ivided. Then it swept backward. It carried with it
many houses that had come from every part of the river.

At the Mercy of the Waves.

Upon them and upon flooded roofs and doors and timbers were men, women
and children crying, beseeching and praying for help. Those on the shore
who were watching this never to be forgotten spectacle saw the sufferers
in the river go sweeping by, saw them come down again and still were
unable to give them the slightest assistance. The flood proceeded half
a mile or more, and then was met and reinforced by a wave started
backward from the eddy formed at the stone arch bridge. With redoubled
force it turned once more to the south and then it went half a mile
further, toppling over the houses, wrecking some and adding some to
those which it had brought down from other places. For the second time
it spent its force and turned back, swept to the south and to
destruction those who had four times been within sight of safety. This
time the whole mass of flooded wreckage was carried down to the stone
arch bridge and added to the collection there and at last to the fire
that was raging.

Hundreds Will Never Be Found.

The blackened timber left from this fire, wedged in tightly above the
bridge, is the only gorge at which workmen have labored all this week
with dynamite and monstrous cranes. In it and below it are unnumbered
hundreds of bodies. How many perished in that frightful fire will never
be known. Only a small proportion of the bodies can ever be found. Some
were burned so that nothing but a handful of ashes remained, and that
was swept away long ago with the torrent. Some were buried deep in the
sand, and some have been carried down and hidden in sand banks and
slews. Many will be destroyed by dynamite, and some will have
disappeared long before the great flood of rubbish can be removed. Of
all the horrible features of this dreadful story none is more
heartrending than the story of that fire. It began about five o'clock
that afternoon and went on all night and all the next day, and
smouldered until Monday noon. Its progress was retarded somewhat by the
rain and by the soaking of the material in the water, but this was only
an added horror, for it prolonged the anguish for those imprisoned in
the great raft who plainly saw their approaching death.

Those who saw this sight from the shore cannot speak of it now and will
hardly be able to speak of it as long as they live without tear