2 Stereoviews Mill River Flood - 1 is Nonotuck Silk Co\'s Boarding Leeds MA 1874 for Sale

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2 Stereoviews Mill River Flood - 1 is Nonotuck Silk Co\'s Boarding Leeds MA 1874 For Sale

$2 Stereoviews Mill River Flood - 1 is Nonotuck Silk Co\'s Boarding Leeds MA 1874$
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2 Stereoviews Mill River Flood - 1 is Nonotuck Silk Co\'s Boarding Leeds MA 1874:
$42.00

2 Stereoviews Mill River Flood -- 1 isNonotuck Silk Co\'s Boarding Leeds MA 1874one is the Stream at Williamsburgh Site of Nonstick Silk Co\'s BoardingI am unsure of the other
CONDITION: staining, soiling, edge wear, both are standard size 3.5\" x 7\" -- see photos for exact condition!mailed inside plastic and boxed for protection!
info below found online on the New England Historical Sopciety site:On May 16, 1874, the cheap and shoddy Mill River dam collapsed, killing 139 people and wiping out four towns in western Massachusetts within one hour.It was the first man-made dam disaster and one of the worst of the 19th century.Though mill owners and engineers were clearly responsible for the disaster, no one was held to account for it. But at least the flood did lead to dam safety laws.
The Mill River is a 15-mile-long stream that drops 700 feet from the high hills of the Berkshires to the Connecticut River. During the 19th century, manufacturers built a string of mills along the river to take advantage of the cheap power. Factories made silk thread and woolen cloth, brass goods, grinding wheels and buttons.
On May 16, the reservoir was already full, and it rained in buckets. At 7 a.m., George Cheney, the dam keeper, saw a 40-foot slab of earth slide off the face of the dam. The earthen bank began to crumble as streams of water started pouring through holes in the dam.

The stone wall had been grouted poorly. Water from the reservoir leaked through the cracks and saturated the downstream earthen bank.

The dam keeper knew what would happen next. Without the support of the earth embankment, the stonewall couldn’t withstand the pressure of the reservoir.

George Cheney frantically jumped on his horse bareback and galloped downstream to warn the people of Williamsburg. As he shouted warnings, the dam burst with a tremendous boom that filled the valley. Farmers miles away said it was louder than any thunder they had ever heard.
Four men relayed the dam keeper’s warning, racing ahead of the floodwater in wagons and on horseback. They were first able to warn the factory workers, most of whom escaped. Next they tried to warn people in their homes – women, children, old people.The breach opened wider and 600 million gallons of water roared through the valley, a 40-foot-high wall of water carrying with it roofs, boulders, livestock, timber, furniture and people.Within one hour 139 people were dead in Skinnerville, Haydenville, Williamsburg, and the village of Leeds in Northampton. The flood wiped away mills, factories, homes, barns, bridges and roads.Half of the victims had immigrated from Canada and Ireland. Most were women, children or old people.
Survivors began to search for the dead as soon as the flood subsided. The government had no disaster relief programs then, so local committees organized thousands of volunteers to handle cleanup and relief. They raised $100,000, an enormous sum that rivaled the donations for the victims of the Great Chicago Fire three years earlier.

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