National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-02-16
ICE-BOUND HARBOR.
TRYING TO CUT THROUGH THE GORGE.
The Results OF Saturdays Freshet-The District
Commissioners Report on the Long Bridge
An Unsuccessful Effort To Get an
Ice.Boat from Baltimore.

| The gorge in the river between the
! Arsenal and Giesboro still continues, the pas
sage of the ice being INSTRUCTED by quantity OF
| driit-wood and other rubbish. Four tugs were
| hard al work all day yesterday trying to cut a
channel through, but had made little Roadway
when night came on. Meanwhile the Washington
channel from the Long Bridge is free from ice, but
! the fats running across TO the Georgetown chan
mel are one vast ice field. Merchants along
the river front are b,lsily engaged inspect
ing damages deviSing means to save as
much of their wharf property as possible; but
the indications are that Carriers, RileyS Biseoes s,
the Cooperative Ice CompGny's, and Sheriff S
wharves viii have to be entirely rebuilt. All the
timber for repairs TO the railroad bridge IS now IN
readiness to be put in position, and travel South
will probably begin by Saturday at the latest. In
til that time passengers for the South will be trans
ferred from this city to Fort Runyon by coaches
The scenes on Pennsylvania avenue with four
horse stage coaches making fast time, recalls old
times, when the stage coach was considered the
perfection of conyeyanccs for fast travelling, and
the arrival of the mail coach was great event in
the history of the day.
UNGRATEFUI. BALTIMORE.
The District Commissioners thought they saw
way by which the icegOr could easily be broken
up end navigation promptly resumed; so they
telegraphed to fis cxcellency, Mayor Latrobe, of
Baltimore city, TO know if he would send one Of
their city ice boats (as they had two and no ice in
the harbor Or bay around here for short time to
be used in breaking the ice blockade. Themayor,
Ii seems held Il conference with Major Hutton, ell
gineer OF the harbor board, and the latter yester
day sent reply, saying, We dare not send our
boats 50 far away The answer was not received
with very good grace By the Commissioners when
they came to recall what had been done for Balti-
more by this city the time of the great fire there
i'll July, 1873
THE COMMISSIONERS REPORT.
IN answer TO the resolution OF the Senate of the
18th instant calling for report of the damages
done to the Long Bridge by the recent food, and
whether, in repairing the same, some method
could be adopted that would diminish the proba
bility of future inundaton, the Commissioners yes
tertiay transmitted the following report: The re-
cent food carried away three spans of the bridge
over the Washington channel, total length of 420
feet The injury sustained to the spans over the
main channel, except to the lateral bracing, are
comparatively slight The causcway between the
Washington and Georgetown channels is not seri-
ously damaged. On The Virginia side the track of
the railway is washed out for long distance.
though the exact length is unknown. The
company estimate their losses on the bridge
and its approaches at $4,000 By an act
of Congress approved June p, 1870, the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Company
were authorized to take possession OF, hold,
change, and use the Long Bridge. Under this
authority the company will doubtless proceed to
rebuild the wooden spans of the bridge formerly
constructed. The ice gorge which formed above
the bridge during the late food was caused by the
narrow openings between the piers and by piles
and other distractions which are the remains of
an old bridge existing before the present one was
built. To prevent the recurrence Of such gorge5 it
would be necessary to remove AT least One-half of
the piers now existing, to clear the intermediate
channel of all distractions and to rebuild the Su
perstructure with spans OF at least double the pres
ent width This, With the removal of the bar III
the main channel above the bridge, would prevent
the g0rging of ice at this point in the future. No
method can be adopted in simply repairing the
present damage which would be effective in pre-
venting inundatiOn hereafter. The cure must be
radical, and will involve the building of a new
bridge