Knoxville weekly chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1875, 1874-02-04
AFLOAT ON THE ICE.
sixty Men and tbeir Teams start Down
the Raw River Ou the Ice-ExcitinE
scenes ana PeriIOus Positions.

the Raw River the Ice-ExcitinE
scenes and PeriIOus Positions.
The Kansas river, which every one
knows, divides Kansas City from its SUI
burban neighbor, Wyandotte City, "got
on regular tare" yesterday, and for
about half an hour was the scene of great
excitement, rvaling in intensity the eX-
element prevalent on board the Vile du
Havre after her collision with the Loeb
Earn.
The river has been frozen over for few
DAYS past and during this time has been
the scene of great hustle and eHcitement'
The cedealers-among them Ninquest,
Eidemiller, Atwell and other large dealers
in ice-haVe been at work ever since the
ice was three inches thick, busiiy saving
all that could be cut. Here was city of
fifty thousand people depending upon
them for the means of keeping cool and
the wherewithal to make mint juleps
and cObblers next summer. Hundreds of
men were at work on the thin surface of
the tranquil Kaw- Day gangs gave way
to night gangs, and night gangs in turn
went home 10 give way to daylight re-
lefs. Strings of teams came and went
in constant procession. IramWayS were
built from large warehouses on shore FAR
out into the river Horses plowed back
ward and forward, cutting out long lay
ers of the valuable crystal substance,
which was hourly becoming more valu-
able, as the rain Of Sunday and the cold
thaw of Monday threatened q dissolution.
1t was about the middle of Monday after
noon when the crisis came. y vast area
of the rivers sIrtace had been of ice, hun
dreds of men and teams were coming and
going. The ice had reached a thickness Of
about six or seven inches, and the thaw OF
Sunday aud Monday had made it rather
rotten. Suddenly "a loud cracking was
heard above, below and all around the
working parties The cracking increased
with the loud cries of alarm from those
upon the river. A general rush was made
for shore, but too late, fOrall the ice, which
had been partially separated by cutting on
both sides, separated with loud crack,
and almOstimmedately afteTward breach
was opened between the men on the ice
and the shore. Shouts and cries of alarm
from those on shore and those who now
perceived themselves going down stream
on huge ice cake, which was within
few hundred yards of the rushing, turbid
waters of the Missouri river these, COM
bined with the cracking of the immense
mass of ice, made a scene of cOmmotlon as
exciting as it was interesting.
After the first alarm had somewhat sub
sided q concerted attempt was made 10y
men and horses now on the floating cake
of ice. II was plainly evident that if the
vast sheet of rotten ice should reach the
mouth of the river it would be broken up
in the rapid current of the Missouri river,
and the men and teams must go down
among the confusion of broken ice.
Ropes, planks and other appliances were
brought into requisition, as the ice raft
Heated slowly toward the mouth of the
river. But the men on this fragile raft
were not to be lost. Man himself was pow
erless to restrain the vast sheet of ice or to
bridge over the smooth, placid chasm be-
tween it and the shore. But Providence
came in at the last moment. The raft
drifted so that its widest part came across
the stream, reaching from shore to shore.
This gorged the ice for q few minutes, but
long enough TO allow the Imperfect men
and horses to escape to shore, which they
lost no time in doing, all being saved just
as the ice again broke up and went BOOM
ing out of the Kaw into the Missouri river.
kansas city Times