The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1877-01-17
THE ICE FIEND.
Incidents OG the Brea aking of the Wintex
blockade at Various Points.

htOShtOc IA various fOtntAs
The damage done by the giving way OF the
ice gorge al Cincinnati was considerable,
though much less than at Pittsburg. where
full particulars have been given by associated
press. At the former place one steamer, the
Calumet. was sunk and several Others in
jured. a. we'll az many coal harges destroyed
The total loss will reach about $50, 600.
The Enquirer thus s1eaks Of some incl
dents of the flood: The ice does queer
things. The little steamer Hiram Walton
broke loose from Gardner's Landing and
dOated alongside of GoOdhue's stone barge,
where huge mass of ice picked Up the
little boat and landed her inside OF the
barge, safe and sound. At the foot Of Eg-
gleston avenue man named Culhert had
family boat mOored. Its inmates were him
self, wife, FIVE children aud a woman who
was a friend Of the family. When the ice
broke Saturday night Culbert and mis- fam
lily and friend left the boat About O'Clock
yestt rday morning they returned and again
took possession of it, linking that the heavi-
est OF the ice fields had passed and with
them all danger. They had not been long
in the boat when an immence ice Zoe came
down with resistless force and tore the frail
little craft from her moorings. The father
had barely time to grasp one of his children
in his arms and leap I'd the shore-ice when
the boat was carried down stream, bearing
with IL the two women and four children.
Those who saw the little boat passing the
city state that the appeals for help from its
ill-fated passengers We're heartrending
in the extreme The last seen
of the boat and passengers was IN the
bend below SedamSvile The boat
did not seem to be materially injured by
the ice, but it surely must have been sunk
last night. About half clock yester-
day afternoon an empty coal barge, which
had been torn from some of the up-river
landings, came floating down amid huge
field of ice and struck the Kentucky chan
mel pier of the Newport bridge. At first it
looked as il she would drift broadside, but
just before the pier was reached the current
threw her head around and she Quartered
against it. When she struck her timbers
cresked and groaned, and for q moment il
looked as if she would go 70 pieces at once,
but she slid of and drifted down into the
ice apparently but little injured By her con
tact with the solid masonry. This sight was
witnessed by hundreds of people who lined
both sides Of the river. Just below Eggle-
ston avenue Mr.. w. III. Brown has a choice
assortment Of kindling wood, ground down
by the ice out of several barges and fats
Several barge., keel boats and trading boats
at this point have been crowded out on shore
by the ice, bat this will not damage them 20
any great extent.
At Louisville.
Comparatively little damage was done at
Louisville, preparation having been made
by dislodgiDg much of the floating ice in the
gorge. The Courier-Journal thus describes
the process of ice fighting: The recent spell
of moderated weather, together with the
sudden rise in the tributaries of the upper
Ohio, have had the desired effect TO accom-
plish movement in the gorges long looked
for. In anticipation of a sudden break up.
resulting probably in much damage
TO our barbor, the harbor boats. including
the towboat james Hobson. have been as
busy as bees for several days, and they sx-
hibited an unusual degree of activity yestsr-
day. The towboat James Hobson, Captain
Jim Hobson in command, went in" to
fight the ice night before last. and we are
happy to say her efforts were crowned with
success. though the fight was a hard one.
She succeeded yesterday, about O'Clock, in
dislodging an immense field of short ice ex
tending from the upper end of Tow-head
island and the Indiana shore. This mass u
about ten acres foated quietly down the
middle of the river and passed on over the
falls without doing any damage. The alb
sence from the Kentucky shore Of
this immense field left a clear river
from shore to shore from 8 point near
the water works down to the falls, and
steamboatmen felt that no matter how heavy
the gorge or when il came, there would be
no danger, as the river was wide. the wind
from the south, and the current strong from
the Kentucky shore to the head of the falls.
Great crowds OF people were at the wharf
yesterday, and after seeing the large body
of ice over the falls, concluded that the
gorge had broken, and they left the wharf
satisfied.