The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-03-04
For the Gate City.
THE ICE GORGE AND DELUGE AT
CROTON.
BY AN EYE WITNESS.


great freshet of 1851, far in the shade. At
seven o'clock this morning, as most of the
inhabitants of this place were sitting down to
their morning meal without thinking of dan
ger, the ice in the river commenced moving,
and Immediately formed gorge about one
half mile below the dam In few minutes
the gorge extended to the dam and the ice
piled in huge masses upon it until it was
higher than the tops of the mills, and IN thir
ty minutes the immense volume of water was
hurled on the defenceless town. Those living
in the lower part of town were compelled to
fee for their lives. and some had only time to
gain the second stories of their houses when
Iuge cakes Office we're laundering in at their
lower windows. In an hour or two, how
ever, it had subsided in consequence of an.
other gorge above, cutting off the supply of
water. The ice still remained wedged be-
tween the banks. making a solid wall from
bank TO bank although the general impres
sion seemed to be that the worst was yet TO
come, when the upper gorge would break.
let most OF the people had wandered back
to their flooded houses and were endeavoring
the general wreck and transporting them TO
higher grounds and some persistently refused
to move at all Men, women and children
were ranging through the deserted houses
The gorge above broke and came bearing
everything before it, and caught them in their
houses, and rose to their waists before they
could reach the door. Little children in the
streets almost neck deep in water crying for
help would be caughtup and dragged through
the water to a place of safety. Men would
snatch up their wives and turn to run, but
before they would make dozen steps the
food would be upon them, and down they
would plunge among tho floating debris Of
the houses and pulyerized ice, only to rise
again and fall, and rise and fall, until they
landed, half by their own exertion, and half
washed upon the higher ground Some of
those who had refused to take warning in
time, now found themselves cut off from all
hope of rescue by any earthly power, and
stood at their upper windows wringing their
hands, and beseeching help from those on the
shore. 1t was enough to curdle the blood in
the hardest heart to be compelled TO stand
idle and see death, the most awful, staring
helpless women and children in the face. and
still be poweress to aid. as il was impossible
to reach them. The strong current. filed
with ice and broken houses and trees. setting
hercely, first one way, then the other; and
even if it bad been possible to force a boat
through the ice, any one undertaking it,
would have found himself drifting far away
from the point 10 which he was aiming in less
time than 1t takes me TO write ii. The oniy
hope for rescue was, that a power greater
than that which built the house would enable
it to stand the shock until the mighty mail
sirom had subsided; and while all ewes were
fixed apon it in almost hopeless expectation,
and scarce daring TO speak or draw an auda
BILE breath, houses standing nearer TO land
than it, commenced to start from their founda-
tions, and swing off TO be ground to powder
between the masses of ice. And still the
water rose higher and higher, aud rescue
seemed further removed, but suddenly the
conflicting currents found clear space at one
side Of the house, into which skif
was by great exertlon forced and in less than
two minutes the inmates OF the house were
tumb ing from the shed roof into the skiff
without standing upon the order OF their
going, and in three minutes more were stand
ing upon ground they had never expected to
se foot on agan. The cur ent now set
across the railroad, and large cakes of ice
went tumbling over the embankment like
sheep, crushing the telegraph poles like reeds.
and twisting the iron rails from their seats
and winding them with wire from the tele-
graph. Shocks of corn standing erect would
sometimes move silently along, escaping, as
ifby magic the ruin around them; chickens
upon roofs and logs; hogs upon ice, roofing
carelessly around tor plunder, or chasing some
luckless hen to a watery grave, only to plunge
into a c,e evice after her and disappear among
the slush.
About three o. clock in the afternoon. the
,oa IN ba cbap pal
again, ard loud reports announced that the
two large mills at the foot of the locks, which
had hitherto stood firm, were groaning under
a load greater than they were able to bear,
and that the irresistible ice was undermining
their foundations. Gently the lower mill
yielded to its fate, and lay its huge side upon
the ice, like an elephant gong to rest. The
upper one now deprived of its support and
unwilling to be lett alone, but determined TO
show its fortitude under trials. moved stately
and upright by its 81 lie, standing two full sto-
res above the ice, not plank nor pane of
OF glass giving way. Slowly they moved and
sadln the people of this little hapless town
gazed on the silent departure of their best
friends. They continued to 90 hand in hand
as it were. until they arrived opposite the
depot, when the gorge closed again and they
remained without moving again until dark.
But the roaring now at nine o clock 2. NJ.
indicates that the gorge has broken again, and
the faithful old mills, representing ten or ff-
teen thousand dollars of the value of this
town, are probably far on their way 10 the
Mississippi.
Some OF the dwellings Of the town are
ground TO atoms, some have gone bodily
away, and some are standing crossways in
the streets, some upon their ends and some
at an angle of forty five degrees: while every
house between the track and the river, with
one exception, has been overfowed, and in
most of them the bedsteads tables and chairs
have been humping the ceiling for eleven
hours The stores and saloons near the
bank have had about two feet of water on the
counters OF the highest, and some have been
submerged 10 the caves. The water is still
up to the track in town, although it rises and
falls four or FIVE feet in as many minutes. con-
tinually. The gorge has again closed, and
the great field of ice in the main channel is
motionless The gorge seems to be forming
lower down each time, and the danger
seems to be past for those here-but that is
cold consolation to many, as their earthly all
is now grinding its way with the gorge below.
This is trply sad day for this place, though
no lives were known to have been lost, To
many their lives were all that was saved
The water was about three feet higher than
in 1851, the highest flood ever known here
before.
How the people above, at Bonaparte and
Pennington have Jared we do not know !;
though we heard that they were submerged
about noon, and their mills tottering. Alex
andria had better fee to the mountains for
the gorge stops at the mouth of the river |
do not see any escape for them; for it comes
with the speed Of race horse and the
herceness of volcano. +.