Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-01-19
THE ICE.GORGE.

ats coming, mister! 1t follows me
close, and if you're wise you will make
tracks before Why, it's Mr.. Bradburn--
Mark Bradburn, isn't it? didn't know
you at first"
l, for my part, knew the speaker
young American assistant surveyor in
State employ-well enough; and as he
checked his iast-trottng horses and
leaned over the side-rail of the light, high
wheeled wagon which he drove l could
see by his fl Ohed cheek and excited man.
ner that something serious must have oc-
Cured.
1.-THE ice gorge so much talked of Is
really descending, them" | began. II
thought precautions had
"Ay, but we're dead beat" interrupted
Mckinlop-tor that was his name. "The
engineer in-chiet has tried everything, but
the enemy is too strong for us; and unless
we can get time to blast it as it reaches
the Narrows nothing but miracle can
save the towns of Clayville and Port
Adams. 1tll be at Ithaca a quarter of an
hour after am, and let me tell youit' no
sport to try conclusions with the drifting
pack that so big stream as the Delaware
can send down.
And without further parley he dashed
his horses and hurried down the road
that skirted the bank while almost imme
diately aIterward | caught sight of num-
Der of vehicles of various sorts and sizes
rafting along at furious speed. These
were filled with men, women, children and
household gear; and as the drivers went
past the spot where /, with several of my
neighbors and some of the workmen from
the NINE of which | was manager, was
standing they shouted aloud some hoarse
words OF warning, looking back and
pointing up the river with their whips
Every eye was turned toward the iutting
point where we were likely to catch the
first glimpse Of the advancing foe.
Bruton, and Dutch Town and Sparta,
on the New Jersey side, were swamped
yesterday, so it's said" remarked an old
tanned leather :" guess we Pennsyl-
There it comes, Britisher--rounding the
point"
Looking toward the spot indicated de-
scrlbed something like a moving wall of
glislening greenish ice, sparkling in the
sunlight, and advancing slowly and with
a stately majesty down the broad river,
This could be nothing less than the so
called ice gorge, or accumulation of float
ing blocks and slabs from the upper wa
tiers OF the Delaware, partially melted by
the hot sun of an American spring, and
damming back the chatting waters OF the
swollen river TO an extent which threat
ened mischief.
All this was new to me- an Englishman
born, since it is only In very hard winters
that such phenomena are witnessed in
those regions; and during the four years
which | had passed in the country this
last winter had been exceptionally severe.
!, Mark Bradburn, had at the age of
five and twenty, been reckoned fortunate
in being promoted to be acting manager
OF the Black Star Iron Mine, close 10
town called Ithaca, 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 satsfac-
ton of my principals that | was capable
Of experimenting the business efficiently
enough, y Staitordshire lad, had from
childhood been familiar with iron ores
and their treatment; while, having early
in life been placed under the tuition of "a
mining engineer, | had brought out with
me to America that technical dye
which so greatly tends to smooth the path
of an emigrant.
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 a prayer
tor the safety and wellbeing of her
boy beyond the seas-that | was so
eager to earn the means 10 establish
home which l could ask her to
share. With this end in view during the
first years of my residence in the United
States | had praciiced self-denial as well
as industry; had rsughed it contentedly,
and had spent my leisure hours in per
tecung myself in the theoretical lore OF
my profession and in cultivating al ac-
quaintance with the German language,
IN which | could now converse tiuentlv-a
useful accomplishment in district where
30 many OF our workers were fair-haired
newcomers who knew no tongue but that
ut their native SaXony or Pomerania
My post as acting manager OF Penn
sylvanian mine, was one which entailed
some privations, much vigilance and
good deal OF patient toll. The Black Star
was but property Of moderate extent
not one OF those mammoth mines that
yield their thousands Of tons in the
monthly output-but the iron was of ex-
Cellent quality; fine red hematite that
almost equaed the best Swedish in
!as,er and purity; and nothing but the