The True Story of Our National Calamity of Flood, Fire and Tornado | Page 6

Logan Marshall
our high emprise. But yet, but let the plunging torrent
rise, The winds awake on glutted rivers rolled-- We die as the reft robin
fledgeling dies-- We perish as the beast in jungles old.
We dream that we are conquerors of Earth; We think that we are
mighty, that we dare Scorn your grim power--till we glimpse the flare
Of burning Death 'mid holiness of Birth. What is our godliness and
wisdom worth Against your strength embattled unaware? You are the
Master, ever, everywhere, Deadly and gentle o'er the wide World's
girth.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER II
THE DEATH-BEARING FLOOD AT DAYTON
EXTENT OF THE FLOOD--THE RESERVOIR
BREAKS--BUSINESS SECTION FLOODED--THOUSANDS
MAROONED--MANY CREEP TO SAFETY BY CABLE--JOHN H.
PATTERSON, CASH REGISTER HEAD, LEADS
RELIEF--EMPLOYEES ASSIST IN RELIEF--SCENES OF
HORROR--APPEALS FOR AID.
It remained for two telephone operators to be the real factors in giving
to the world the news of the first day of the flood which inundated
Dayton, Ohio, and the whole of the Miami Valley on Tuesday, March
25th. One, in the main exchange at Dayton, flashed the last tidings that
came out of the stricken city by telephone, and delivered to Governor
Cox news which enabled him to grasp the situation and start the rescue
work. The other was the operator at Phoneton, who served as a relay
operator for the man in Dayton. They stood to their posts as long as the
wires held, and worked all day and night.
EXTENT OF THE FLOOD

A seething flood of water from eight to twenty feet deep covered all but
the outlying sections of the city by the evening of the 25th.
Beneath the waters and within the ruined buildings lay the unnumbered
dead. The flooded districts comprised practically a circle with a radius
of a mile and a half, and in no place was the water less than six feet
deep. In Main Street, in the downtown section, the water was twenty
feet deep.
The horror of the flooded district was heightened by more than a dozen
fires which could be seen in the flooded district, but out of reach of fire
fighters.
Most of the business houses and nearly all residences had occupants.
Downtown the offices were filled with men, fathers unable to get home,
and the upper floors and on some of the roofs of the residences were
helpless women and children. Hundreds of houses, substantial
buildings in the residence districts, many of them with helpless
occupants, were washed away.
The water in the Miami River began rising Monday afternoon at the
rate of six inches an hour and continued to rise throughout the night.
The first break in the levee at Dayton came at four o'clock Tuesday
morning at Stratford Avenue. This was followed by other breaks at East
Second Street and Fifth.
THE RESERVOIR BREAKS
But the severity of the flood that hit Dayton was due to the collapse of
the Loramie reservoir in Shelby County about seven o'clock on
Tuesday morning, hurling millions of gallons of water into the swollen
Miami. Rushing down the Miami Valley, the water carried everything
before it at Piqua, Troy, Sidney, Dayton, Carrollton, Miamisburg and
Hamilton.
Three rivers, the Miami, Stillwater and Mad, and Wolf Creek conjoin
in the heart of Dayton. As the city, particularly North Dayton, and a
north section called Riverside, lies almost on a level with the four

streams, it is protected from high water by levees twenty-five feet high,
which guide the streams through the city from its northern to its
southern end.
[Illustration: NORTHERN PART OF DAYTON, AND WATER
COURSES WHICH OVERWHELMED THE CITY]
North Dayton is a manufacturing and residence district. Riverdale is a
residence district. In the southern part of the city, on fairly high ground,
is the great plant of the National Cash Register Company
Wolf Creek, flowing into the Miami from the northwest, early got out
of its banks and added to the flood flowing over the floors of the
Williams Street and Edgewater Avenue bridges.
Mad River, in the northern section, also got over its banks early. All of
North Dayton, save the extreme uplands, was inundated. The Miami
was more than a mile wide below the city, and thousands of acres were
inundated.
BUSINESS SECTION FLOODED
At Third and Ludlow Streets, where were located the great Algonquin
Hotel, a magnificent church, the great Y. M. C. A. building and the
Hotel Atlas, were many feet of water. The central portion of the city
was flooded, and the beautiful residence district, lying east of the
exclusive boulevard district, was a Venice.
Hundreds of homes were filled
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code

 / 94
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.