The Republican journal., 1870-02-24

is gone and broken up i'll several places ABOVE tie
old ice jam of last January. Below TINS Jam, up 10
O'Clock the ice was good, and large force VI men
was trying to save some of it. y. .. Mitchell hau
40 men at work all day putting in ice. The Gar
diner bridge moved at one time some three or 1our
feet down river; one pier near the bfldSc was
swept away. The ice piled up IN huge 1Gs,,,
against the bridge, and at one time it was thought
to be unsafe The river had fallen some IA lncheS,
and if the Jam holds the ice and bridge VIII be saved
At the Knickerbockcr houses the water was up TO
the railroad track and around the houses aooT 4, 4
foot deep, but they stood the flood all right The
streets have been crowded and the Western Union
Telegraph office was filled to the uttermost with
anxious citizens waiting to hear from the up-rNef
stations The roads leading to South Gardiner,
Pittston and Haowell are all flooded so as to rem
der passing impossible
The telegraph wires up river are all down, and
the intelligence from that section mostly Cleaned
from private sources At Scion, damage to consid-
cradle extent was done to mills and dams on the
Fall brook. The bridges at Madison and Nor
ridgewock, across the Kennebec. have been swept
away. The freshet piled the ice up so that It was
in many places four or five feet thick, completely
cleaning out almost everything from Arson to ALL
gusta.
There has been no material damage done at
Showhegan. Ice jammed below Somerset NILS
Saturday night and piled in huge masses With logs
on the shore and islands. The damage sustained
at kendalrs Mills was light. About noon Saturday
water undermined the culvert on the 7. X II. K. H.
above Waterville. and portion OF 1t, % 1eet long
Lincoln was soon informed of the trouble, ana I'M
mediately sent train with timber sleepers and 80
men to Waterve to repair it. These men worked
all night in conjunction with crew furnished by
Supt Moves of the Maine Central. 1t took about
1000 sleepers to repair the damage. Passengers for
skowhegan stopped at Watervie all night, those
going east on the NJ. c. r. r. connected near the
NJ c. r. R., which stopped for them there. The
roads are side by side at the break As this train
passed up the river it seemed one vast teld OF Ice
The ice piled up on the shore like sea wall crush
IL f pen h nd a frsss an d leaving huge '0"er
The damage up the Sandy river must have been
very great. 1t is probable that the bridges over
the river are swept away. The damage to the
bridges at Madison and Norridgewock will be most
severely felt by the public The water at Norridge
wool was five feet higher than during the October
frsShet. A sick woman i'll house on the south
side was taken across on a raft.
The bridge at Seven Mile brook has been damned
up stream by the ice, and small bridge near this
on the railroad line has been carried away.
The greatest loss by the storm and freShct Will
fall upon the Portland and Kennebec Co. 1t will
require at least three months to rebuild their bridge
at this place, while the Inconvenience and expense
of transmitting freight and passengers will be a
loss TO the company that cannot be estimated. At
the present time it is thought that the damage to
the company by the treshet will not fall short Of
100000
The principal damage by the frcshet appears to
be confined to the kcncbec, although our Geographic
The water in the river at this city continued
stationary until dark, when it gradually fell. As
we closed our report at midnight, the water has
fallen about two feet. A gentleman from Nassa-
borough, informs Us that at that place there are
acres Of ice yet to come down. If this Jam comes
in body, the bridge at this place will have another
severe trial of its strength. Ice was coming down
in large quantities up to midnight, indicating that
portion of the jam had given way.
Yesterday was indeed day of trial to our cit-
zens. The scenes witnessed had their parallel on
the Sabbath when the great conflagraion swept
our business street. The loss of property in the
stores was but a secondary consideration compared
with the great anxiety felt for the salty of the dam
and bridge. The extent of the fre>het is without
a parallel in the history of this section. The water
rose about twenty-five feet reaching point three
feet higher than the great freshet of 1882. From
the steam-m of the Kcnnebec Land & Lumber
company for two miles down the river. there is a
perfect Jam of ice and logs and broken fragments
of bridges and buildings,
Later accounts state the damageto be about $780,
600. The ice crop above Gardiner is ruined for the
season, probably, and the loss proves TO be immense
The loss in other parts of the State do not to
be so serious as was first supposed. The Portland
and Kennebec Railroad managers putting forth
great efforts to repair losses but it will be slow
and heavy work