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Show LIVES ARE LOST WHEN NATURAL DAM BREAKS One afternoon two years ago next month, Mrs. May Lovejoy and her sister, Maud Smith, former Beaver County girls, then living in the Jackson Jack-son Hole country, Wyoming,near the little town of Kelley, were out irrigating irrigat-ing their alfalfa when they noticed that their water rapidly deminished, finally stopped entirely. Naturally, they wondered why, so they proceeded proceed-ed up the ditch until they met other irrigators who also had lost their water. Upon further investigation, they found that the water in the Gros Ventres river itself, had ceased to flow. Still further investigation revealed re-vealed the fact that the whole top and side of Sheep mountain had slid off into the river, making a natural dam about a half mile long and from 250 to 300 feet high. Soon this dam caused a lake to be formed, approximately approxi-mately seven miles long. Prominent engineers of both, Wyoming ami Idaho came and examined it and gave j as their opinion that the dam was j permanent. So the residents below ! it-continued to occupy their homos and till their farms. Last week this dam, weakened by continued rains, and floods, went out and Mrs. Lovejoy and her sister perished peri-shed in its flood waters along with four others. i Last fall, the writer of this with j nis iamiiy wnen returning irom a trip to the Yellowstone Park, stopped for a day or two with Mrs. Lovejoy and her sister. They were well fixed with a good irrigated farm, plenty of cattle cat-tle and other livestock, besides eacli had good, dry land farms. Their home was located about a quarter of a mile from the river and only a few feet abo've its waters. About three miles below Kelley, and Kelley is about two miles below the dam. Mrs. Lovejoy and Miss Smith leave their brothers, Eugene Arthurs and Ross, and two sisters, Winnie and Mabel. Mrs. Lovejoy taught school in Milford several years ago. |