Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-01-27
THE ICE GORGE.
Belgrayia.l ]

Belgravia.
Its coming, mister! 1t follows me
close, and if you're wise you will make
tracks before. Why, it's Mr.. Brad
burn-Mark Bradburn, isn't it?
didn't know you at first
|, for my part, knew the speaker
young American assistant surveyor in
the State employ-well enough; and az
he checked his fast-trotting horses, and
leaned over the side-rail of the light
high-wheeled wagon which he drove,
L could see by his flushed cheek and
excited manner that something serious
must have occurred.
The ice gorge, so much talked of, is
really descending then" | began. i
thought precautions had
'Ay, but we're dead beat interrupt.
ed MckinlOp-for that was his name,
The engireer-in-cbie has tried every
thing, but the enemy is too strong for
US; and unless we can get time to blast
as it reaches the Narrows nothing but
a miracle can save the towns of Clay.
VILE and Port Adams. It'll be at Ith-
, AGA quarter of an hour after / am, ,and
let me tell you it's no sport to try con-
clusions with the drifting pack that so
! big stream as the Delaware can send
down.
| And without further Farley he LASH
/ ed his horses, and hurried down the
| road that skirted the bank; while al
most Immediately afterward l caught
sight of a number of vehicles of vari-
| Gus sorts and sizes rattliGg along at fu-
riOus speed. These were filled with
men, women, children, and household
gear, and as the drivers ent past the
spot where l, with several of my
neighbors and some of the work men
from the mine of which l was mana
ger, was standing, they shouted aloud
. some hoarSe words of warning, looking
back, and pointing up the river with
their whips. Every eye was turned to-
ward the jutting point where we were
likely to catch the first glimpse of the
advancing foe.
'Bruton, and Dutch Town, and Spar
ia, on the New Jersey side, were
sWampcd yesterday, so tits said,' re-
marked an old farmer in blue home
spun, and boots of untanned leather.
L guess we Pennsylvania folks WON'T
get Off shot tree nOuther- There it
comes, Britisher-rounding the pointn
Looking toward the spot indicated, /
deserted something like wall OF glis-
tenlng greenish ice, sparkling in the
sunlight, and advancing slowly and
with stately majesty down the broad.
river, which it seemed to fill from bank
to bank. This could be nothing less
than the sO-called ice-gOrge, or accumu-
latiOn of floating blocks and slabs from
the upper waters of the Delaware, par
TALLY melted by the hot sun of an
American spring, and damming back
the chatting waters of the swollen river
to an extent which threatened mis-
chief.
All this was new to me, an English.
man born. since it is only in very hard
winters that such phenomena are wit
messed in those regions; and during the
four years which / had passed in the
country this last winter had been ex-
ceptionally severe.
|, Mark Bradburn, had; at the age of
five and twenty, been reckoned fortu-
nate in being promoted to being acting
manager OF the Black Star Iron Mine,
close to town called Ithica, on the
Pennsylvania shore of the Delaware.
But then | had for two years had an
opportunity, as clerk of the works, Of
proving to the satisfaction of my prin-
cipals that | was capable of superinten-
ding the business efficiently enough. A
Statfordsbire lad, had from childhood
been familiar with iron ores and their
treatment; while, having early in life
been placed under the tuition of mi
ming engineer, had brought out with
me to America that technical knowl-
edge which so greatly tends to smooth
the path of an emigraht.
1t was for the sake of my widowed
mother in England-who loved me
very dearly, and who, knew, never
failed night and morning to put up
prayer for the safety and well-being of
her boy beyond the seas-that l was
so eager of earning the means of estab-
fishing home which l could ask her
to share. With this end in view, du-
ring the first years of my residence in
the United States / had practiced self
deniai'as well as industry; had roughed
it contentedly, and had spent my lei
sure hours in perfecting myself in the
theoretical lore of my profession, and
in cultivating an acquaintance with the
Germ9n language, in which / could
now converse fiuently-a useful accom-
plishment in distrist where so many
of our workers were fair-haired new
cCmers who knew no tongue but that
of their native SaxOny or Pomerania.
My post, as acting manager of q
Pennsylvania mine, was one which en-
tailed some privations, much vigilance,
ana good deal of patient toll. The
Black Star was but a property of mod
crate eXtent-nOt one of those 0am-
moth mines that yield their thousands
of tons in the monthly Output-but the
iron WAS of excellent quality; fine red
hematite, that almost eQualed the best
Swedish in lustre and purity; and
nothing but the cost of coal and of Ia
/ Dor prevented Us from carrying on q
much larger trade than we actually
did. Our workmen were motley
crew of varied nationality, for the best
of the native pitmen had been allured
away by the gold and silver of the Far
West, while the sturdy Irish immi-
grants preferred open air labor to earn
ing livelihood below ground. So
high were the wages we were forced to
give that Cornish miners and colliers
from Scotland often found it worth
their while to cross and recross the At
lantic, spending their own slack season
among our shafts and galleries.
Salaries in the Unitetf States are per-
haps not quite on proportlonate level
with weekly wages, but then the OPP
portunities Of rising in the world are
probably more frequent than at home;
and did aot complain, anticipating
the time when,as permanent manager,
J should be in receipt of a better in