Newspapers / The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, … / July 20, 1916, edition 1 / Page 1
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Cloud Burst Swells Waters; 2S Houses are Swept Away Knowu iu Ifistory High Waters Coming iu the Night Made Kescue Work Very Slow and Difficult CROP DAMAGK WILL COST FARMERS MUCH Chatham Mfg. Co’s. Loss is Expected 1 > Reach fias.ooo.oo AlQ:W1aftt Tlinrsilay oveninR a heavy cloud cair.c up from Iho Soutlicnat and rain fell for about an half hourclcarlnf; away during the nlRht. Friday morn* ing the sun rose in a fog and scatering clouds wiUi an occa* sional shower during the fore noo;i Indicated unsettled weather condition. Friday night about 8:^0 rain commenced falling heavily, one shower following another throughout the night. Saturday uiorning the rain was still falling ho.avily and continued during the entire day. The riv er at sunrise was aljout four feet ai>ove Uic common water mark, and rising rapidly. At noon it was aljout H feet—the Klkin crock rising more roiddiy than the river, every Indication iwinting to a freshet At 5 o’clock Satur day nfternon the water in the creek at the railroad bridge inurked ten fact and still rising, with heavy clouds rolling up from the Southeast and iwuring tliyir contnnta iiixy> Uio earth. y\l nao o’clock tbo water wa& bpj In i’ront street and all over the rlverlwttoms. A phone message from Roaring River warned the l>cople to get out of the way. .At 7 o’clock the water was rishig at the rale of a foot in thiw minutes. Kverylhing was moved out of the buildings on tlie low lauds that could bo reached. In the home Ilf Mr. Weaver on l•'l'l>nl slii'ot the water was iHiuring in at the front dtior and was rajiidly com ing up into the liomc.s of .1. M. Simmons anil .1. 8. lletl. .Ml the furniluro in l>ulh iiomes that could be moved was taken to Hk' second stories of tlic buildings. lly 8 o’clock all had been done that could be towards saving any thing. The water continued to rise very slowly until a o’clock Sunday morning, when it came to a stamislill, having readied its higho.st iHiints, which was almul i feet over the platform of the de|>ol. It remuliu'd at Ihisslngc foral.nulan hour, when it began to go down, and has been rapidly receoding since. All the huilding.s along the Southern railway from the roll- road bridge Ui the depot and out Rridgc slroct to the river wore swept away with the exception of Hotel Myrtle. On this street. (wostslde) licginning at the rail road, was the two-story brick building of Hotel Myrtle, the tirst story of which was occupied as the reception room and odicc, . and the adjoining room occupied by R. 0. Ray's grocery store. Also on that side were the fol lowing; People’s Warehouse (brick and wood), G. (!. Matliis' grocery store, W. R, Klllott's Shoe and tlnrncss Shop, K. L. King's rostaurant, the Elkin Hug- gy Co., J. R. Holes and Sons' llv ery stable, Carolina Crass Arm Ca, and Tim Lomax's black smith shop. All these were wood except the hotel building. One Uie Fast side was the Klkin Iced: Light Co., Klkin Idvcry Ci^, A. S. Hates, blacker'ith shop and the Klkin calabooso. These butIdIngK, with the exception of Bates’shop, wero'all brick and sustained heavy damago. Bates' shop was a wooden building, and completely washed away; On tlio South side of Uio railroad and East of the depot,, the large bark sheds of C. C. Smoot d: Co., R. L. Poindexter, Madison t; Co., and tlio Standard Oil Co's, build ings and tanks wore ail badly damaged, a-s wore the buildings and equipment of Klkin Roller Mills and AV. H. Minick & Bro. An immense quantity of rough and dressed lumber from the Minick, and Poindexter A Mad- on Co. plants w.as washed away, The railroad section house and old chair factory, formerly own ed by the Hnily Mfg. Co., stood just South of and about thirty feet from the railroad track. Hotli buildings were occupied by negroes: In one w.as a woman with a child ren, one a baby aged months. They were entirely surrounded and in. order t4) get them out, Mr. Hern Franklin swam into the building with a roite, whicli he secured to the building while men on the rail road worked the rope, bringing the larger ones out, while Ray Hranduu and Albert Hivins, swam into the liousc and brought tlie children out. Hrandon, with one clinging on his back and the baby tuciced iindci ith one arm and hand to tlie railroad. Soonaflcr landing tliein all safety, the Imilding.s went to piccc.s and lloated away. Tlie Klkin Veneer Plant and The Elkin Furniture Comi>any, both on tlic North side of tlie 'ailroad, did not .sulTcr os much from tho water ns other buildings below tiio road. iui]KisBibIo to dascribc the of |,imago da)io aWtLc. (OhatUaui Mtw. Uo. chiiiery wn.s tom from its fast- cnings and pileti up in great lieaps on tlic lloor, rods and shafting.s torn from tlicir places on the w.alis and coilings and twisted intoall sorts nf-slinpes, and great piles and eases of biuukets torn Inin strips and ;utlcrcd in all directions. Their ss may proiiabiy rcacli $123,- 000^ and wliilc tins is a licavy lo.ss tlioy will l>c able to continue le i;''Rincs.s. No cHliinali/lixs Iwon placed on the Soutlicrn Railway's loss, for at this time it is^nol known how much damage has bden done to bridges, lills and track. Con siderable damage was done to idge across Rlkiii creek, tlio track and timbers having left the steel suj>i>orts and work er to tho side. A crow'of with the aid of CapL Crows' arc at work East of licre, and have repaired the ti-ack and bridges forsovcral miles. Noth ing is knowu of tho condition of track or bi-idges very far from ail tcleplione and tclo- grapli wires arc down, .lust how soon the trains will again be oi>eration is nothing inoi-c than guess work. Tho Soutliorn will akHv-suder many dnmogo clnims fur wator-so.akcd goods In tho de|H)t. There arc numbers here who lost practically everything the/ had, and have no means of re suming their business. A count of the total number of bnildiogs washed away from the immediate vicinity numbered twenty-live. Afowofllicse arc lodged in sight on the river, but arc wrecked, and tho water soaked contents Imvo been made worthless, with tho iKissiblo cx- cci>tion of some canned or bot tled goods that may bo saved af tor the water has reoceded suf- ticicntly to reach tlio buildings. Itiscertain, fromthocvldence of tho drift that imsscd along the rivor all tho afternoon and niglit Saturday and all day Sunday, that many buildings in tho lower lands have been destroyed and washed away. It is said by. a number Uiat at about 8 o'clock Sunday morning a house wa.s scon floating down the rivor. light wa.s seen burning in tho house, according to tho reiwrls, and cries for help were heard, no telephone or tolegrapliic communication can bo hod East or West of Elkin, It Isjmpoealble to learn If any family or IndlviS- uat Is missing. is stated on good authority that the Yadkin rivor bridge be tween Klkin and .lonesvillo stood n little more than t:0 feet aimve water, when normal. It is safe to say that the water, at the highest mark, wa.s about -tO feet above normal, and the highest in history. elow is given a rough 6sti mate of the losses sustained, but we do not give , it as correct: some will probably be under or ' estimated, but we are not far from correct In tho aggre- gate. Mr. R. C. Ray estimates his stock and lixturcs to be damaged ^3,500, while his household and personal effects are placed at $H00, not inclnding a $4(X) piano. $ 4,700 115,000 12,000 12,000 10,000 5,000 4.500 3.500 3,000 i.roo 1,500 1,500 1,500 Inch totals Chatham Mfg. Co. J. K. Holes & Sons Peoples Warehouse Elkin Ice A Light Co. Veneer A Mfg. Co. .1. C. Greenwood K!ki*» Livery Co. W. R Elliot Kikin Huggy Co, Hotel Myrtle A. S. Hates, C. G. Mathis Klkin Roller Mill -jUai'oIjiia Gross .Arm C . Tt B.- A Bro. In addition to tlic'above IbsseA,' number of dwellings and the old chair factory building, occu pied by colored icople, wore also deslroytHl. Two other wooden huildhu's, formerly used ns n asket factory, wore also swept .way. Tlio loss i.f these build ings will amount to several hun- -d dollai'.s. Hniiding lots that only a few yours ago brought from $100 to $500 each are nuw notliing more Ilian "frog ponds.” The colored ramilics living in le river bottom below the i-ail- road were lieavy loosors from the fact that they lost ail they h:id, not having even a meals luals loft. Tlicro wore about a dozen families of them and most of them owned their homc.s but they arc all cleaned out, not hardly a stone being left to show where tlio homo was. The prln- Ipal looscrs wore Eva Martin, Moliie Gi-ay. and Mary Mann, llio.se having no husbands and being dependent on their dally labor for support. The whole lot of them arc licrded together lUo sheep in McNcers warehonsc and socin to bo happy especially the little ‘‘pick-a-nlnnles" of whom there are about twouty-fivo fir_tliirty_,. Stiitosvllte, Ju(^y 16.—A report late tonight stAUB^istth^Sou^- ern Power Company’s dam at Lookout Is safu the.rivor Isl falling. Dania{|c reaches mil lions. Statesville, July ' 16,—Flood damage along lliACntawba river in Iredell and adjoining covnties will run Into lliepiliions of dol- laro. At.nighiralt the river u ning 40 feel abow normal, neurly* 20 feet above .aR previous high water marks, still ^alng. The AlspwBgfrsBWJiwiown cot ton mills, in Alacondcr county, arc reported to hire been washed away. j Tlio Monbo mill of 'Turner Mills Companythe Catawba side of tho river, yllapscd about 7 o’clock, after b«mg covered by water, and at ^30 o'clock the Long Island milj^ the Catawba side and the Easr^uubo mill of the Turner Mill (himpany, on tiie Iredell side, we^ in immediate danger, tlic wnlwliaving reached tho second tloor.-K TOLL DIUnCK'OOLLAI^I'S. Tho big steel ^^bridge of the StatesviUo-BuffiJBhoala Hiidge Company, of StSsville, on the route of tho cMtral Highway, collapsed at 10:30 this morning, and the Smith ami Brown Bridge Mooresvllle was wreckel about the same time. Hundreds of ba^es of cotton are today floating i^'^wn the rivor, the TurncrMilWknnpany alone’ having lost 600 bijios, 400of which was long staple, valued at $50,- 000. Many Ixirns aad small build ings liavo been w^slied away and numerous honicshloug the river arc flooded. Up to to-night no loss of life Imd bi^m roportctl. John Reduiioti^nd family arc in their homo ncTk Txing Island rrounded bvy^^r^ and it is Tiicn arc numbers of families who linve lostail they had and it will take years of labor to replace tlmir tosses but we have consolation that ’ nothing has hapiicncd yet but what it could have been worse. The ton thousaml dollar iron bridge Uiat spanned tho A'adkin River gone also. HtTCUEL'8 Rivet VERY RICH. Monday evening nnotlier heavy rain fell %n tho headwaters of Mitchcl's river and reports re ceived late 111 the evening say that tlic rivor was four feet high- than It has been during the week. Reiiorta received from bnyond the mountains say that New River was tlio highest it has been known within the memory of the oldest citisenB. It is a very wide stream and carries u inimcnso volume of water. This time it is said the water was from I MUmtES AND CREW Of SHIR REC TOR RATE. Charleston, 6. G., July 15.— One hundred and two marines and salloW were landed here tliia morning from Uio Hector. They wore brought In from tho strand ed ship which is lying off Charles ton light ship with Uio captain and 10 men aboard. Pour injur ed marines were sent to a^iospl- night., Tliel' tloating from the premises this afternoon. Tiic bodies of 'cattle could be seen In the river all of the after- Hundreds of ]ieopIe from i^tatesville s|>cnt the day on the banks of the rivor. Tlie plant of the Rnffato Slioals Clay Products G-cuiiiaiiy is .also lost, and the Soutlicrn Railway bridge across tho Catawba has boon swept away. I’crsoiis cuining from the river tonight declare Uiat the Southern Power Comi»any’s big dam at Lookout Shoals broke a1>out ri:30 o’clock. This probably means that nil other mills along the river not .vet wrecked will go during the night. hill to hill and Iiad swept ovory- thing away Uiat was in its path. It is feared that many lives have been tost as there were numbers of families l^ing in tho river bottoms and near tho channel of tlie stream and the waters rose rapidly th^ it scorns imiKtssl- bio for them to escape. Hum bers of horses, cattle and ^ sheep lierished in tho flood. It Is hard to get rolitblo rc)>orts from tiie different sections of tho country, tho extent and damago of Uio Ireshot in tlio different streams fittt-Saturda^ and Sunday-owing w tho ^t Uiat no mails have been rcccT?$, tlie trains being unable to get through from AViu- ston-Salem. It is said Uiat tbo Catawba River was higher than it has been in the last 100 years and UiatUie damage along Uiat stream is beyond esUmation at preaent. It Is said tho big dam across Uio river at Lookout Shoals broke and that everything on the river below in tho way of .buildings aie swept nwav. Tbb dam was built only ashortUmi ago and Is said to have cost'more than a million dotlars. Reports also say that tlio village of Biltmore on the Vanderbilt estate near Asheville was entirely surrounded by wa ter and many buildings vrasbed away. Nembers of small towns in the western part of Uie State were heavy sufferers and many homes along the smaller streams have been swept entirely away. tal. Captain Bryan’s announcement follows: "Additional leformaUon Hec tor all hands safe and aboard ilghthouso tender; Cypress and tug Wiluiington licaded for Charlostoii. Hector abandoned seven miles northeast of Caiic Romaiiic gas buoy. Breaking in two." Tlio Hector, commanded by Capt. Joseph Howell, had sailed from Port Royal carrying 00 ma rines to Santo Bomingo when she was disabled in Friday’s hurricane. She grounded while trying to make Charleston har bor convoyed by tho steamer Alamo. Higli seas prevented tho Alamo getting close onougii to take off tho men who took to their small boats. In addition to her commander and the marines the Hector which displaced 11,320 tons carried 11 officers and a crow of 70 men. The Cypress and AVilmington were sent last night' to aid tlie collier. Tin tug Wilmington, bound for Jacksoiivillo from PliMadel- ptila, arrived hero Uils morning with 103 men aboard. Tho Cy- prcsslcft hero la.st night to pick up tho cajitain of tho Hector and left aboard, rougli sea provciitiiig tho tugs from rescu ing any more yesterdoi’. The Hector broke in half yes terday afternoon at almut* 4 o’clock when iier n'irolcss became: silent. Tlie destroyer Teryy arrived uh Inflte; ‘ rough tow of the Release. Charleston, S. C.. July 15.— All of the 142 men who abandon ed the large naval collier Hcctor when she grounded last nigiit arc safe aboard the lug Wilming ton ami the llglitliousc tender Cypress, Captain Br.van, of Uic navy yard, announced this morn ing. AA’ashington, July 15.—Admir al Benson, chief of o|)craUoii of the navy dopartmoiit, aiinouncctl this morning lie had received dispatches from Charleston say ing tho mai-inos and crew of the Hector were all safe. A radiogram received at the navy deiurtmont from Uio coin- inandautof the navy yard said Uiat at 8 o’c'oek this morning ail the marines and crew who wore on the Hector were safe. Itsaid everybody had left the Ilectoi- by 1 a. m. today and Uiat part of the inon were safe at Uio navy yard and the remainder aboard Uie tug AA’ilmington. A navy department disiwtch /ram Charleston says tho Hector was abandoned at 12 o’clock this morning, seven miles east of Capo Romalne. The vessel wilt be a total loss as she is broken in twu:—Att-I —tho dispatch says, were saved and brought ashore on the Cypress. Tlicre arc 12 officers and 70 men of tho crow and 1 officer and 50 marine recruit* from Nortolk and Port Royal. HCDICAL EXPERTS DHCDRS DISEASE New York,'July 18.—Loaders in the medical profession, public healUi experts, from many cities, philantbropiste. and . cliarity workera thronged, the rooma of the Academy of Medicine here tonight to attend a mass meeUng for the discussion of infantile inralysis, the plague which has brought death into bundles of homes here in the past few weeks. Those who hoped that a cure for the disease would he heralded or that isolaUoa of its deadly feonn would be announced, were dlaappointed. Dr. Simon Flex- ■RIOdE WORKERS RVRLEO INTO RIVER Charlotte, July 10.—What said to be the worst ^ooda over known in Uie Catawba and Broad rivers today have done damage that will run into Uio hundreds of Uiouaouds of dellBi'B and have caused imssUile toss of life. Ten 12 liridgo workers headed by Joseph Killian, division engineer of bridges for Uio Southern Rail way are known to have goils downwitli the SonUicrn’s main line'bridge at Belmont-, just oot of Cliarl'oUc, late Uiis afternoon. AVhetber any of the men was drowned had not been ascertain ed up to ten o’clock tonight as ail telephone and telegraph wires to the rivor in that section are down. Five or six of tho men, however, are reported to have caught in the tops of trees as they floated down stream and to have been rescued. There has been no word from the others, including Engineer Killian, Uius far. ' Just above the Southern's bridge, a $100,000 concrete high way bridge, the Piedmout and NorUiern Interorban Bridge and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad bridge -were washed away tliis afternoon and tonight farther up the river, near Mooresvllle and Statesville, two hl{^hway biidges went out, while at Catawba the Southern's bridge on the Salls- bury'Ashoviiie line was washed away. At Monbo, below Catawba, the AVast Monbo cotton Mill of >,000 spindles is.under water, and liclievcd to have been wnslied away and the East Monbo mill, across the river, is practically submerged, while a cotton waro* iioDso with 400 bags of catton has been washed awaj-. Still farth er up tho Catawba, the LiWawn and Alspaugh mills arc uiidor water. AVasiioi^; in ^t-BXANDnii The damage to theso mills is ‘PMtlnAlaxander count.v - BdpH thd' earth "mbankment or the liookout Slteat.s i>ower plant of tiie Soutliei'ii l*owcr Comiiany to give way this afternoon, adding tiftecn feet of water to tho al ready more than 20 foot tido in the Catawba. That volume of water also caused the last two or three of tlio bridges to go. Roiiortsof lo,ss of life in the Hcndcrsonvilo and Toxaway sec tions Imvo not iwen contirmed, as there is no tclcgi-nph or tolcphono service into that territory. It Is known, however that several liersoi.s are feared drowned. Dams at Kanuga and Osceola L.akcs, near Hendersonville, went out Inst night and early today. The Dravo Power Company's dam on Hi-oad river near Shelby went out late this afternoon, lufiiocing the Southern Power Company’s plant near Blacks burg, 8. C., and cutting off the electric supply for Spartanburg and the textile towns surround ing that city. The Southern Power Company, however, may bo able to meet this demand. MVENHENT TO 00 MARK PIRRRM AVashtngton, July 14.‘—Tli# Federal government today can- vasaed^te resources for cambat ting the Invasion ofrNorth Allan- tie coast watei-s by sharks. President Wll.son and his oabtoat diacuasod what could be done to prevent more tragedies ilka tiio.se along Uie New Jersey shore, and tliii coast guard and life saving services were ordered ‘a assist In shark exterminatioa 1 every ixjsaible way. The Bureau of Fisheries Usiisd ^ statement advlalOfr widespread flailing for sharks and warning Imtliers to keep in shallow water, But admitting inability to advance a certainly effective means of preventing fnrtherattacks. The statement asserted, however, that there was no reason for panic among seaside bathers. The first effort of the coast guard service will be to ascertain wheUier a few individuals or several schools of the sea mon sters are in Northern waters, cutter will ilsh for the shark* their number Is not great, with the aid of life saving corps. Should a large numl>» be dis covered more extensive opera tions may be undertaken in tlie summer resort districts. Dr. Barton A. Bean, head curator of the tish division of the Binithsoulan Institue, said to night Uiat he thought it iiof-sible the attacks upon bathers may have been by sand sharks, which are extremely aggressive, attain largo size and inhabit Northern waters. There has been no aulhontic record, ho declared, of sharks of the "tiger” or white man-eating species of tmpiyi waters ever having been found nortli of Cape Halteras. A beach imtrol was suggested to the Bureau oIFislierles today by Representative Scully, of Now Jersey, and ReprosentaUve Bacharach, of that State, Intro- It is probable that less than ouo-Uilrd of the earth’s popula tion get what Uie Americans call tiireo-Um- u' squarq-t day. ner, of tim Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, and other exnerts, jold of the progress made by medical scionce in batting tho disease, but Uiey had no epoch marking discoveries to proclaim. Ho declared, how ever, Uiat there Is no occasion for panic and that the deaUi rate from infantile v'aralysls Is lower even than from other maladies eonalderod far less serious. Dr. Haven Emerson, health commls- ainiier of this city, told what i* being done to fight the epidemic and asserted the wldMpread alarm which imrente feel la not juatifled. He eald that out of 3,600 inspected case*' InvesUgat- ed only 1,040 L-ue cases of Infan- Ule panJysls had been found of which 806 resulted fatally. State snlhoriUe* fs the campaign against sharks. Scientists here arc mystified at the presence of the big man- hunting iish In such northern laUtudes. They liolievo the recent tragedies have been cau5iod by a few predatory sharks, and doubt their presence in considerable numbers. ALL TWELVE HEN M CATAWIA BRIDOE RCSCUBO. Charlotte, July 16.—Of the twelve men on the Southern Railway’s bridge over the Cataw ba wlion the bridge was swept away tlii-s afternoon lietwoen 4 and 5 o'clock all are considered saved. They clung to trees and wore rescued. Joe Killian, civil engineer of tlio Southern, was one of tho men on tlie bridge, and it was reported that be was drowned. At 9 o'clock to-night news camo Uiat ho had been found on a raft of debris. The bridge was of steel, 450 feet of which was swept away. Thous ands of people saw it go. The Seaboard Air Line bridge at Mt. Holly, which wasaweptaway about 2 o’clock, was two apaoa and of steel. The river at Mt. goHy is about 50 feet hlgli. The lower nohrs oi tiia~mlllt~sri flooded. C. EL Hutchison, owner of the milts, hmt 150 bates of cot- Ootton and lire stoek wero carried down the river from Mt HoUy. ATllaon, July 16.—Some time ago Iho town of Elm City got at croM purposes os to the manner In which the graded school was . being conducted—ooetideelaim- Ing that too much scope was giv en certain of the atudenls be- cauae of cloee reiatioDafaip to the teachers, making the duUaa of the superintoodeat unpieaaant aod difficult to perform. The other side claimed ttie ooatrary, Flaally, at a msating of the scboolboard,iaorder,that both factious might be pacified, the . supeiiuteudmit aad the satire faculty was asked to ceelgfn. A — new force has been aecared.
The Elkin Tribune (Elkin, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
July 20, 1916, edition 1
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