64 THE FLOOD or 1843. 



The time at which the flood in Darby creek attained its 

 maximum height, was from half an hour to au hi)Ur hitcr 

 than in the other creeks. The difference in those streams 

 does not apjiear to have been considerable. The greatest 

 height of the flood in Darby creek was seventeen and a half 

 feet ; in Crum creek twenty feet : Ridley twenty-one feet, and 

 Chester thirty-three feet. 



A large freshet occurred in this county in the year 1795, 

 another in the year 1822, and another (probably still larger) 

 in the year 1839, but neither the memor>' of man, nor tradi- 

 tion affords any evidence of a flood that would bear a com 

 parison with that of the 5th of August last. Neither were 

 any traces to be found along the vallies of the streams (simi 

 lar to those now to be seen, particularly along Chester creek) 

 to justify the belief that the county had been subjected to 

 such a visitation, during a period of many centuries. 



We are informed by Mr. ICnos Sharpless, that the flood of 

 1795 gave rise to a good deal of speculation at the time, as to 

 the cause why there should be higher freshets than had for- 

 merly been. Some attributed it to the land having become 

 more cleared, affording the water a better chance to run off, 

 others appeared serious in attributing it to the introduction of 

 plaster of Paris and its tendency to attract moisture; but all 

 agreed that the freshet of that year was the highest that they 

 had ever seen, and as there were people then whose recollec- 

 tion would extend back fifty or sixty years, Mr. S. thinks we 

 may safely conclude that that freshet continued to be the 

 highest until the freshet of 1839, which was one fool higher, 

 and now he remarks, " we have one in 1843, seven feet three 

 inches higher than that." It must also be observed that the- 



(Foot note from prccediiij^ pa^t')- * J^' :»<l<lin}4 to the above esti- 

 mate of losses ljy the flofxl, tliat which was caused by lij^htuiug, and 

 that caused by the wind in prostrating orchards and forest trees, the 

 amount of private loss will not be less than ^200,000 dollars, within the 

 Ixjrders of Delaware county, and the aggregate of public and jirivale 

 losses will not lall short of a (juarler of a million of doll.irs. 



