New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-03-25
THE ICE-GORGED RIVERS.
THE SITUATION AT wILKEsBARRE.

THE SITUATION AT WILKEsBARRE.
RAPID THAwING OF THE sNow-THB WYOMING
SEMINARY AT KINGSTON IN DANGER
ITY OF HEAVIER FLOOD THAN BEFORE AT
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. TO BLAST CHAN
MEL THROUGH THE ICE.
| [FRoM SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRTBUNE]
| WnKEsBARRE, Penn, March "a Tho
weather Is growing warm again and the expected mum
dation will probably in few days. Snow fell all
through the forenoon, this evening light mist mas
begun TO fall. Toe IL thawinR rapidly Dat me
river has not yet risen Farmers who IN from tho
surrounding country say there three feet OF
among the hills and the seighing Is as good as in
midwinter The little creeks brooks frozen al
most solid The damage done by the flood
above Ransom last week was very great
Houses Eand barns torn to pieces aud pieces OF
fences and fragments Of the roofs and sides OF buildings
were deposited among the branches OF orchard trees
where the Eecedng left Above IL Grange
where the river narrow powders OF ice weighing tons
were left bill sides 40 feet above the bed OF tho
stream. At TunkhannOck there is q covered highway
bridge, one pier of which shattered BY
the Ice This bridge considered TO be in great danger
the big island Of ic3 from above gego, which s
from five to seven feet thick aud which will como down
In a few days. Tbe damage thus far done along tne
line has been principally the teariGg Of miles upon
miles OF board fences and the running Of orchards ana
fields Of grain, the amount OF which cannot DO aeeu-
rately estimated. The frost is coming out OF the
ground, aud consequently the damage 70 farm
lands by the next food win be increased.
At Pttston the directors OF the new highway bridge,
which carried away, met to-day aud decided to re-
build tho bridge as soon as the ice will permit Both
highway bridges viii be rebuilt. People are still cross
ing TO West Pittston on the ioo The flight OF families
from West PttstOn and Kingston continues. The Wyo-
ming Seminary Kingston thought to be In Danger
from the ice, and considerable apprehension Is felt on
% kac. n haan aH hy
former foundations.
Tho water remains high here, being damned back by
the Wilkesbarre gorge. Between Falls Station and
Wlkesbarreo ten large creeks beside tue Lackawanna
River entaEthe susqIehanua. These are full OF heavy
ice, which viii be added to the gOrges already choking
the channel OF the The Wnkesbarre Bridge Com
pany endeavorng TO strengthen the piers Of Its bridge
by binding the stones together with iron bars. The
piers very strong, but the cap-stones OF Of
them displaced by the force OF the blows
dealt by the heavy blocks Of ice. The Company
has arranged its bridge destroyed TO run
two ferries the river About half the retail trade
of Wkesbarro depends upon this bridge, aud people
both sides Of the river anxious to it II possible
1t has been proposed to blast channel through the
lower edge Of the gorge with nitro-glycerne, as was
done at Port Jervis the be shared by the
city and the bridge and railway companies Several
members OF the City Council strongly favor the plan
the bridge directors think it would be useless
penditUre Tie engineer or the Delaware and Hudson
Canal Company, whose bridge, three miles below, is
endangered will examine the gorge tomorrow to sec
II the plan Of blasting would be effective. Kingston
Flats which the main channel OF the river still
runs covered with heavy aud it is feared that
these will the leo from above aud thus form an
other gorge, which, side by side with the present one
will dam only the but The whole lower portion
OF the valley and thus back tile water until 1t
flows even the highest parts Of the city II will probably
ram tomorrow, aud "A hours OF such weather would
all the gOrges in the river aud the unbroken Ice in
the side streams The suspense OF waiting Is becoming
uncomfortable those whose lives and property en-
daugered.