The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1875-03-23

Vanla slce OF tne middle pier. over went
the three lower towers with a crash, the
great cables strained and snapped, and
| TIE IRON MONSTER MOVED
steadily down stream, bearing on its cres.
the white railing of the suspension bridge.
Though the three towers on the dam stream
side were all overturned, and the lower Ca
ble was broken, the three upper towers re-
mained standing, and the upper cable was
not broken, only the wire stands connecting
it with the roadway, having parted when
the latter was swept away. The piers ap-
peared TO be unipjure3. This bridge was
the property of a company, the principal
member of which was II. II. Farnham,
a large real estate owner at Port Jervis. II
was erected several years ago and was val
/ ued at about forty thousand dollars. IL was
q toll bridge and very unpopular with the
inhabitants. Shortly after the suspension
| bridge went down the river began TO tall,
! and less ice passed by the town. By 10
| O'Clock a. NJ. tie weter no longer flowed in
the streets, and the flood was virtually over.
| Only detached pieces of ice were floating in
| the current. On each bank of the river
remnants of the great gorge remained piled
up twenty or thirty feet high. Two spans of
the iron bridge lodged about four miles below
Port Jervis, on the Pennsylvania shore i'm the
narrow channel called the Bennekill. Chief
Engineer Chancev went dSwn during the
afternoon to see if a portion of them could
not be saved, and possibly used In the re-
construction of the bridge. When the gorge
first formed this bridge was thought to be
very greatly endangered, but all fears of its
being swept away had long since been
abandoned. A trustle-work bridge for tenn
porary use will be begun at once, and will
be ready for use in few days. In the mean
time arrangements will be made to ferry
passengers across soon as the river is free
from ice. At Pond Eddy, five miles above,
there is a highway suspension bridge, which
can be reached by carriage from Port JerVis,
and will be used to transfer passengers.
The scene along the Susquehanna and the
Lehigh is described ia detail similar in style
to the above. The work OF the wild waters
and the iDundating ice is thus described by
the Herald correspondent: Looking over
the vast
SWEEP OF THE sUsQUEHANNA,
the track of the terrible flood is plainly seen
in the huge slabs of solid ice piled up along
the banks and in many places tossed up into
rugged promontories twenty feet high. The
grounds of the elegant residences along the
river point on the west side are terribly dis |
figured by the 'uncouth accumulatioDs left |
by the angry flood. In and around the |
junction there are painful evidences of dee |
tructiou. Houses have been wrecked. out |
buildings swept away, fences rem we'd. trees |
uprooted and vast deposits of ice left in the |
low bottom lands. Just above the Junction |
a magnificent iron bridge spanned the |
Lackawanna river, which empties into
the Susquehsnna at this pOiot. This |
too, fell q prey to the flood |
and was completely demolished. Scarcely q |
vestige remains OF the handsome structure, |
which, though small, cost nearly $4,000. |
The back water from the Susq quehsnna car |
red it away. OF the three large bridges |
which were swept into the current. aud |
whose mammoth proportions passed out oi |
sight intact not beam or girder is to be
seen from the river banks. Shortly after
below, where they probably struck on q
small island which lies just opposite Wyom-
ing. in about the center of the river.
Although the BRIDGES are gone and the
river has subsided considerably, there exists |
great apprehensions with regard to a sup
Elementary flood, which will undoubtedly |
set in with warmer weather. 1t has been /
ascertained that all the ice has not gone opt |
yet. Indeed, gorge of unusual proportions
and strength has formed since last night, be- |
ginning at a point about two miles above /
this place and extending up the river beyond |
Ransoms's, which is about eight miles from
here. This gorge Is in extent about |
half a mile wide. and it goes up the
Susquehanns at least ten miles, if not fur
th6f. The whole distance Is covered with |
vast acress of crystal slabs, from three to
four feet thick, and massed in irregular con-
formations to the average height Of twenty
feet. Looking down upon II from bridle-
path in the mountain below Cempbell's |
Ledge tonight, ihs scene Is one OF terrific
Arctic grandeur. The rugged PEAKS of the
crystal blocks stand like giant spears and
reflect the p2.e rays OF the moon with spec
trsl significance. This gorge is lodged here
bet tween two lofty mountain ranges almost
perpendicular in their formation
and now covered with two or three feet of
snow. Many farmhouse5 are submerged,
and all railroad communications are cut off.
the Lebigh Valley road, which touches
here, is covered with water and ice to the
depth of several feet. The telegraph poles
along this route are all down. The resi-
dents in the neighborhcod Of Ransom and
of the small places between that place and
Pittston are in most terrible state OF
anxiety az TO what will occur when the
weather
USsKACRLRs THE FRIGID GRASP
OF the ice gorges and transforms the vast
of snow on the mountains
into running streams. They say that ths
dangers Of more terrible flood than has yet
occurred are apparent. This is believed to
bs the case here in Pittston. A number of
small boats made their appearance on the
river to-day TO ferry passengers across, but
very few were willing to risk the dangers of
the furious current. The first person to
cross was q comrOsitor in the Comet
Office, who came over in skIff, al
though implored by hundreds the
banks not to make the attempt,
The ice is damned back in the main chan
mel at a distance of about two miles below
PittsIon, and the waters are cutting new
avenues on either side through the flats. At
Plainsville the Lehigh Valley railroad
depot is ell ont of sight. Several freight
cars, with their contents, together with the
freight in the depot, are ruined. Just below
this point and about four miles below Pitts
ton are seen two spans of the old covered
bridge and one span of the new bridge,
all of which are lodged In the
ice, apparently but little damaged.
A few rods below is another span OF the
new bridge, twisted and rolled into a ball of
wood and iron. The remaining two spans
OF the new bridge aud another lost span of
10 IL I,ar haH f1,l