railroad
is said to have suffered heavily
from slides, wash-outs and damaged
bridges. M iny persons were driv
en from their homes by rising
water and the property loss will
no doubt be enormous.
Saluda—It is quite indefinite as
to when the Southern will operate
trains oyer its Asheville and Spar
tanburg division. Train 42 which
left Asheville Friday is tied up at
Melrose. It is uncertain when the
road will again be open to travel.
Murphy Branch Hard Hit.
Conditions along the Murphy
branch are said to be almost as bad
as within the immediate vicinity
of Asheville. It is believed that
the champion fibre mills are out of
commission and that much serious
damage has been the result of the
m‘>st terrific flood in the history of
Western North Carolina. There
are no trains being operated on the
Murphy division and will be none
for several days.
Catawba Bridge Washed Away.
Charlotte, July 16—What is said
to be the worst flood ever known
in Catawba and Broad river today
had done damage that will run in
to the hundreds of thousands of
dollars in the territory within a
a radius of fifty miles north and
west of Charlotte.
Ten oo twelve bridge workers
under Joe Killiam, division engi-
gineer of the Southern, went down
with the Southern’s main line brid
ge at Belmont, out of Charlotte,
late today. Five or six were re
ported caught in tops of trees and
rescued.
Just above the Southern’s bridge
the Piedmont and Northern Inter-
urban bridge and the Seaboard Air
Line bridge were washed away.
Farther up the riyer near Moores-
ville and Statesville two highway
bridges went out, while at Catawba
the Southern bridge on the Sali»^
bury-Asheville division was wash
ed away. At Munbo, below Ca
tawba, the west Munbo Cotton Mill
of 5000 spindles is under water and
the East Munbo Mill is almost un
der water, while a cotton ware
house with four hundred bales has
been washed away.
. Damage to mills is laid to a water
spout in Alexander county that
caused the earth embankment of
the Lookout Shoals power plant of
the Soutnern Power 0»mpany to
give way today, adding fifteen feet
of water to the all ready more than
twenty foot tide in the Catawba.
That volume of water also caused
the last two or three bridges to go.
The Dravo Power Company dam
on Broad river near Shelby went
out late today, menacing the South
ern Power Company plant near
Blacksburg, S. C.