History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 48

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

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COMPARATIVE STAGES OF HIGH WATER.

From the flood of 1884 to the high stage of 1907 there was no flood of serious proportion. The following statement shows the height attained by the Ohio river during high stages in that time:

1886-March 31, 55 feet, 9 inches; 1887-February 7, 56 feet, 3 inches; 1890-March 26, 59 feet, 2 inches; 1891-February 25, 57 feet, 41/2 inches ; 1893-February 20, 54 feet, 11 inches; 1897-February 26, 61 feet, 2 inches : 1898-March 28, 61 feet, 1 inch; 1899-March 8, 57 feet, 3 inches; 1900 -- April 26, 59 feet, 6 inches; 1902-March 5, 50 feet, 8 inches; 1903-March 5. 53 feet, 2 inches ; 1906-April 2, 50 feet, I inch.

The freshets of 1897 and 1898 were of sufficient height that the cities of Lawrenceburg and Aurora were inconvenienced. The water in Aurora came to Ulrich's drug store corner during both floods. To Lawrenceburg these floods were of great importance, in that they gave the first real test to the immense levee that had been constructed jointly by the city and the United States government. This embankment, sixty-eight feet high, reached from Hardintown to the fair grounds, crossed the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railway and followed the Ohio river bank to the Mitchell Brick Company's plant, thence it curved to the northwest and ended near the Bauer cooperage works. The materials used in constructing this work were not carefully se- lected and the successive floods of 1897 and 1898 pointed out this source of weakness very forcibly. Landslides were frequent and in every case revealed poor material as the cause. These defects were remedied and every known weak place was fortified against the visitation of another flood.

The December of 1906 was mild and rainy and any cold snap that came

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was of short duration. Towards the end of the month a steady rainfall began that continued without much cessation for three weeks. Toward the end of that time the rainfall grew more severe, especially in the Miami valley. On Saturday, January 19, the elements cut loose in all their fury. The wind freshened from a little breeze in the morning to a forty-mile-an-hour gale by night and hurled gigantic waves against the lower levee. Each onslaught loosened some of the dirt from beneath the cross-ties of the Big Four switch, which runs over that part of the bank. By nightfall it was evident that a great effort must be made to save the levee in this quarter, and even as the force was being organized to push this work there came such a rainfall as is seldom experienced. Water fell in torrents and, with the river at a sixty- four-foot stage, the worst was feared. This rain, however, proved to be purely local.

MAYOR BIELBY'S GOOD WORK.

That night fell black as a dungeon and all through the long hours a faithful crew of men, most of them being business men and clerks, unused to manual labor, pitched rock and sacks filled with gravel into the washed places. With the wind blowing a veritable gale, the night so dark that a workman could not recognize the man next to him, and with the very bank beneath the cars washing away a little with every wave that struck the levee, these things made the night one of terror and those who toiled there were displaying a form of heroism that is rare indeed. It was that night's work that held the levee from the incessant pounding of the huge waves. During the night six dwellings in Polktown, outside the levee, were raised from their foundations and dashed against the levee. The coming of daybreak showed them re- duced to splinters, with no indication that these pieces of wood were parts of houses.

By Monday evening. January 21, the water reached a height of sixty- six feet. or about one foot more than was registered at Cincinnati. This was on account of the late rise out of the Big Miami. This stage, to the sur- prise of many people, came a few inches over the top of the levee east of Elm street. This was accounted for by the "settling" of the levee which at that point sank about two feet. But the water was kept out of the city by building a barrier of boards and sacks filled with sand and gravel. The manner in which Mayor Bielby handled this great crisis excited admiration from all sides. There was no undue excitement and citizens were plainly told what was expected of them. When thus told they did their duty and saved their city from the water.

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The experience gained during the threatened flood of 1907, pointed out the necessity of facing the levee with some sort of material that would pre- vent washing in future times of high water. Public men succeeded in getting another congressional appropriation and the levee was faced with concrete all along the side exposed to the Miami river, while the lower levee was covered with great slabs of heavy stone. At the same time the embankment was raised to its intended height of sixty-eight feet, and further strengthened in places which seemed in need of it.

THE FLOOD OF 1913.

The freshets of 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 and 1912 were not high enough to be classed as high waters, although on each year the water crossed the established "danger line" of fifty feet at Cincinnati. But it remained for the two floods of 1913 to bring to mind the terrible floods of the early eighties.

Unusually heavy rains fell during the second and third weeks of Jan- uary, 1913. The mountain streams at the headwaters of the Ohio were fed by the melting of abundant snow and the continued rainfall swept it all into the Ohio with a mighty rush. By leaps the river came up out of its banks and on January 15 reached a height of about sixty-two feet at Lawrenceburg. Memories of having kept out a stage of sixty-six feet were still fresh in the minds of the people and few even moved their furnishings because it was seen that the water would not reach a greater height.

On the 14th it was noticed that a slide had occurred on the lower levee between the main flood gate and the Lawrenceburg gas plant. Mayor Axby detailed two watchmen to observe this place at night. Shortly after mid- night, on the 16th, Watchman Henry Schinaman, seated by a fire on the top of the levee, noticed the ground give way a short distance from where he was sitting. In a moment there yawned beneath him a chasm of frightful pro- portions. His first thought was to notify the sleeping city and this he did by running to the Newtown engine house and ringing the fire bell. But one solution was given to the ringing of that bell. The people fled to places of safety, knowing that the bell would not have been rung for any other purpose save as a flood warning. The following account is taken from the Lawrence- burg Press, published on January 22, 1913:

"The opening in the embankment made by the slide is about sixty feet wide by eighty feet long and twenty feet deep. The levee at this point is approximately thirty-five feet high, one hundred and fifty feet wide at the

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base and twenty feet wide at the summit. The inside portion of the fill had been made of sand, cinders and loose soil and contained the timbers of an old trestle about which the fill had been made. The outer portion is constructed of clay and reinforced by stone riprap. It was the inside portion of the levee which gave way, and the poor construction at this point was, no doubt, the cause of the trouble. There were no signs of any movement or giving on the outer surface of the fill. There was some seepage through the levee, and this, together with the incessant rain, had so softened the soil at the base that the mass of earth lossened and slid out of its own weight into the hole at the foot of the levee.

"There is apparently little foundation for the theory that that portion of the levee where the slide occurred rests on a foundation of quicksand, which allowed the embankment to settle, for if that were the case, the break would have been more gradual and the material would have settled slowly, whereas the displacement in the main occurred together and suddenly. Futhermore if the trouble were caused by quicksand, the settling would have continued with the piling of thousands of sand bags into the opening.

"While it is probable that the danger to the city caused by the slide was exaggerated in the minds of the people, yet it is not thought by those who have investigated carefully that unnecessary precautions were taken to pre- vent a serious disaster. Mayor Axby and the other city officials and em- ployees are to be commended for their prompt action and energy shown in guarding the welfare of the town and its people.

"The course taken by council and other citizens in the matter of repair- ing the break is highly satisfactory to the people. The plan for a fill extend- ing east from the levee to Durbin road should be rigidly adhered to and car- ried out as promptly as possible. The levee is Lawrenceburg's most important asset. Since the flood of 1884 no flood waters have entered the city, which is a record of which probably no other town within reach of the Ohio's floods can boast."

GREATER FLOOD OF MARCH, 1913.

This flood of January, 1913, covered the streets of Aurora to a point a little beyond Ulrich's, but the damage done was mostly confined to property. Preparedness on the part of those living in low places and merchants located toward the river prevented a serious loss from the water.

Scarcely had two months elapsed after the receding of the January flood, when the flood of March came. This flood was heralded on postcards sold

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over the world as "the greatest disaster of modern times." For being spec- tacular, both dramatic and tragic, this flood never had a precedent and prob- ably never will be duplicated. It descended on an unsuspecting and unpre- pared people as the proverbial lightning from a clear sky. Immediately pre- ceding this great calamity there were several unusual things worth recording in this connection.

The makers of the calendar have ordained that Easter Sunday shall be regulated by the full moon following the equinox. On this year Easter came on the first possible day, the 22nd. The moon was full on the night of the 2Ist and those who beheld it will never forget the unusual sight. Surround- ing the moon was a halo of such fierce brightness as to present a dazzling effect and it seemed to radiate in throwing out its bright rays. It was such a moon as would have caused an ancient mariner to stay in port or, if he were at sea, to seek a refuge. It presaged some unusual climatic disturbance.

Easter Day, however, dawned clear and bright and the air was as balmy as a perfect spring day should be. The next morning the papers told of the cyclones that swept through Nebraska and other Western states. Still there was no concern felt in the peaceful Ohio valley.

That day the rain came-and such rain! From Monday morning until Tuesday morning the precipitation was about four inches throughout the val- ley of the Miami river. The hillsides shed this water like a duck's back and soon all of the side streams and larger ones were pouring a flood of water into the Miami and Whitewater rivers. These streams could not contain this volume of water and it spread out over the bottom lands, sweeping away barns, outbuildings, railway stations, houses and all sorts of property as it raced along. Bridges were swept away, regardless of the supposed stability of their moorings. At Elizabethtown, Ohio, the waters were temporarily checked by the embankments on which the Cincinnati, Lawrenceburg & Au- rora electric line and the Big Four railroad run. This barrier only served to hold the water until it had gathered enough energy when it pushed embank- ment, bridges and all obstructions before it and sped on to overthrow the gigantic steel bridge over the Miami that had only recently been built to re- place the famous old "lost bridge." This bridge was the longest single span bridge in the world at the time. Within thirty minutes it was at the bottom of the river, a mass of twisted iron and broken concrete. The next bridge was the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern railroad bridge near the confluence of the Miami with the Ohio. Here, as at Elizabethtown, the waters were offered resistance in the form of the railroad embankment which reached

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from the bridge to Lawrenceburg, a distance of two miles. But the opening under the bridge was somewhat larger and the process of destroying this bridge was consequently a longer one. The waters, thus held back, became at least twenty feet higher than the water in the Ohio river and the mouth of the Miami became a veritable waterfall as it emptied into the Ohio. The yellow waters, laden with barns, houses and other valuable property rushed under the trembling bridge and plowed its way through the turbulent Ohio with such speed that it "piled up" on the opposite Kentucky shore. So strong was this cross current that large boats would not dare to stem it in coming down the river. Occasionally a house or a barn would hit an abutment of the bridge in passing under and would be reduced to kindling. But the rail- road embankment, being high, held out the water and kept the great pool north of the upper levee full and several feet higher than the Ohio river stage.

EXODUS BECAME A RIOT.

Wednesday morning dawned with all of the bridges along the Miami and the Whitewater gone. The only exception was the suspension bridge above Elizabethtown. And the rain continued with unabated fury. By Thursday the precipitation had reached the staggering total of about nine inches and at the headwaters of the Miami it totalled eleven inches. All this rain, coming as it did in seventy-two hours, caused the streams to pour forth water in unprecedented volume. At Lawrenceburg on Thursday afternoon the warn- ing came from the government weather bureau at Cincinnati to prepare for seventy feet.

Before this time the exodus from the low places had been strenuous and unceasing. Now it became a riot. Farmers came in with wagons and helped move household goods. So rapidly and thoroughly was this work done that by Friday night practically every family in the city was cared for, their goods stored in places of safety and themselves housed in high and dry places. Work on the levee was organized by Mayor Axby. Crews were assigned sec- tions of the embankment and, with material at hand for working to the best advantage, a determined effort was made to keep the water from coming into the city. It was known in the beginning that the expected height of the river would exceed the height of the levee but, with the remarkable achieve- ment of January, 1913, in mind, it was thought possible to prevent an over- flow again, even if the water did reach above the top of the levee. The night was divided into watches and the work never stopped. On Saturday it was being pushed to the utmost when, at two o'clock and forty-five minutes in the

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afternoon, that portion of the levee immediately to the west of the lower Cen- ter street approach to the levee lifted up at the base and went out. The fac- tory whistles blew the blast of warning and work on the levee was abandoned. The original rent made in the levee was about one hundred feet wide, and the enormous force of the water soon ripped it open to a width of two hundred yards. Through this vast opening the water rushed with the force of a Niagara and struck the houses at the extreme end of Center street and then took a course toward the Newtown pond in the direction of the Catholic church. In the path of this wall of water were the houses on lower Mary and Tate streets. These were upturned and carried along on the bosom of the water to be dashed to pieces against the Lake house at the corner of Walnut and Third streets. The Newtown pond was soon filled up and the waters began pouring over Walnut street and Third street. The Catholic church, directly in the pathway of the swirling waters, withstood the terrific current without the slightest damage. The Rev. Father Sonderman and Rev. Father Kreis were both in the parish house as the waters came on and had no means of escape. Their experience was one fraught with such grave dangers that it could hardly be described.

Diagonally across the street from the Catholic property stood the large carriage-building plant of John Knippenberg. The water struck it with such force that it was swung completely around and carried over the brink and out into the bottom land toward Greendale. A small fire left in a blacksmith forge set fire to the building and it burned to the water's edge as it floated away. The household effects of several families and two automobiles were destroyed in this building. Next the water completely destroyed three dwell- ings on Third street belonging to Adam Schwing.

Within an hour after the break, water had found High street and cov- ered it throughout its entire length. All of the public buildings, such as the court house, the halls of secret orders, the school buildings, engine house and factory buildings were crowded with families.

By dark the water had found its level and there remained only a thin strip of dry land-the top of the levee-surrounding the city, resembling a large attol. A relief expedition was sent out at once from Cincinnati and on Sunday morning-just one week after the ideal day on Easter-a commis- sary was established in the Newtown engine house, with Mayor Axby directly in charge. A careful record was kept of the provisions dispensed and to whom they were given. The supplies were plentiful and the needs of every citizen were supplied if there was need.

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LAWRENCEBURG ISOLATED.

The city of Lawrenceburg was isolated from the world for two days after the destruction of the railroad bridges. The main lines of telephone and telegraph cables were destroyed with the bridges and the people were without means of communicating with friends and relatives who were excessively alarmed at the newspaper reports of the lives lost and great destruction wrought by the flood at Dayton and Hamilton, Ohio. The flood had done its damage at those places and was beginning to recede before it really began to threaten Lawrenceburg. However, hundreds of telegrams were sent to Cincinnati on the first boat, for forwarding. When a boat came in the levee was black with people. They were anxious to get some word fron other places, and especially from the weather bureau in Cincinnati.

Gradually communciation was established and by the time of the break in the levee telephone connection with the outside world had been made and messages of reassurance flooded the little exchange.

On the Sunday after the break the mayor appointed the following as mem- bers of a citizens' relief committee : William H. O'Brien, A. D. Cook, V. M. O'Shaughnessy, George H. Lewis, P. C. Braun, Jesse W. Riddle, Victor Oberting, Archibald Shaw, Ezra P. Hayes, Hugh S. Miller and Jacob Span- agel. This committee organized by electing V. M. O'Shaughnessy, chairman ; P. C. Braun, secretary, and G. H. Lewis, treasurer. The primary duty of this committee was to secure money for the rehabilitation of homes and to take steps toward restoring crippled industries. The following report of the committee shows from what source the money was secured, the total of such money and the manner in which it was disbursed:

RECEIPTS.

Amount received from the American National Red Cross general

fund .$20,000.00 Amount received from the American National Red Cross, special

donation on account of business interests 3,875.00

Amount received from local subscriptions. 3,714.34

Amount received from all other subscriptions 20,453.63

Amount received on account of sale of surplus commissary supplies 1,152.97

Amount received from all other sources 205.26

Total Receipts $49,401.20

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DISBURSEMENTS.

Amount paid for the purchase of property to replace homes totally destroyed $10,600.64 Amount paid for building homes (new) to replace homes totally

destroyed 1,570.14 Amount paid for repairs to homes partially destroyed and made habitable 24,397.59 Amount of cash payments made on account of special donation for business interests, from American National Red Cross ...... 3,875.00 Amount of cash payments made to owners of property for repairs 1,934.93

Amount paid on account of expenses of committee, salaries, report, postage, etc. 1,085.54

Amount paid for commissary supplies purchased. 46.40

Amount paid for household furniture and stoves (including cost of delivery) 5.890.96

Total Disbursements $49,401.20

FACED DISHEARTENING TASK.

The water remained in the city for seven days. On the eighth day it receded from High street and then began one of the most disheartening tasks ever undertaken by a populace. The streets, sidewalks and floors of homes were covered with a slimy mud, from three to six inches in depth. It stuck tightly when it was wet and it literally froze fast when it became dry. But the people equipped themslys with rubber boots and brooms and tackled it. Within a day the streets and buildings began to take on a natural appearance. About fifty wagons were employed in hauling debris off the streets and this work was continued for nearly a month. By June I the city showed but few signs of the great scourge and the annual fair in August attracted its usual thousands and some more, who expected to see a topsy-turvy city. They were disappointed. By that time there were, indeed, but few traces of the flood. Aside from the fact that the traction line had not yet rebuilt its tracks across Third street, one might have doubted that such a flood had visited the city and destroyed more than half a million dollars worth of property.

In Aurora the extent of the flood was anticipated. Household and mer-

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cantile goods were removed from the danger zone and every precaution was taken to keep the loss of property down to minimum. By the time the crest of the rise passed Aurora only the top of the Big Four depot was visible above the water. The flood extended up Second street to the gutter in front of the new Sutton library and was three inches deep on the postoffice floor. How- ever, aside from the natural inconvenience of the actual inundation, the dam- age done was inconsequential and the resumption of normal activity along all lines after the water receded was very rapid.

LOSS OF LIFE MINIMIZED.

A most remarkable feature in the history of the many and treacherous floods at both Lawrenceburg and Aurora is that the loss of life has been so small. During all of the floods of record there is recorded but one death by drowning. Of narrow escapes there are a countless number. But, especially in Lawrenceburg, it speaks well, indeed, for the efficient organization of the city government, that the citizens were led through such a dangerous crisis as the March flood of 1913 without some one being caught unaware when the levee suddenly opened up. Thorough and systematic warnings delivered personally are responsible for the loss of life being nil.

Immediately following the great flood, steps were taken looking to the formation of a society for the prevention of floods, if such a thing be possible. Hard-hit cities like Dayton and Hamilton keenly felt the onus of the flood. It was proposed by eminent engineers to construct enormous dry reservoirs for catching and holding the water back until the natural force of the rise had spent itself. This, it was argued, would act as a brake on the rise and prevent the terrible devastation of such a rush of water as attended the March flood of 1913.

For two years the plan has been discussed, there being much opposition to it in certain quarters, on the assumption that the reservoirs were to be built to create water power for Dayton. The completion of the project will involve the expenditure of about four million dollars, this money to be used for buying farms that are to be converted into catch basins and for the actual construction.

At the time this is written it is practically certain that the plan will be consummated. Committees have been appointed and trustees, to serve for varying terms of years, have been selected to direct the work. An act espe- cially intended to operate in this case was rushed through the Ohio Legisla- ture during the spring session of 1915. This is supposed to clear away the last obstacle standing in the way of building the huge system of reservoirs.

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CHAPTER XXXIX.

SIDELIGHTS ON DEARBORN COUNTY HISTORY.

VISIT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

In February, 1861, when Abraham Lincoln was journeying to Washing- ton City to assume the duties of President, he pursued a somewhat devious route, stopping at many of the larger cities and towns to greet the people and get some idea of the feelings on the momentous issues of the times. En route from Indianapolis to Cincinnati he was scheduled to come through Lawrenceburg and the train was to stop long enough to give him time to make a few remarks. A committee of prominent citizens was selected to go to Indianapolis and greet him and to escort him to the town and introduce him to their fellow citizens. Much interest was manifested in hearing him and in getting a good look at the face of the man whom all at that time intuitively felt was to bear some heavy burdens during his term of office. A large crowd was assembled when the morning train bearing the distinguished man arrived. Standing room was at a premium. When Mr. Lincoln's tall form appeared a shout went up from the throng. His talk was only for a few min- utes and what he uttered was reported about as follows :

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 48

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123