The 1889 Flood, Lewisburg Pa
"Wednesday of last week the atmosphere became heavy with moisture, and a somewhat unusual darkness overspread the sky, growing darker and heavier. Thursday about noon, rain began to fall, moderately, not enough to interfere much with the Decorative ceremonies [Memorial Day], but it continued and steadily increased in volume throughout the night.
Friday it poured down from morning until night, and nearly all night. In volume it alternated from heavy falls to perfect torrents. Smaller streams swelled during night, and began pouring into the West Branch. Rapidly the water rose in this stream until it reached ordinary flood height sometime between midnight and morning. About 4 o'clock in the morning, logs began to run in moderate quantities, gathering in quantity every minute.
By five o'clock, nearly the eastern half of the river was covered with a perfect jam of logs, running at a rapid rate, and this rushing stream continued without cessation or diminution until about four o'clock in the afternoon.
The current carried the logs at perhaps seven miles per hour, which would make this stream of logs not less than eighty-four miles in length, and. an average of perhaps 500 feet in breath ! In addition to this tremendous number of logs, plank, boards, and other sawed lumber were mingled in the jam, the value and amount of which is incalculable.
The greatest river calamity, however, was the loss of bridges. Bridge followed bridge, span followed span until it seemed there were no more to follow. The splendid railroad and highway bridge Lewisburg -built in '68 and '69, at an expense of $125,000- withstood the terrible poundings by the logs and broken bridges until part of the P. & R. bridge and a section of the Milton highway bridge, having come such a short distance, were not broken. One of these struck the third span from the eastern shore with a force that it could not resist, and it succumbed to the stroke. The span following passed through the opening without doing any further damage. But a worse fate was to follow. Other heavy bridges followed taking span alter span, until but three spans--the western end--were left. The entire bridge had been weighted with heavily loaded cars of coal, and of course and coal went with the wreck.
All the while the water kept rising at an unprecedentedly rapid rate. It began to approach the high water mark of 1865. Soon it reached that mark, but did not stop. It stayed not in its course until it rose three feet seven inches above that historic flood !
This awful height, of course start led our citizens, all of whom seemed to carry the question in their countenance," What does it mean ?"
To give an idea to those acquainted with the location and streets of Lewisburg, we give the bounds of the flood In the town as near as possible.
Beginning at the north corner, the water reached the corner of the Dan Oswald lot corner of Front and St. Anthony street.
On South Third street, half way between St. Anthony and the street along the brow of the hill north.
Fifth street was covered for several squares South of the Brush Valley road.
Market street was covered so as to be impassable for vehicles from the old race bed to the alley between Sixth and Seventh streets.
St. Louis street, from near the Reading railroad to the above alley.
St. Catharine, up to and surrounding Sam. G. Mans's residence.
St. George Street from and to end. This was the work of Buffalo Creek and Limestone river.
Along the river bank, the water submerged the boat and lumber yards, and covered all the side walk of Water street from Market north to the depth of a few inches to three or four feet and rising near the junction of the L.&T. railroad and the boat yard branch, and a little south of Market street on down.
SOME OF THE DAMAGES
Beginning where we did above, the following are a few of the principal damages; Buffalo bridge below is lying in a twisted condition its foundation.
All the lumber in the boat yard, except a few piles along Front street, rose to the surface, waltzed about the yard, but did not float away. When the water receded, a more complete disorganization we never saw.
The lower portion of the Buffalo Mills, containing the motive works was inundated, and of course, machinery and belting were damaged.
For a time the water reached the a fire box of the L. & T. locomotive in its bouse.
Mr. Bender's greenhouse and nursery were flooded, the water rising high above his house plants, and submerging was most of those in the lot.
A ferry started over Market street, which continued for perhaps 36 hours.
Bucknell Institute was entirely surrounded, and communication, except by boat was, for a while, cut off. The fences between St. George street and Limestone run were carried away or torn down. The water covered University Avenue from the campus gate to Mrs. Harvey's corner on St. George street.
The gas works were badly used up. Mr. Lawshe's tenant house, at the west end of the dam, was moved away. The water was in the pump house of the water works to the top of the square of the windows.
Halfpenny's woolen factory contained four feet of water on the first floor, reaching to the loom beams, and muddying all the extensive machinery on that floor and in the engine and drying house. They told us, however, that their material loss would not be much more than fifty dollars. The time necessary to fix things up is their greatest loss.
All the occupants of the boat yard houses were compelled, 1st, to move up-stairs, and 2d, to move to the houses of friends up town. Of course, all the cellars within the inundated portion of town were full of water, and others on higher ground suffered more or less by the inability of the gutters to carry off the water.
Mr. Jonathan Wolfe's grain house, which stood on the river bank, is now at Winfield, four miles distant. The tops of two of the vacant bridge piers were knocked eff down Brush to the ice valley road was all that prevented us from being a complete island.
IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The L. & T. railroad from the canal drawbridge to Nesbit's planing mill was buoyed up by the cross-ties and sent down the valley. East Lewisburg, Montandon and most of Chillisquaque valley were surrounded or submerged.
The iron bridge over Buffalo creek was damaged, but is now in passable condition. The bridge at Shriner's mill is off its foundation in a ruined condition. The crops in Buffalo valley are in a sad flight generally, many fields of growing grain and grass being ruined, and others greatly damaged. Fences, small bridges, etc., are swept away. Penns creek carried nearly everything along its banks on its bosom, and damaged what it left.
West of Laurelton three-quarters of a mile of railroad track went with the rest, the force being so great as to bend some of the steel rails around the trees.
The bridge at New Berlin was damaged not beyond repair. Many of the cellars in that borough were flooded.
The long bridge over the West at Northumberland is now represented by two spans, one at each end. Three spans of the Reading railroad bridge at Sunbury are gone. Sunbury was generally inundated, and Northumberland, of course, sustained its share of damages.
The North Branch not having risen, saved these two towns from much greater disaster.
INCIDENTS.
Among the floating mass on the river were what to be small houses with out-houses, chicken coop, etc., floating in the regular order that they evidently occupied before they were moved. It seemed as it they were held together by a submarine force. Possibly the lot upon which the building were erected was a "made" lot--that is, built up from a swamp to a proper height by edgings and other saw -mill rubbish which was still sound enough to hold together.
The most terrible features of this flood that interested this section was the fact that, while one of the bridges at Williamsport was considered safe, some forty or fifty men collected upon it, little thinking of danger. The account is that a floating saw- mill, caught in a strong eddy, was whirled against the bridge with such force as to throw it into the river with all precious freight aboard and all are reported drowned We trust the story may be exaggerated, but at this writing (Tuesday noon) it is not contradicted.
The calm condition of the atmosphere saved millions of property. A high wind would have blown into the current anything afloat; as it was, this kind of property rose with the water, and when that receded, rested upon or near to its original place.
We have made a rough calculation of the number of feet of timber that passed Lewisburg, and, half calculating and half guessing, we make it about one hundred and seventy-five million feet. We may miss it by a hundred million feet let us hear from better authority.
Some twenty box cars and perhaps four hundred tons of superior coal went with the missing spans of the bridge. The rear car of the portion of the train that went down broke, and rear track is still in the bridge.
Mail facilities in all directions except out to Buffalo X Roads and Winfield, New Berlin, etc., were cut off.
The telegraph .and telephone lines succumbed early in the struggle, but a corps of men are now busy repairing the wires, and before we go to press, these methods of communication may again all right.
In consequence of the damage to the gas works, the town is very dark at night, even the moon evidently having "gone back" on us.
The eastern standing span carried several inches out of line; and the lower end: of most of the weather-boards are "frayed out" and broken off', presenting rugged appearance.
Some hysterical people exclaimed, "Surely the world is coming au end." Up to date it has not generally been supposed that the end of the world is to come by water.
The section of bridge and tremendous pile of lumber are lodged and grounded against a pier of the portion of the bridge yet standing.
White Deer Creek was very high, and among other damages sustained by its flood, the railroad bridge White Deer Mills was washed away.
At West Milton, a considerable amount of damage was done, especially to the Datesman property, large amount of valuable goods having been soaked by the inundation of the store.
Latest advices state that there are six to ten miles of the railroad ruined west of Millmont. The track is in all shapes of disorder imaginable. The tramways to the mountain saw mills are nearly if not quite all gone.
UP THE RIVER.
A gentleman from Nittany valley named Stover reached Lewisburg on Tuesday. He has five good horses in his stable, yet was compelled to come afoot, because no horse could travel over the country as it is now. He reports this valley in a dreadful condition. He reports the funeral of twenty eight bodies at Cedar Hill cemetery on Sunday. These were the remains persons drowned in the vicinity of Clintondale and Mackeyville. He also reports the destruction of Mann's extensive axe factory near Mill Hall, and the almost total ruin of that valley, and great damage done to the neighboring village of Salena. This would indicate the destruction of buildings and crops of some of the most valuable farms in the State.
The situation of Williamsport and the low country westward is simply indescribable. The city stood in a vast sheet of' water, logs and drift floating through the windows of the best houses in the city, and four feet deep on the floor of the P. & E. depot. Logs all gone, and 50,000,000 feet of sawed timber. All the bridges and the big Beaver saw mills gone. Many persons -Some say forty, and a late dispatch to Geo. Beaver says five hundred -were drowned. This latest report we can't and won't believe without unquestioned confirmation.
Hundreds of houses gone and the former occupants homeless. Food scarce, and fast diminishing. One report says their wasn't a chicken left in the city. Gas and electric light works submerged, and the city in darkness. Good order, however, prevails.
The Williamsport boom did not break, as was generally supposed, but the boom chains being too short for such an unexpected flood, did not permit the timbers to rise to the surface, and the logs floated above them.
Part of the Montgomery bridge is gone, but at this writing hundreds of men are at work rebuilding it, and trains will cross it before the last of the week.
Nothing definite from Lock Haven, except that the whole city was flooded at a depth of from three to ten feet, and all communication gone.
Renovo suffers the loss of her bridge, an opera house, and many other buildings. The railroad there, as almost everywhere else, was washed away or displaced."
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