Standing Like a Rock in the Midst of Ruin

Our shop is the large brick building you see in the center background. The rear is four stories directly on the river bank. The front is three stories on the street. There were two three-story blocks between us and Bridge Street.

The bridge was destroyed (you can see part of it) and the building next to it disappeared down the river. The collapsed block against ours struck us so hard that its chimney was thrown onto our roof. The large roof shown on the left was that of a clothing store—contents washed away. The street you see is Elm Street where it joins Main. Across Main Street, opposite the clothing store, were a brick block and two of wood. Even the foundations washed away.

Electric, gas, water and telephone services were broken. But we never had gas, we brought in water, telephones we did not want and electricity came back to us Sunday afternoon. Monday morning we were busily engaged in making name tapes and name pins. Mail service was a bit ragged but our many customers were not discommoded at all.

An Army Engineer, after an examination of the strata uncovered in an excavation, stated that what is now Winsted had a greater flood about 900 years ago. So we are all hoping that 900 years will pass before it becomes our turn again. In the meantime, send us your orders for name tapes and name pins and expect us to surprise you by our promptness in filling your order.