两个水库破裂。
Owing to the rain storm of Tuesday last the two dams which held the water in the Melzingah reservoirs. 500 feet up on the Fishkill mountains.south of Fishkill village. Dutchess county, N.Y., burst at midnight, and the whole contents of the reservoirs, 12,000,000 gallons, proved through a ravine for over 1,000 yards into the Hudson, destroying a brick yard, sweeping away two frame buildings, and causing the death of seven persons.
In these reservoirs was stored the gravity water supply of the villages of Fishkill and Matteawan. on the east bank of the Hudson, opposite Newburgh. They were originally shallow lakes which the two dams, built by Smith & Co., contractors, of this city, above the ravine turned into storage reservoirs. At first the Fishkill and Matteawan Water Company thought one reservoir would be sufficient, and they built the upper dam of the two, which stored about 6,000,000 gallons. This dam was constructed in a cut between two small peaks in the mountain. The cut was about thirty feet deep and about the same distance across. The water backed up behind this dam a hundred feet or so. The cut extended back of the dam the width of the shallow lake.which was about 150 yards. After the first dam was built, new storage room was required and the second dam was constructed. At the very beginning of the ravine there were two natural hills. The distance between them was a little greater than it was where the first dam was built, and the second dam was built across between them. Then the anchorages on either side were solid ground. From the top of this solid ground to the bottom of the old lake was something over thirty feet, and this reservoir when the dam was built held, like the first reservoir, 6,000,000 gallons. The two reservoirs covered about two and one half acres. The water from the upper reservoir fiow’ed into the lower one, and the conduit for distribution was laid from the latter to the village. The gate was near the second dam. An otdinary overflow had been provided and it was this overflow that made the creek.
上水库的大坝让步了，水的潮流使下部水库超重，导致其做同样的事情 - 事故发生在午夜，大约在十五分钟内结束了。
大坝是用石头建造的，并用坚固的倾斜地面墙壁在底部的三十英尺厚，外部由类似墙壁的墙壁厚30英尺。这两个水坝相距约500英尺，上一个大约600英尺，形成一个长度为400码的水库，宽度从6英尺（Brook进入它的位置）到600英尺。它的正常深度约为中间的25英尺，侧面的斜率非常陡。下层水库比上层更深，但结构相似。每个都有一条粘土，底座六十英尺，to>宽度五英尺。将整个大量的大量高度占地28英尺，长度为600英尺，底部宽度为120英尺，顶部逐渐减少到十英尺。在北端，大坝顶部以下两英尺处是溢流，宽30英尺，朝着石头脸。
The cause of the disaster has yet to be determined. Some attribute it to poor constiuction, and the inferior materials of which, it is alleged, the dams were built—of which, however, there is no evidence on hand. Others claim that the overflow was insufficient. The dams had been built ten years, and had withstood many a strain as violent as that of Tuesday night— especially in winter when the reservoirs were taxed to their full capacities. The construction had been in the hands of competent engineers and contractors so that,unless something defective of recent origin is discovered which weakened the structures, it is hard to guess the cause of the accident.
The scene of the flood is shown in one of the illustrations as follows:
A.— Melzingah Brook的F’ormer床。
B.—Present bed of Melzingah brook.
C.—Murphy’s boarding house.
D.—墨菲寄宿房的睡眠附件。
E.—Zinka’s boarding house.
f。稳定。
G.—Railroad siding, where survivors sought refuge.
