, 1873-01-01
Immense Destruction of Prom
erty ut Mo1nphis.
Pvrr.een Steamers and Thirteen Darges
Suuk.."225,O0O Bushels Of
Coal Lost,
100000 Foot of Logs Swept Away,
md Ovor 900 Bales Of Cotton
Gone Down the River,

it was not surnlised or suspected by auybod >
in Memrhis that tho frost, which was 30 intonBo
oil over the country, would have go disastrous
OBJECT MS tho emashing Of ha1f-a-dozon Btoan1.
bouts ut tho hle,nphis wharf, and tho sinking OF
quarter Of million bunhels Of coa1,-tho only
stock Of firing in tho city OF proaont, savo fow
lots llore md thoro in yards. For flvo' days tha
river has boon covered with 1oating leo Of vari-
ous thckncehos, coming down from Cairo md
SO thick wan tho floating leo In tho stream, and
80 intense tho cold, that cTory place whore m
oddly or bend afforded chance Tor slack-wator,
there was q sort Of banking up Of tho blocks III
great hoight nbovo the river Lowell. It WAS
nlost difficult for boatB to navigate up tho
RtyoGm, ard navigation down from st..
Il louis no or orsry tS Ohio ert '' vsr tains shess
Saturday night tho cold continued to grow
TyorHo and the ica to BECOME moro tlick III tho
river. The gorge nboro Belmont broke on
"Wednesday, a,ll came down tho rivcr,, sweeping
formed at Nnutlolpl, up hero fow miles. Tho
Dul1nont gorge roachod Randolph Thursday, aud
1iheratlng the leo nt that point, caIno rushing on
with accelerated forco mud fury. and touched
morning. wlcro tho boats lay freighted, some Of
them to tho wator'H edge and ready to DO Bacri-
feed to tho fury Of tho frost king. Tho height
81 tho frosty froahet ia yariou:ly oatimatol at
ALtlA I4fo ~ +cA Acot. ~ WIN uuL LHV UGlpHt VI
It, however, that did tho damage; 1t waa rather
tEo vast weight OF leo that it carried upon ita
poson1, filling tho whole river from Bhore to
Bhoro, aud 10 swelling tho Hood TINT orory place
lSShcro ico Ind gathered was put into stato Of
dangerous CDmmotion.
THE SWEEP FAST MEMPHIS.
= At O'Clock on Friday morning, while tho
boats were quietly n,oorcd at tho Wharf, and all
hands wero snugly slowed away for tho night,
thoso being only an odd watehman out at tho
kimo, tho frcshot cn1no along in full foreo, aid
following tho winding of tho river, swept
pgainet the bank above tho mouth OF Wolf Riyor,
and then, being turnod by tho bank, it swept
nlong tho 1ovoe front from tho navy yard clear
R,ast the conl barge landing By Poplar street.
hnl no on down to Madison, leaving nothing In
all that strotcA Of over milo that was not
crunclod and ground up as il tho jaws Of Homo
primitive nastodon had boon wording on tbincB.
a raft OF heavy logs belonging to Zcnt.
that had just como down tho river from
nnar Cairo, was about tho first, or among
eho first, objects that wero struck by tho
Eco. It would bo tho work Of goniuB to describe
up md down and back md forth in tho flood and
tho ice. It WAS ico-croam ,nagnifiod ton or
Evolve millions Of times. Tho moving body waa
of such dimensions md weight that tho largest
easily aH il it were a papor toy house. From tho
navy yard to tho foot OF Madison street thozo
wero half n dozen Of various Bi2cd steamboats,,
And above them in thu stream some dozen coal
khese were fill, others half empty. Thoy were
ewopt down, and in aomo cases carried literally
pvor tho boats below them. Yesterday could bo
socn along tho landing wrecks Of
tlats and barges literally, snapped In
straight upon their sdo; othors had their prows
npon steamboat hnlis, while their stern waH
buried beneath another hten,uboat. In ono ceso,
hint Of the West Wind, tho boat, Htorn-whoel and
s. WAS trivon in on tho dcok Of tho little wharf
hoGt. Two coal bargos struck the Wa1t on the
~oa storpng T twisting @ 1oRnd d tho p guards sas Sosi ad
Etn,cbions like wax. Tia Belle Of Pike w.s,
river. She wns injured in a!l directions hat
tored, boat. Rtoyo about aud hit in tho soyorcst
W. in all directions. she WAS driven up on d
pair Of bargco Tint lopt her from sinking while
Iood force ct men kept working tho cotton out
of nor ull day, and alao taking whatovor could be
Got ont OF er cAbn. She was gradually sinking all
day, notwithFtanding tho fact that four or f1vo
hundred pounds of cotton we're lifted out OF
.nef deck osory two or three minuteB. Right in
City Of Augusta, and tie other boats lay, tho
wharf presented n dilapidated appearance
EIhoEo boats had boon "wrecled," aud their
FURNITURE lay around in great piles Oh the loyee
carpets woro strowp nbout in reckless abundance.
Sven tho cabin doors Ind been taken from their
'Ain5os, tho pia,lo was lying on pilo Of dirt,
and tho water cooler and tho bar-l1turoa wore
1IAH"u oAk WI IN ! utB0 uGApB o. doll
cate yGluablea wero mixed up with great piles Of
freight of NIL sorts, and tho officers Of the boats,
pvorcoated, yet blro, stood here and thoro lool,-
Ing after property, or talking horoically about
tho incidents Of tho previous night. below
Mailisnn tho boats lay comparatively FREQ
from danger. Tho YaeSar happened to have
Htenm up Mt tho time tho leo floo ca1ne
down, and she put out in the middle Of tho
stream, where thero was comparatively cloar
Nn.or mud thus cscapod infury. Sic lay at tho
zanzibar ut tho other sido Of the river, o.
Ponio tho city, a1l day, keeping steam no for any
emergency. :" Tho leo gorgo "passcd along and
nwopt the river almost clear, SO that early yos-
'torday morning tlloro was very littlo leo along
thut part Of the la1ding that had boon swopt by
ehe Hood at I o'clock, but in the course OF six
thick and fsrthor spread out than on the pre-
Sions day. Opinions yariod rs to the probRbii-
tied Of another gorgo coming down. Many old
s!vcr men freely Expressed their convictions that
thcro would bo no more gorges; that tho present
crop OF leo would slough OF, bit by bit, and rot