The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1868-02-13
a Thrilling Scene.

4 l09 OalE6oo Jne Ice In the river tO gorge
and yesterday the ferry boats were
stopped and people passed on the ice On
a walk Of planks laid by Mr.. Creveling,
J, Of the Transfer Company. No danger
was apprehended from this causeway
and people of both sexes crossed on it.
At half past four o'clock in the after
noon the passengers who had just ar.
rived by the Ohio and Mississippi train,
numbering several hundred, com.
menced crossing on the plank r0ad> al
the bottom of Washington avenue.-
There was lAne Of people-,nen, wo-
| men and ciildren--extending nearly
across the river. Some men were pack
| ing valises, some carrying shawls and
overcoats. and several had babies in
their arnls. just rs the pilgrims OF the
| sea of ice were stretched out in long
line, crash was heard, aud suddenly
the ice began to move. The widest
CONSERVATION prevailed among the trav-
ellers. Some ram back towards the H.
linois shore, but the immense mass of
. ice upon which they were floating had
drifted some distance from the shore,
leaving gap Of deep running water
twenty or thirty feet wide. Others ran
towards the Missouri shore, but this
was also inaccessible from the same
cause, and there the multitude were left
. on IA raft Of ice, floating slowly toward
the GuIf Of Meyico
When the breaking of the ice became
known, crowds of people gathered on
the levee, until there were at one time
not less than ten thousand spectators of
the exciting scene. The police We're at
once marshalled under Commissioner
Codding, and efforts were made to res
cue the people from their perilous situa-
ton. The danger was that the large
body of ice would break to pieces by
coming in contact with the shore ice,
and that the people OH it would be swal-
lowed up and ground to pieces by the
rocky boulders. The poise of the
moving ice was heard ut a considerable
distance, u Kissing, grinding sound
mingled with splashcs of broken Jumps
and the cracking OF large cakes as they
came in contact with other bodies.
A small steamboat was lying about II
block below the the plank road, and the
ice struck her bow, and to this point the
crowd rushed but rs the ice came against
the boat it was crushed to pieces, and
Il
was too great for anything but II frog
or grasshoppcr to leap.
at lengti, Il stage plank was run out
from the boat to the ice, and over this
tire excited multitude clambered on
board in great haste, some being literal
~ dragged along Ivy their clothes and
hands, while others We're pushed and
lifted over by the policemen and men
who stood near.
One fat lady, weighing over two hun
dred pounds, was SO much excited on
getting safely from the ice, that she
tainted and was carried to shore over
the heads of the crowd, presenting
Il spectacle resembling "a pictare in a
recent number Of the Last Sensation.
An anxious traveller, who had lost
sight of his wife in the confusion, and
was Watching his chance, with an over
coat in his hand and promising baby
in his arms, became terribly agitatcd as
his portion Of the ice drifted hear the
boat. Seeing Officer Gordon on the
| H. IF I, In
catch this baby and tossing tho infant
distance of twenty or thirty feet in
the air, turned to look for his better
half. Gordon being an expert base ball
ist caught the baby in his arms, and the
young one rewarded him by smile o
thankfulness. He waited ten or fifteen
minutes for the father to come for the
Little responsibility and was beginning
to think he would have to adopt it as ,
juvenile Metropolitan, when the father
having found his wife came and re
claimcd the little one.
the ice continued to move, but the stage
plank was kept in position until tn,
ice was pretty well cleared Of it
passengers.
One lady who in the confusion ha
drifted down for three or four blocks
was left. and seemed unable to say
herself. A gallant Irishman in tn
crowd exclaimed: "Be Jaber, it'll niy
er do to let femail 60 down in ths
way, at all, ut all !" aud throwing o.
his coat he ran to the lady, seized he
i'll his arms, and ran with her to til
edge OF the ice and tossed her over
the crowd OH the other shore. His a,
!. was loudly applauded by the multitude
and tile police patted him on the bac
and called him IL good boy"
After the excitement had PARTIAL
subsided it was discovered that a INA
aud boy were still on the Ice, goir
down, all the rest having reached Il
, shore in safety. The crowd called
them. repeatedly, but they paid 10 a
: tention and seemed utterly powerle
! to make an effort or to comprsher
what was said to them. At length nj
8 Codding drew his. revolver and fired
shot over their heads, and this recall'
&l.;. ,,.apdarinu sansAs and thav fs,,,,