A Fatal Flood in the Power House
A toddler drowns after a massive water main bursts inside her family's living quarters at the local utility plant.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
An accident of unusually sad nature occurred at the power house of the Water & Electric Light Co. Thursday morning that resulted in the death by drowning of Ruth Elizabeth, the 7-months-old child of Mr. and Mrs. H. Spriesterbach. Mr. Spriesterbach is the day engineer of the waterworks, and with his wife, a baby daughter, and a son of three years, lived in rooms partitioned off in the power house. To better understand the nature of the fatal accident it is necessary to state that a five-foot wrought iron main conducts the water from the reservoir into the power house. In this pipe there are four openings, three of which are used in driving the machinery, while the fourth is reserved for the time when more power will be required. This hole is covered by a cast-iron plate bolted on in a manner similar to the bolting of a cylinder-head to a cylinder. There was extra pressure in the pipe, as floating ice had blocked the wheel that works the pumping machinery, and this pressure was so great as to blow out the cap which covers that portion of the pipe passing through the living rooms of the Spriesterbachs. The accident occurred at about 8 o'clock. The engineer had just gone into the machinery room to blow steam into the wheels to free them from ice when the pressure tore out the plate and a turbulent and powerful stream of water rushed into the rooms, and in less time than it takes to tell it was at a depth of four or five feet. Mrs. Spriesterbach was washed out through a door or window and her screams brought her husband, but he could not make way against the current of the water. An assistant shut off the water from the pipe, and Mr. Spriesterbach fished out his son, who had become wedged under some furniture, but the baby was not to be found until the waters had receded, when her body was discovered in the machinery room, it having been swept there through a break in the partition. Medical aid was summoned by telephone, and although Dr. Heg was quick to respond, all efforts to resuscitate the baby were futile.
“A turbulent and powerful stream of water rushed into the rooms, and in less time than it takes to tell it was of a depth of four or five feet.”
This tragedy highlights the precarious living conditions for working-class families in the 19th century, where industrial worksites often served as both home and danger zone. Today, the separation of residential space from heavy industrial infrastructure is a cornerstone of zoning law, though the tension between affordable housing and proximity to industrial employment persists in many growing cities.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.