Hagerstown Daily Mail - March 18, 1936

DAILY MAIL

WEATHER
Cloudy tonight. Probably rain or snow tomorrow, Colder,

VOL. CVIII. No. 66.

HAGERSTOWN, MD., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 1936.

POTOMAC FLOOD NEARING NEW PEAK; HOMES SWEPT AWAY

Crest Past Today In Flood-Battered Cumberland

DESOLATION IN WAKE OF HIGH WATER
Debris In Streets Of Queen City; Water Still In Business Area
CUMBERLAND, Md., Mar. 18 The raging waters of the rain-fed Potomac river and Will’s creek receded today

Johnstown Is Placed Under Military Rule
Troops Move Into Flood-Devastated City As Waters Recede; Several Lives Believed Lost; City Is Paralyzed.
JOHNSTOWN, Pa., March 18.— Chief of Police Harry Klink today sent out a call for all state agencies to help Johnstown in its most devastating flood in 47 years and announced…
…deep was receding rapidly but it left Johnstown without gas, electric power, water service or transportation. Thousands were marooned all night in downtown buildings.
Temperatures, below the freezing point, forecast nays of misery…

CAN'T PUMP WATER HERE
The Potomac Edison power plant at Williamsport suspended operations shortly before noon and as a result the Hagerstown pumping elation on the Potomac above Williamsport had to suspend operations. It may be necessary, it was said here by officials to put Hagerstown on a water ration for the time being, as the mountain supply is not sufficient to meet the needs here

FLOODS SPREAD DEATH, MISERY IN WIDE AREA
Fourteen Dead Is Toll, With Thousands Of Residents Homeless
Surging flood waters spread death, damage and misery through the east today.

BUILDINGS FLOATING IN RIVER; HANCOCK BRIDGE MAY GO OUT
River Reaches 38 Feet At Williamsport and Still Rising; Scores Of Clubhouses Swept Into Swirling Waters; Most Of Hancock Is Under Water.

The Potomac River Valley today is experiencing its worst flood since the days of the memorable Johnstown flood of 1889. The swirling waters had passed the Johnstown flood peak at Hancock, in which section a number of houses on the West Virginia side of the river were carried away into the river and the bridge across the Potomac there threatened to collapse momentarily.