, 1873-02-01
MARYLAND.
The susquehannn Freshets---
Deluge Of Port Deposit
Lie at tbs Head Of the Chesapeake.
1snll Mountain.-A Revolutionary
"Reminiscences.
From Onr Ofpn Correspondent.

Frop, Onr Ofpn Correspondent.
HAvnE DE GRACE jan. "A, 1878.
pur4nn tho paat week. tho most remarkable Of
m imnomorial series Of frcshots In tho buaquo-
hunn. River has inundated tho Town Of Port
Deposit.
TIE HuaouEHANNA.
IN vour readers In tho West, tho mlafortunes
Of small ha1nlot noar tho head OF tho Ohesa-
soake uay have no grcat interest, but these an
nual delugos may ono day make Port Deposit GO
memorable % Now Madrid, In Missouri. Thoro
is probably no river III tic country which repro
ducoa tho effects Of winter In our climate 30 etu-
penaously as tho susquohanna. Monntatna aur"
round this river almost from its source to itn
termination in tho Chesapeake. It rises In
Otsego and Canaderago Aakes, amongst the oata-
kill Range moro than 400 milea from the Chesa-
peake, and It's long arms Hcrapo the Ice and
snow from tho Aleghenies on the west, and tho
Bluo Mountains on tho euas for distance OF
above 800 miles on either side. On theso rangoa
happen all tho extromites Of a mountain
winter in tho North; and, whom tho
summer procipitately moits tic frost from
tho submits. the iunnitude OF atroa1na
turnbli1tg down tho mountatnn swell all tho larger
channels aud, gathering the leo OF the snsquo"
hapnn, force 1t downward With slch hasto lhat,
Thon it reaches Southern PennByiVanaa anu Inc
nlaryland lino-whoro tho rivor erosaos tho lasf
barrier of rocks, mud encounters many 'e'anas
and rapids,-tho pant-up floods, embasrnsaod On
tbotr way to the bay, ore dnmmou baohwarh ana
c1;mb ,,n tho sldes Of this funnel Of tho susque-
hanua. almost invariably flooding cut Port Do
post.
PORT pErosrr.
1bfa town atansla at the base OF a range OF
almost perpendicular bills, Which rise bohind It
from 900 to 200 foet, mud resemble tho Palisades
along the uudbon River. Tho heights approach
10 near to tho water that thero is but q nero
shelf near tho wator-levnl OIL which to place
housca: and Port Depoait consiHts Of but Sin"
s,o street. aboyo milo long, tho houaos on one
ei,,e az which stand directly against tho heights,
without baclt-yards, whilo, on tho otll-
or side, .,the small yards o1tend to
tho wator'a edgo. In this town tho
churches ate built s1owiso, rs thoro ia not
enough space to lot them bo at right nnglos to
the street. The outlet from tho town Is q stoep
and 1aborious road, which paoses through
raviuo blasted out nrtihcially, end tho .rnalwass
creep along tho riverside from above and below.
Tho Susqnehannn at tiis point Is nearly : n'l!e
w!ic, and Of eiarh-bluo color ct ordinary tines
impfTiug great dnpth; but it's surface ID at
p]rcea parked with protrudng rocks O. Volcanic
origin. Which would Indicate that the river had
torn a May acroas IN or1ginal 1T oa t,o
shattered stono-piers Of a former bridge; ana
three rn;le8 below ie tho great bridge Of tho
PHILADELPHIA Wilmington q HaltlmoIe @, ocn noaa %nd
TLo country is wild, and tho scenery Btern and
Almost gloomy Three milea below Port Deposit
stsude IN islnnd, which rotar1s the paaBago Of nil
.freshetB md just bolow this island ia q the town
bulk upon high and snfe terrace or table.lnnd:
Tho channel from the Chesapeake vcora out
from Havro do Graoe, but ut Port Deposit givos
deeI water, and the latter place has always been
As.14 fta{ Cyt&, u
mouth. An Engishmnn named Thomas Shepard
had sott1ed on the sto Of Port. Deposit several
yoars before the Revolution, but the town oWca 1ts
Importance to Colonel John oresweii, tathot o1
sou1e property there, and commenced improve
ments before 1926, whom it WAS Incorporated. 1t
ia ono Of tho greatest lumber marketa in tho
6ase 81 aboge oo foot Of sawed lumber
BESIDES iarger quantities Of timber and spara.
The auporb granite quarries around ne town
hava Furnished stone for the nlp-Rsps p nns nnd
braneh Of the Philadelphia e Baltimore
koe rss beg%n .,oca in INIT iaS t@s tho to pe0e
n has booomo t tic terminus @ Of what Is called tho
Baltimore Central Road, which extends hence TO
Philadelphia, whilo monntime another railway
10 being pushed up the left bank Of the snsq1e.
cepsus the town contained nearly 2,ooo poopio,
and in tha immediate vicinity there woro 4,bo0
1t is, therefore, the chief place OF Northehaserg
Maryland; and, though thesp calamit.es " Aeld
md food hare Affected Tor nessy sgn nat
tury, the dangeronb s'te han pesn aaner9a , 10
ttable class of settlers who had pitched up
pnit.
TIE nARp,Sur DISTINCT
Tito chief Of these ia Jacob Tome, who mar
r;ed the aunt Of Postmaster General Crcswoll,
To is Pennsylyania Dutchman, with sono
scotch-Irish streakB in him, and tho Tealtheat
sn.n n that mart of tho country, TQm0 hCRted
flown to this place D good many
years ago, huu he ID now t4e c1!ci
Ramker rai1road-man, and Nfathodiat
In Tint quarter. III 1857, Port Deposit
spa nearly destroyed, and there was much loas
Of botI lilo md property. In 1916, distinctly
semo,nbor. yhilo but child nnd stopping at tue
n1nco. how everybody In midwinter began to tic
The barns fast with ropen, to keep them from