On March 12, 1913, at about noon, the people of Columbus, Ohio, started running. No one could quite remember how it started. The writer James Thurber, then a senior at the local high school, recalled the moment some 20 years later:
Suddenly, somebody began to run. It may be that he had simply remembered, all of a moment, an engagement to meet his wife. Whatever it was, he ran east, away from the dam. Then somebody else began to run, perhaps it was a newsboy in high spirits. Another man, a portly gentleman of affairs, broke into a trot. Inside of 10 minutes everybody on High Street, from the Union Depot to the courthouse, was running with grotesque desperation. A loud mumble gradually crystallized into the dread word ‘dam.’ ‘The dam has broke!’
No one paused to consider that, even if the dam across the Scioto River had been breached, Columbus would have been unaffected. Caught up in the panic, the entire town joined in, encouraged by the police and the Ohio National Guard. As Thurber recorded:
Stay informed.Stay ahead.
Join Washington Examiner for unlimited access to the news, analysis, and commentary that matter most.
See Options
Already a member? Log in
Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.
