The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-03-25
THE ICE GORGE.

| ILL I'LL 0oIGOi.
COLUMBIA, March 19.-The river banks
above Columbia, along the Henry Clay
furnace, Chickes Rock, the town Of Mariet-
ia, and as far as Bainbridge, presents a
scene never before witnessed. The food
of yesterday carried immense bodies of ice,
piled up along the shores, to heights at var
ious points varying from five to twenty-five
feet The ice varies In thickness from ff-
teen inches to nearly OF quite four feet,
and in surface some of them measuring
several hundred feet.
AT SAFE HAROR
and at Turkey Hill, below Columbia, the
gorges are very high. At the former place
the Mansion House, at the mouth of the
Conestoga, is almost surrounded with i'm
mense blocks of ice, piled up from ten to ff-
teen feet. The officers of the Pennsylvania
Railroad have announced the wants of one
thousand men at various points named, to
cut away ice, and large numbers from Ian
caster and points below will at once go to
work.
The abutment of the Tide Water Canal
Company, at Wrightsville, is badly injured
and the basin gorged full of ice, canal boats
and logs from the bridge to the dam. The
winding bridge was raised off its abutments
and carried about three hundred yards by
, the ice and landed on the BERN bank to the
canal with one end lying over canal boat.
In Mrrietta the loss was very heavy by the
lumbermen having their RATS, &c, swept
away Miller & Nussers' saw-mill was en-
tirely ruined by being crushed in. One
canal boat is lying against large tree in
front of private residence, The three
was the only thing that saved the house
from being stove in. Ice is piled up over
the tow-path at some points from twenty
five to thirty feet high.
WLKEsBARRE, March 19.-The Pitts
ton bridges jammed in the ice three miles
north of this city were saturated with ben
zine to-day and fired. They are burning
yet tonight, and light up the heavens for
miles around. They were burned so that
they might not be swept down and destroy
the bridge at this point. The gorge has
not changed at all along this city, although
the water is gradually falling, and is be-
tween three and four feet lower than on
Wednesday morning. There is no com
munication with Kingston across the flats
yet, and cannot be for several days. The
\ l.. & B. r. r. Co. began to run passenger
trains across to this city on the D. & II.
bridge, three miles down the river, this
morning
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was cleared
of ice on the Pennsylvania and New York
division, and Superintendent Parker came
through from Towanda to the Lackawanna
and Bloomsbury junction at 6.15 P. NJ
A force of over 800 men had been en-
ployed in removing the ice, which for a
distance of two miles covered the track to
depth of six to thirteen feet. Telegraphic
communication was also made complete
again between Philadelphia and Waverly
Between Wilkesbarre and Pittston Assist
ant General Superintendent Goodwin says
the road will be clear by Monday and all
trains will run through. Above Pittston
two miles a gorge begins, which is formed
Of the strongest ice in the river and is nine
miles long. In some places it is twenty
five feet high, and causes the citizens of
West Pittston and the valley great anxiety
If driven out with food it will take every
thing before it. 1t will naturally so be
fore the five-mile gorge here, and thus two
will be piled together. Fear and excitement
are general all along the river.
Results Of the Port Jervis Disaster.
PORT JERvIs, n. Y, March 10TH
One hundred locomotives and over eight
hundred men are rendered idle by the de-
struction of the Erie Railroad bridge The
Erie Company have over two hundred men
at work day and night, erecting a tempor-
airy bridge over the Delaware at Sawmill
Rift, three miles west of this place, which
they expect to have completed inside of a
fortnight.
Port Deposit.
PoRT DEPOSIT, MD, March 19.-The
food here is fearful. The water is from
five to fifteen feet deep in the streets.
Nothing like it was ever seen before.
Nearly the whole town is flooded and there
is great destruction of property. No lives
have been lost so far The railroad depot
is full of water and the telegraph office was
abandoned last night in boat. At Havre
de Grace the ice has gorged about five
miles below the town. The wharves are
flooded, and whole piles of lumber have
been swept from them, A large number
OF men are engaged in saving it. The
street next to the river, above the bridge,
is completely blocked with ice, wood and
lumber, and the water is about ten inches
deep In the street, but falling slowly. The
canal towpath, at the upper end of the town,
is covered with ice.
The river has fallen three feet since
morning. The water is now four feet deep
on the railroad track and in Min stroot 4