Introducing;
the DHS
newspaper
(see page 16)
Vol, 75 No, 38 October 1, 1975
nt
a
A new mode of transportation on Front Street
Family on Front Street getting ready to leave home in a
hurry
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
They were cousins, Eloise
and what was that other
girl’s name? Oh, yes, how
could we forget her - Agnes.
When we first heard of
this Eloise, tearing into
Puerto Rican towns and
knocking them about like a
Lizzie Borden,
hunch she was another
Agnes, and when she hit
Mobile, Alabama, we were
sure of it.
The rains came ahead of
her, sprinkling us, then
pouring on us, getting us
ready for the Big Dunk.
Every day it rained,
sometimes soft, sometimes
hard, but always raining.
Every morning we woke up
and heard that steady
downpour, just like the rains
that preceded Agnes.
Friday came and it was
raining harder than ever.
We tuned our radios to
Water in Chiques Creek building up i
we had a“
OLD IAN
RIVER STAY
AVYAT FROM MY
POOR
More flood
photos inside
Ten Cents
Edward Billet posted a no trespassing sign on his house.
Marietta residents were prepared for Eloise
because they had already met Cousin Agnes
WSBA and when we heard
announcers’ frantic voices
describing disastrous floods
in York County, instead of
the usual kids’ rock music
and questions about whe-
ther we ‘‘believed in
WSBA’’ - we knew the end
of the world had come, and
that Agnes’ cousin had
arrived in Susquehanna
country.
Friday afternoon the
name ‘‘Agnes’’ was written
across every face in Mari-
etta. On Front Street people
were shoving their belong-
ings into the trunks and
back seats of their cars, and
after they had done that
they shoved themselves in
and drove off.
At borough hall all the
officialdom of Marietta was
there: Mayor Barney Mec-
Devitt, Police Chief James
Millar, Pioneer Fire Com-
pany President Ken Geesey,
Civil Defense Director Bill
Breckline and Assistant
Director Harold McElroy;
they all had their heads
together and were planning
how to cope with Eloise. You
could tell they knew how to
handle her; they had met
her cousin three years
before. And what an im-
pression she had made!
They were contacting the
National Guard, the Red
Cross, the sheriff’s office in
Lancaster, neighboring fire
companies, etc. They were
moving together like the
Miami Dolphins.
The forecast was that the
inflated . Susquehanna - ‘was
going to reach its bursting
point sometime Sunday
morning. Already ongFriday
afternoon it was beginning
to seep back into the sewers
and was making big puddles
on Front Street.
By Saturday morning a
stream the size of the Little
Chiques was flowing down
Front Street; when some
anoers came by Marietta
looked like Venice.
Most of the morning the
stream on Front Street
deepened, pouring into all
the basements.
Then toward noon it
stopped rising. But, still,
the predictions were that the
crest would come tomorrow:
There must be a tidal wave
up the river bearing down
on us.
The rain had stopped. The
sun shone warmly.
People stood in the warm
sun and stared at the steady
stream down Front Street—
watching, waiting.
Just before nightfall Front
Street Creek seemed to lose
some of its flow.
By midnight, Saturday, it
had gone down a lot.
Word came that the crest
had passed.
They were related al-
right—Eloise and Agnes.
But Eloise wasn't as
wicked a woman as her
cousin.
Hat off, Mayor Barney McDevitt works intently in Borough
Hall to foil Eloise