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Portland Meadows Meet Is Canceled CanceledDike Dike Break Inundates Track As Water Level Hits 15 Feet Fear Barns to Be Total Loss LossPORTLAND PORTLAND Oregon June 1 The 1500000 Portland Meadows race track was inundated by flood waters at 915 p m Monday when the Denver Avenue dike suf ¬ fered a breakthrough at the approach to what was Vanport Debris traveled with the onrushing water which poured into the area of the race track It was a matter of minutes till the break in the dike had widened to 200 feet feetGeneral General manager William P Kyne early today canceled the remainder of the 34 day spring meeting The track still had 21 days of racing remaining arid had planned to operate until June 23 23The The Denver Avenue dike where the breakthrough happened was the dividing line between the track and the illfated city of Vanport that was obliterated late Sunday afternoon On Sunday night it became apparent that Portland Meadows was doomed as the water that poured into the Vanport area immediately began attacking the Denver Avenue dike and by early Monday morning a goodly portion of the highwaylevee had been undermined At this time the track proper was entirely surrounded by water held back entirely by dikes and with the terrific pressure of the heavy flood waters it was merely a matter of time for the area o become flooded floodedEarly Early this morning another breakthrough in the protective ring of dikes surrounding the Meadows occurred when the Union Avenue wall was pierced and allowed the waters from the rushing Columbia River to pour into those already there from the Willamette River Following this late breakthrough water was rushing freely over the lowlands and was moving the debris in a swirling mass around the grandstand and clubhouse At 1000 a m estimates of the water level in the area were all around 15 feet and the water was still rising risingStands Stands of Reinforced Concrete ConcreteFears Fears for the safety of the grandstand and clubhouse were stilled by general man ¬ ager Kyne when he announced that they were of a reinforced steel concrete con ¬ struction and from all available informa ¬ tion were safe from the waters action But Kyne was not so optimistic about the stable area as he feared that all the barns would be a total loss and would have to be re ¬ placed placedSunday Sunday night at approximately 6 30 general manager Kyne ordered the first signal for the evacuation of horses and personnel from the stable area This fol ¬ lowed the sudden flooding of the Vanport area that left 18000 homeless Kynes early action undoubtedly saved many horses and persons as when the breakthrough hap ¬ pened Monday night there was no warning and it took place in a matter of minutes By 100 a m Monday the evacuation of the stable area was complete and even in ¬ cluded all the feed tack automobiles and miscellaneous equipment equipmentHorses Horses and equipment were removed from the stables to the higher and safer ground in the Columbia Highway area and from this vantage point wereloaded into vans and transported to the nearby Gresham Fair Grounds and to Salem State Fair Grounds while others were bedded down on nearby farms in whatever accom ¬ modations were available The retreat was an orderly affair and was ably and fully supervised by operations manager Robert Gunderson and racing secretary Ivan Thomas There were no reported casualties to the horses although quite a few suffered from cuts and bruises that were received during the rush to reach higher ground groundMany Many of the owners and trainers as well as jockeys were living in the illfated city of Vanport and at time of writing it is not known whether there were any casualties among them themHoward Howard Brooks of the American Total isator Company reported that his crew had removed all the tote equipment on Sun ¬ day afternoon and evening and that the intricate gear was stored in a safe place and that he and his men were standing by awaiting developments developmentsKyne Kyne was busy today contacting horse ¬ men and their help to determine whether any suffered losses and also to help allevi ¬ ate any financial difficulties that personnel may have suffered by the sudden evacua ¬ tion and cancellation of the meeting
