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Show !SALT LAKES' SAW THE FLOOD Salt Lr.ke, Jan 14. Tribun: "Such a flivod of water I never haw In my i life, and I hope I may never see the like again. I did not beliuve It pos-slblo pos-slblo that so much havoc could lo wrought by water." The speaker was T. H. Fitzgerald, a vrcll-lmow'n citl?.-rn citl?.-rn of Salt Lake, ah he was talking: to The Tribune Thursday evening. Mr. Fitagcrald had Just returned homo from Moapa, coining heme, via Los Angeles and San Francleco. Continuing, Contin-uing, Mr. Fitzgerald said: "Tuohday evening, Decanvber 2Sth, Dr. J. M. Dart and I left Salt Lake, for Moapa, to look over the. landed interests which we are Interested In there. Tho weather was pleasant when wo reached Moapa, although from Lyon down to the mouth of the Meadow Valley wash canyon It was unusually cold. Thursday afternoon a Chinook wind began blowing, and Friday Fri-day thoro was considerable water coming down tho wash. "Saturday morning we were at Logan, Lo-gan, In the lower part of tho Meadow Valley wash, and we started to drive to Moapu. We had a spanking pair of mules, and we made good time up to tho wash. We stopped at tho llttlo town aboct noon, and wero there ad-vi.sed ad-vi.sed that a flood was coming down tho wash, which was a fearful one, and that wo had better take to the high ground. Flood Reaches Moapa. "Saturday evening the flood struck tho region wo were In at Moapa. The tight was appalling- There wan a wall of water as high as an ordinary houKo, and It swept everything before It. Nothing could resist tho advance of that enmshlng flood- Debris of all kinds was brought down with the flood, and the riffbt-nf-wny of the Salt Lake Route through tho Meadow Valley Val-ley waGh was entirely obliterated. There wa.s nothing left of it "When I tell you that there are box cars, railroad bridges, sections of rails fat-loued to tho ties that are now eighteen inllca away from whero the railroad track was, it will glvo you an Idea of the awfalness of tho flood. But these evidences of the flood are seen, and thoro can he no question about It. The railroad Is completely destroyed for many, many miles absolutely wiped off the earth; nothing to in-dlcato in-dlcato that there oer was a track or roadbed there. Ranches are Ruined. "In the low or valley alfalfa fields are covered with muck two feet In depth, absolutely ruining the fields and destroying all vegetation in tho region reg-ion above Logan and St. Thomas. The vegetable crop in ruined. The upper part of i ho Meadow Valley Is not hurt "Tho financial Iops will aggregate millions of dollars, and when full reports re-ports from points up the canyon are received it will be found that the loss of life will be heavy. I saw one corpse floating down the river, but It was impossible to rescue it. "On the ranch of Joseph Perkes a hired man and Mr. Perkes started on horseback across the farm to a neighbor's neigh-bor's ouly a few rods distant, and they were caught by tho flood, their horses drowned, and they clung to trees until rescued later. "On the ranch of Mr Wells the waves which heat around his home were ever five feel hifh. and a neighbor neigh-bor ranchman .f Mr. Wells had $3000 worth of cattle drowned. The Cannon Brothers of Salt Lake, who own a ranch along the. river, had 10" head of hogs swept away. Stocl Bridges Bond Like Reeds. "The steel bridges which the railroad rail-road has constructed and which it was helleved would withstand almost anything, were picked up and tossed about l'ke feathers and were twisted and bent ae easily as if they had been wire. "Last year there was shipped from Moapa ISC cars of cantaloupes and 50 car loads of lettuce and asparagus and other garden truck. This year none will be shipped, for there will be no way to get. out. Just now in the upper valley there was no damage dam-age done, there are tons of asparagus aspara-gus now about ready for market and in a week or two lettuce, will be ready, "out It will have to be thrown away, as there Is no waj to ship it out nor will there bo for some time. I tell you that Salt Lake people do not realize what a great calamity to Salt Lake City is the destruction of the Salt Lake road through the wash. Drove Fifty Mile9. "Tho doctor and I drove from Moapa Mo-apa to Las Vegas, a distance of fifty miles. All along tho Meadow river li scattered the wreckage of tho flood. People who have lived in that region for jcars cannot recall anything like this flood; in -fact. It Is believe that nothing like it was ever known before. be-fore. "There are a great many people la tho lower valley, farmers nnd ranchmen, ranch-men, who are absolutely ruined by the flood. "The Salt Lake Route will never again be constructed through tho Meadow Mea-dow Valley wash canyon. There is no likelihood of another flood like this one sweeping tho canyon In many years It come, nnd yet a quick thaw like the one of December 31 and January Jan-uary 1 might cause another equally as groat as thle. No one, of course, can tell, but the fall of snow packed down In the range Is greater thau ever before be-fore known. "We camo home from Los Vegas In a round about way, using the Tonopah .t Tidewater railway part of the wny, the Salt Lako Route part of the way and then the Southern Pacific from Log Angeles to San Francisco and thence to Salt Lake. Was Terrible Experience. "While It was an experience It was the kind of an experience I never want to go through again The roar I of that awful wall of water which we could bear when it was ten miles away I shall never forgot. And when the wave camo In sight it was uppall-Ing. uppall-Ing. It cannot be described. Yes, I am glad lo get home." |