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BOSTON, TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 19, 1874.THE LAST DISASTER.FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THETERRIBLE CALAMITY INHAMPSHIRE COUNTY.Appearance of tfie Beautiful Valley Before tlie Flood-Course and Effects of the Irresistible Torrent-Tlie Scenes in the Ruined Villages—Gathering Dp the Threads of the GreatDestruction—Losses in Lifeand Property—ReliefMeasures—The Vic-tims—Incidents,Etc., Etc.It is seldom the case that the first accounts of a great disaster are found by subsequent verification to fall short of the reality, but in the case of the terrific flood which on Saturday destroyed three of the fairest villages of Western Massachusetts and transformed a smiling and fertile valley into a chaotic desolation, it seemed impossible for the mind to grapple at once with the full magnitude of the calamity. Certain it is that the first reports gave hut a feeble and underestimated statement of the terrible affair. The later and more complete details given below by The Globe’s reporters at the scene of the dreadful misfortune will help to form a more correct estimate of the wide extent and distressing results of this almost unparalleled destruction.YESTERDAY'S SCENES AND LABORS.Searching for the Bodies of the Drowned Among the Debrig Upon the Meadows— Eleven Corpses Recovered—Funerals of the Victims-Sorrowful Scenes In the Ruined Streets of the Desolated Villages—One Hundred and Forty-Six Lives Known to Have Been Lost-The Blame for the Terrible Calamity—An Inquest Probably to be Held —Military Guards Posted Along the Track of the Destroying Ton cut to Repress Disorder, Etc.[Special Despatches to The Boston Globe.]Northampton, Mass., Monday, May18.—It is only now that the people of this desolated region are beginning to appreciate fully the amount of their loss and the almost helpless condition in which many of them have been placed. The great work of today has been the search for bodies and the relieving of the destitute and needy. This morning, large working parties left this place to search in the debris for dead bodies. They went up as far as Williamsburg, and their labor was rewarded by the discovery of eleven bodies. Among them were those of Mrs. Roberts of Williamsburg, Miss Woodard of Leeds, a boy about twelve years old,and the body of a baby, fifteen months old.The banks and flats along tlie river are nearly covered with debris, In some places hundreds of cords of broken wood are idled up, mingled with sand, gravel, mud and debris of all kinds, so it will be seen that the search is a tremendous work. It is said that it would take 1000 men a month to do it properly.The condition of the villages, today, is deplorable. All day the hastily dug graves have been tilling. Strange funerals were those which passed along the toru-up roads; a mother and little child, perhaps, or one or two orphaned girls composing the train of mourners. There were no funereal trappings, no ostentatious signs of woe. A cart with a box in it and two or three or half a dozen mounters following, would be all the cortege.The latest footing up of the authorities givesthe total deaths at 146, hut it is believed that tlie number must be larger.People are attaching great blame to certain persons for alleged delay in sending do wn the valley the news of the break. In this connection, it is stated seuii-authoritatively that an inquest is to he held at which all matters connected with the terrible disaster will be closely scrutinized. This inquest, if held, w ill be a very important investigation. Some prominent citizens call for it earnestly, and probably it will be held.There has been a little disorder along the track of the flood through Haydenville, and, therefore, guards have been placed at intervals along the river hank. The force con-sits of two companies of the Second Regiment from Northampton and Springfield, respectively, under command of Captain Prouty of this town. There is also a small force of police from Springfield.CARING FOR THE SURVIVORS.The Work of Relief on the Oround-A General Committee in Northampton, and Local Committees in Kaeh of the Suffering Vll-lages-A Mass Meeting in the Town Hall, Northampton, Last Evening-Prominent Citizens Designated to Carry On the Work —Liberal Offers of Aid Received, and Handsome Contributions Already Forwarded— Employment for the People Oat of Work— The Manafactories Which are to be Rebuilt -Probability that Some Will Not Rebuild, Etc, Etc.[Special Despatch to The Boston Globe.lNorthampton, Mass., Monday, May18.—Now, as to the work of relief, committees have been formed in each of the four suffering villages and in Northampton, By the former contributions are received aud distributed, while the latter forward to the village committees. Many wagon loads of provisions have been sent over to the villages for the sufferers, and the Northampton Committee has received, besides a large amount of provisions, 8888 56. Tenders of aid have been received from all quarters, including Boston, Springfield, Holyoke, Fitchburg, New Haven, etc. Several hundred dollars have been collected In Leeds and Haydenville. Iu the former, 250 persons are to be provided for, including nine widows and eight orpbaus. AH these are destitute. In Haydenville and Williamsburg are about the same number. Among other contributions received at the last-mentioned place, was 81300 from merchants of Worth street, New York. According to statements of the respective Mayors, Hartford will give $2000 or more, and Holyoke from $1000 to $5000 more. These aie only a few instances In answer to proffers of aid from other places. The Northampton Committee has answered so as to delay the sending of relief without rejecting it, so that the condition of affairs and the opinion of citizens might heascertained.A meeting was held in the Town Hall, this evening, to take action in the matter of relief. After a good deal of discussion, the following General Relief Committee was appointed: H. K. Starkweather, Luther Bod-man, J. L. Otis, J. H. Ray, D. W. Bond, E. P. Copeland, N. B. Hussey, Oliver Edwards, S. M. Smith, S. W. Tee, Jr., and A. J. Lincoln. The Finance Committee was chosen, as follows: Luther Bodman, PresidentHampshire Bank, J. L. Otis, Joel Hayden and Louis Bodman. Nearly S600 were subscribed.Urgent calls for men were made, and, doubtless, a large force will be in readiness to prosecute the search for bodies, tomorrow. Other towns will send men for the same purpose. Notice was given of the coming of a legislative committee, tomorrow, and the Relief Committee w ill receive it. The legislative committee will go over the ground, and decide wliat action to recommend. The working parties have begun already to clear away the rubbish preparatory to rebuilding. Hayden, Gere Co. announce that they will pay all the money they owe and will rebuild at once, and they advertise for men to do the work, it iH stated that Mr. Skinner informed his workmen that he would pay them what he owed, but that it would take his last dollar. His whole magnificent fortune lias been swept away. There is no doubt that several mills will not bo rebuilt ; hut, owing to the uncertainty in the minds of manufacturers, it would not be well to give the names.THE PRESENT ASPECT AND NEEDS.An Interview with Lieutenant-Governor Talbot—His Statement of the Condition of the Desolated Valley From His Own Observation—The Necewdty for Immediate Relief— Measures for the Protection of Properly— Departure of the Legislative Committee,Etr. ' ' ';’t-*77the stream, which flood, had not beenIn order to obtain accurate information as to the extent and probable influence of tbe disaster in Western Massachusetts, a Globe reporter called, last, evening, upon Lieutenant-Governor Talbot at the Revere House. The intimate acquaintance of the Lieutenant-Governor with the locality and the people of the devastated district, and his own preseuce on the ground during the disaster, make his view's especially valuable, aside from his official position as acting Chief Magistrate of the Commonwealth. In auswer to inquiries as to the extent of the calamity, Mr. Talbot said that the whole valley had been laid waste, tbe most fertile lands having in a moment been changed into a desert. A graphic description of the ruin which has overtaken theonce flourishing villages of Williamsburg, Skinnerville, Haydenville and Leeds was given, confirming the accounts already presented in these columns. In answer to further inquiry, the Lieutenant-Governor said that, in his opinion, the aggregate of damage would not exceed $1,000,000. Not all the mills had been entirely mined. In Ijeeds, for instance, the dam could be repaired without great expense, so that the Nonotuck mills might again lie placed in operation. The old mill, further downwas overtaken by the in use for m#ny years. But a great share of the loss wou|d fall upon those least able to bear it—the mill operatives, whose bouses, furniture and earthly allhad been sw'ept away. The acting Governor thought that most of the mills would be rebuilt before long, in spite of the heavy losses sustained, and was quite certain that some would bo reconstructed at once. However, business had been so dull that the manufacturers, generally, would wait for a few months before commencing to rebuild.On being asked what would be the best way to aid the sufferers, Mr. Talbot expressed no decided opinion. The immediate wants of the people would be generously provided for by tbe inhabitants of the populous towns near at hand, who had shown a most commendable spirit. But there will be need of help soon to the operatives, in order that they may find shelter and some means of subsistence; and the business men of the region, almost ruined by the calamity, cannot give them the necessary aid. Mr. Talbot spoke of the generous offer of Mayor Cobb, and was sure that the matter of relief might with all confidence be left in the hands of the city. The public need fear no such pressing necessity for immediate relief as in the case of the Louisiana inundation.Mr. Talbot said that in the ruins there was much that was valuable and that should be carefully guarded, and, with that idea, he had, in accord with the Mayor’s wish, offered the services of a large detachment of Boston police, as well as of the State militia, but the people in Hampshire seemed to think there was no need of further aid than that which could be given by the State police. He had just received a telegram from Springfield, however, to the effect that, on very short notice, the Peabody Guard of that city had gone to do service in Hampshire County, and concluded that there had been felt a need for more help. Fifteen State police had accompanied the Legislative Committee on Relief, which left for Northampton, last evening.The interview then terminated, the reporter thanking the Lieutenant-Governor for hiscourtesy.REPORTS FROM OTHER SOURCES.Two Hundred Persons Believed to Have Perished—Tbe Influx of Visitors to the Valley of Desolation-Sad lights Alone the Klver— Seeking to Identify the Bodies of the Victims, Etc.[Special Despatches to The Poston tilobe.]SrniNGFiELD, Mass., Monday, May18.—The extent of the great disaster on Mill River magnifies as the facta become known. The loss of life is much larger than at first supposed. One hundred and forty-eight bodies have been found at Williamsburg, Skinnerville, Ilaydeuville and Leeds, and.it is believed that the number that perished will exceed 200. The loss of property will probably reach $2,000,000. The regular 8 o’clock train to Northampton, this morning, drew seventeen passenger cars, crowded with people, many of whom had come from Hartford, New Haven and Boston. The down train from Greenfield, reachingNorthampton at 8 o’clock, was also heavily loaded. It is supposed several lives were lost whose bodies have not yet been found, and six miles of debris are being raked over to find them.Nen Haven, Conn., Monday, May laA spedfti to tbe Register gives some harrowing details of the catastrophe. At one point on tbe road, in a new, unpainted building, was gathered a number of persons, a pile of coffins, rudely made, lay on the ground before tbe door, and through the half-opened door other coffins could be seen. In this charnel house were collected the bodies found on the meadows, sixteen In number. They were lying on the door, covered with blankets. AH have been identified except the body of a gray-haired man, who was mangled terribly. A sweet child of two years lay dead, as calmly as If asleep, Its body not bruised or disfigured, % A father entered,looking for the body of his son. His voice failed him, and, with tears streaming downhis cheeks, he lifted the blankets from eachof the dead. He did not find his boy, for he turned away, saying, with much emotion, 44 Eddie Williams—I can’t find him.” At Haydenville, the buildings destroyed by the flood are all either east high upon the surrounding hanks or scattered piecemeal down the river. Some lie with the front next the ground, others on their sides. Groups of men and women are still engaged in searc hing the broken masses for bodies. The bed of the river from Haydenville to Williamsburg is in many places changed,the original bed being tilled up with sand and rocks, and the ordinary highway becoming the river bed. Wheu Cheney, the keeper of the reservoir, rode into Williamsburg to warn the people there of the danger that was upon them, they in most instances refused to believe him. Had they promptly obeyed his warning, a great loss of life would have been averted.A GENERAL RETROSPECT.The Valley of Mil! River Before tlie Outbreak -Tbe Happy and Thriving Villages-A Comprehensive Summary of tlie DestructionWrought—Statements of Kye-Witnesses—How the Monster of Itulti Appeared to Different Kyes-A Cloud of Dense Fog and theOdor of Stagnant Pools—Houses CrumbledLike Salt and Bowlders Tossed Like Chipson the Raging Flood.It would have been difficult while contemplating \he ruin of life and property caused by the destructive inundation in Hampshire County to give proper attention to the locality which was so sadly and severely visited, but now that the sharp edge of grief and anguish has been somewhat dulled by familiarity with the harrowing scenes anti incidents, given iu our special despatches from the scene of the calamity, a cursory glance at the valley and the villages which slumbered in its bosom, as well as the progress of the flood, cannot fall to bo of general Interest. They were all manufacturing villages, hut the three upper ones were especially of uncommonly neat and Inviting aspect, while Florence is well known as one of the most beautiful suburban places in the country. Met ween and in them lay fenlle tracts of alluvial land, on which prosperous and intelligent farmers dwelt. The portion of Williamsburg taken by the immense flood in its way was the southerly. A large flouring mill on the reservoir stream was the first object of Its fury, and when the water reached tbe valley, instead of following the course of the stream at the base of the bill,It rushed madly forward across to the main street, and followed that down, taking in its unrelenting course every house it struck, and destroying twenty-five in all before reaching the top of Skinnerville, a mile below. In thus rioting across the mcadow.it cut a new, wide channel, diverting the river from its former bed. carrying tbs bulk of its current to theother side of the valley, leaving, thereby, H. L. James’s largo mill without any water-power, aud quite useless, and covering the intervening flats with sand, rocks and rubbish, to their almost inevitable ruin. .7, :';7This last was the case also at Skinnerville, where the large and flrst-class silk factory of William Skinner, in which were employed eighty hands, was completely destroyed, bis elegant house damaged, aud twenty-one houses carried away. At Haydenville, two miles further, the chief loss, and the largeat of tbe whole flood, was that of the extensive brass works of Hayden, Gere Co., employing 2.V) bands, with a building attached containing the savings hank and Masonic Hall ; and there were also destroyed a smalltobacco mill and twenty-three houses of different sixes and values. The village of Leeds was utterly ruined as to Its main street, and seventeen houses were carried off, besides an old woollen mill (unused), a chapel, and tbe large button factory of George P. Warner, employing eighty bands, many of them girls. The damage In Florence was to the silk and brush works, both slight in comparison with the larger losses above, and to the flats opposite the village, which were ruined by the stuff fetched upon them. The injury to highways w as enormous and almost irreparable by the resources of the towns. Several iron and a few wooden bridges in Williamsburg, Haydenville and Florence villages were carried away, and the main streets of the three villages were ail torn through, that at Haydenville escaping with the least damage of any. Tbo iron bridge at the foot of Hospital Hill iu Northampton was carried away and dashed against the Canal Railroad bridge, which snapped in a moment and floated down some 150 rods to the meadows. The river road from Haydenville to Leeds was so nearly destroyed that It is improbable that it will be rebuilt.Above are given a few brief outlines of the general ruin caused by the flood in its rapid passage through the valley. The progress of the water was terrible and grand beyond any powers of description. The only way by which an approximate idea of its appalling force and fury can be obtained is by examining its results and dire accompaniments. Those who stood on an eminence far removed from the danger and surveyed the scene are scarcely able to give their impressions, so great was the terror which seized their minds. To one the thick coming mass of water seemed like the heaviest ocean waves; to another the sound was like the tearing of shingles from many buildings, while a third beard It as tbe heavy sullen thunder which succeeds the Summer storm. It was preceded and surrounded by a dense spray or fog, dark and thick as the heaviest smoke, while even as far away as the mill there was an odor like that emitted hy stagnant pools. The wave is generally described as twenty feet high, though in one spot its spray washed the branches of a tree forty feet from the ground. It would be interesting to follow the front of tbs flood as it thrust itself upon different eyes along the Williamsburg valley, but it must be remembered that the inhabitants of the lower towns had only a fewmoments to run for their lives, and ere tbe terrible impressions which the first alarm made on their startled senses had teen removed, nay. even before they could realize the extent of tbe danger from which they had been ao miraculously rescuedthe terrible torrent had done its work, and passed on in search of further prey. The Rev, John F. Gleason was sitting at his breakfast table, when,looking out, he saw the Adams flouring milk sailing before his window, while his neighbors* bouses In thevalley below were taken up by the water like chips, to crumble as salt; the trees were mown down like grass, huge bowlders were tossed about by the resistless torrent, while the waves would savagely play with the haras and shops to grind them to chips and splinters.THE COURSE OF THE WATE8,The Loosened Flood Strikes Williamsburg Almost Without Warning-Houses, Mills and Trees Torn Up ami Heat Whirling Down tbe Roiling Torrent—Skinnerville Reached In a Few Heconds, and Swept Out of Existence- Haydenville Goes Next-Only Two Minutes* Warning Given—Tbe Roaring Devastation Surges Through Leeds Almost Before the Warning Arrivea-Tlie Force of the Torrent Spent Before Florence is Reached Only Minor Damage lu Northampton.The scene at Williamsburg baffles description, The quiet town lay embosomed between the hills, a dark veil of mingled fog and spray hovering over its numerous industries; the thrifty inhabitants had set tbe wheels of traffic and manufacturing agoing; the dull hum of tbe water-wheel and the impatient puffing of tbe steam engine were tbe only sounds which disturbed the quiet of the peaceful hamlet in the early morning. Suddenly the clatter of a horse's hoofs is beaid in the outskirts of the town, and soon a horseman comes tearing through the principal street, his jaded steed mud-stained and reeking with foam, aud at the top of his voice he cries out; “ Tbe dam Is going—fly for your lives I’1 It was George Cheney,who had ridden from the reservoir aud warned the inhabitants of tbeir awful peril, and wherever tbe history of that terrible morning will be told, let the memory of that ride ana tbe man who accomplished it be preserved. He gave the alarm to Mr. Spoilt*an, proprietor of the large button factory, who immediately communicated it to his operatives in time for them to effect their escape. In order to warn the people farther down on the Use of the stream another horn must be procured; but, white this was being lone, Mr, Collins Graves, the milkman, who had heard a few fragmentsof the messenger’s story, lashed ftis horse into a runand dashed away toward Haydenville, shouting;44The reservoir is right here; run, ’ti« all you can do!” It was now 7% o’clock, and meanwhile Belcher and Cheney had rung tbe bell of the Congregational Church to further warn the village folk. On went horse and driver, spreading the alarm. Grave* shouting all the way; he made directly for the manufacturing establishments, for, said he, “ the people could hear it, but the roar of tba factor ios would drown any warning for the operatives.” At Skinnerville, he was five minutes ahead of the coming torrent; but at Haydenville he had but two minutes in which to spread the alarm. Here the famous ride, which will be sung in story and told to the credit of ColUns Graves around the firesides of Williamsburg forever as tbe salvation of many hundred lives, ended at the hotel; tbe horse and rider were both exhausted, and here another herald took up tbe tidings. Graves coifld hear the thunder of the coming flood, but, not fully apprec iating its extent, he turned to go back towards Williamsburg. At the 44 Dug-way” at Haydenville the disaster which he bad predicted burst upon his sight, and he had just time to turn off into a bank near Captain Kingsley’s when it crashed past him; Indeed, he was not twenty seconds too soon, and, as it was, he had almost despaired of reaching a place of safety, and had even thought of abandoning his tired steed to its fate. Graves is a Williamsburg boy, anil has a pleasant home on the hill, out of all danger of floods, where he can contemplate the ruin which was wrought around him, and the effect of his own daring ride.Scarcely bad the alarms been sounded and the people fully aroused when the flood burst upon the town with all its terrible force. The released waters came down the reservoir stream with awful force,and, ignoring the old channel on the east, surged againsf the bouses on the maiu street leading to the depot, taking off all the bouses on back street,from Adams’s mill to Dr. E. M. Johnson’s, thus marking out a new channel almost directly south, until It struck the hill, which Hemmed tbe current again to tbe east. In nearly, if not quite, a quarter of ao hour the accumulated water had passed so that its path could be traced. The valley was forever obliterated, aud for its face was the jagged, scarred bed of the destroying stream; tbe James mill was high and dry, safe, but almost as* if built on top of the hill. At present it would seem a most difficult work to train the water back to Its old courses, but the town can hardly afford to leave it as It now runs, and it will probably be returned again to its old bed. The picture here was perhaps as striking in Its contrasts as any along the path of the flood; for a mile down from the village nothing had escaped unscathed; no green or whole thing was to be seen. Only one or two houses were left on the street; up on the hillsides were strewn all sorts of household articles, no one of them intact, w hile, perhaps, protruding near by. would bethe bruised and beaten bodies of the drowned. The effect of tbe dimmer upon tbe town of WilliamsburgYT1HintcisitilbihoPlt;T1was summed up by a prominent man,Saturday even.oriult;ing, as having ‘’annihilated tbe productive Industryof the tow*. * This is, of course, an exaggeratedstatement, but has a large busts of truth. All in all,the damage to the town, mills, dwelling*, bridge* roads, fields, etc., is estimated at fully one-third o» Oitbe valuation of a million and a half.The Annihilation of Skinnerville.At Skinnerville, the great wave had its force somewhat weakened, as it hail been thrown back into the bed of the old stream a little above the town and spread over the meadows. The warning was given to the operatives of the ITsquoiitODk milts in a quiet manner after Graves Skid punned through the village, hut they believed it to be a liois at first. They had only a moment to hesitate, however, and all escaped to the railroad bask, which was above the reach of the rolling waters. Here they watched the immense wave, folding in its tremendous, clashing arms of timber the solid bilck factory, and absorbing it so swiftly that it was hardly possible to realize that it had been there and gone. On Its way to this pointit had already swallowed some seven 7 bouses, and, leaving Mr. 8ktoner's handsome mmtenee entire, butbadly damaged, it either swallowed altogether or nearly ruined twice as many more iu this little hamlet alone.The Scene at Haydenville.At Haydenville,the news of the flying messenger was received also with Incredulity, but scarcely a moment passed before the terrible, strange, tumultuous sound of groaning, creaking, crashing timbers, mingled with tbe wash and echo of mighty waves, told all that it was a serious matter. Comiug over the dam, at an especially narrow part of the river, the flood here presented as marked an aspect as at any point in its course. Lifted between fifteen aud t wenty feet above the ordinary level of the river, but with no definite and estimable surface, a chaos of tossing miscellany, beams and rafters, whole roofs of houses, great bunches of hay, clapboards, blinds, fences, trees, an indescribable, struggling pile, on It drove, and seemed to those below who watched it the most wonderful and fearful sight they ever beheld. As it came over the dam, one of the houses just alluded to, used as a lever by the mass of waters t si ruck the old foundry, shoved It into nothingness, »and, continuing, forced a breach in the side of the great building, and, in a moment, us by magic, the cenfie fell in, the ends folded In together, and the solid structure melted away as if it had been budded of snow. There was no such thing as the substantial btfeie this tremendous force.mintowncT1 I nintilt;tuI*widiaoftilFiswuiathiat!fBefotictoapPiathewT1toacatofmhiOIlupiOfatoftoSeSeatwbeneFiThe Instruction of Leeds.The first intimation of the disaster whichreached Leeds was given by Myron Day of Haydenville, who succeeded Collins Graves in the office of messenger. He drove Ills express wagon from Haydenville on the run, lashing his horse to a foam, and barely keeping ahead of the seething waves. Mr. Day, in his anxiety to save others, came near losing his own life by driving directly Into the steep defile on the east side of tbe river, and nearly opposite the sflk factory, before noticing the flood, which was almost upon him, making an exit by the road in which he entered the valley impossible. HU next thought was to cross the river, and make bis escape on the west bank, but a glance in that direction showedthe bridge crossfag the stream at that point alreadytottering, and the water upon him. By a sudden effort, however, he wheeled sharply up-hill, and, crossing the railroad, escaped to the hill road toward Florence, with bis horse disabled by the chase. Tbe flood, as it came tearing down from Haydenville to Leeds, took its course directly Iu a Hue with the main road,built very substantially on a river wail, which was almost entirely undermined and swept away, leaving an impassable rocky ledge. This road was constructed at great expense and will bardly be rebuilt. The first obstruction to the wave*, as they neared tbevillage, was the dam of the Nonotuck Silk Company, which skivered for an instant and then gave way, and with it went a port Ion of t ho pen-stock of tli Nonotuckinrecoinin.iffoiehbeIJiinipruntintinBofuSilk Company’s mill. The course of the flood at this point veered slightly to the west, sweeping below the silk factory, a portion of which it scarcely grazed, carrying off one or two small buildings and destroying or damaging a largo amount of stock.The Damage at Florence and Northampton,A telegram reached Florence, a few minutes before 9 o’clock, giving the people warning that they bad only a few moments in which to escape the awful doom which had visited the villagers farther upthe stream. .The tidings had bardly been announced when the torrent appeared. It came upon them like a tidal wave, mad, fierce aud appalling, the first rush of waters forming a wall from six to ten feet in height, laden with the debris of bridges, houst*, factories, fences, etc. In an instant, as it were, the three bridges in Florence were swept away, and the at re tut had submerged all the meadows and flooded tbe basements Of tbe residences in tb© vicinity. All the fences on the lowlands were swept 'away, and much of the rich alluvia! meadow in the village covered so deep with sand as to render it well-nigh worthless. Tbe only loss, however, was in property, as the inhabitants had time to escape with their lives. Tbe tidings of the fearful calamity wbieh was being enacted along tbe line of tbe MU) River were communicated to Northampton also by telegraph, and in a short time, notwithstanding the cold, heavy rain, (be banks of the river, tbe bridges and every available space were lined with perpie. At Bay State village, the Northampton Cutlery Company’s works suffered no particular damage, but the screw shops suffered a loss of about $1500, although a few moments more only of high water would have caved out the cutlery company’s canal, which is a long and costly one, the banks having begun to wear away. The flood bad spent its force, and the damage in this section was but trivial compared wUhjtbat sustained by other villages. The paper mill of Vernon Brothers, the hoe shops of Clement lt;Hawks and several otter establishments were flooded with water. Hicks * foundrywas started from its foundations and the south sidecollapsed, making the MMftg * complete wreck. The water then lifted the iron bridge at tbe foot of Hospital Hill from its foundations. This struct thetolt;Injin ibi)CotintwXV IUHtinItBpprlt;tin8111ah;adVC!ReBeiamItfrorocPrlt;resafifa^roePe]theofpeltheIhsetoflCoPrencl*thetraiProArubarmbillntts*•Continued on U»« Fifth fact.
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Boston Daily Globe
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Tue, May 19, 1874
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Lenox L.
MA, USA 12 May 2023
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