St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-02-18
THE FLOOD.
Immense Flow of Water, and Great
Damage.

immense FLOW OF Water, and Great
Damage.
The ice in the Susquehanna at Har-
risburg, Pa, broke Friday afternoon.
Five miles below the city it gorged.
and the water rose at the rate of two
feet an hour. The Pennsylvania rail-
road tracks for almost a mile were COW
cred with water and ice to a depth of
over three feet, and trains both ways
were delayed. The ice in the Juniata
river broke Friday, and passed out rap
idly, the roar of the crushing ice being
heard mile from the stream. The
bridge at MillerstOwn has been swept
away, carrying with it two spans of the
bridge at Newport. The damage in
the vicinity will be large. Families
along the river have moved out for
safety. Throughout Dauphin county,
Pa, the damage by small streams is
very great, many of the bridges being
washed away. The ice broke Friday
in the Susquehanna river at Wilkes
barre, Pa, and ran down in immense
cakes. The bridge was threatened, the
water and ice rising lS or 20 feet and
nearly touching the bottom timbers
The steamboat II. Z. Wright was brok
Ell to fragments by the ice and sunk.
The water in the Schuylkill at Phila-
delphia rose Friday afternoon at the
rate of four feet an hour. The mills
near the river are all flooded. All the
lower portion of Schuylkill Haven is
submerged. The water came with
such rush that many people were I'M
able to escape, but were obliged to
take refuge in the upper rooms of their
houses till boats were procured to con-
vey them to places of safety. The
loss of property will be large. The
water in the Schuylkill was very high
at Reading and damage was feared.
The streams about Poughkeepsie and
Rondout, n. Y, are very high. Along
Wappinger's creek several bridges have
been carried away and other damage
done. On one country road the water
is eight feet deep. Several houses on
the river banks were crushed by the
ice and hundreds of cellars were flood
ed.
A large quantity of floating ice from
the upper Delaware is blocked at Bor-
dentown, n. j., and banked high.
Duck Island is submerged and all the
inhabitants have left the island. There
is freShet in the Raritan river.
A portion of the Rock Island railroad
bridge at Lasalle, ILL.,, was swept away
by the ice and high water Thursday
night, making it impossible for trains
to cross. Passengers and baggage were
transferred. The Illinois river has ris-
en- II feet, and is gorged at the mouth
of the Vermillion river.
A heavy rain began at Chicago Fri
day noon, continued till midnight and
turned to snow with 4 strong northerly
wind. Reports from the Northwest
show that the storm has been general,
and of such character as to cause an
other railroad blockade in Iowa, north
ern Illinois and Wisconsin. A heavy
snOwstorm prevailed Thursday night
at Milwaukee.
There was intense excitement at To-
ledo, O., Saturday over the flood. The
water was four feet higher than in the
flood of 1868. The losses are over
$500, 900. There were several gorges
in the river Saturday, filling the base
ments of Wholesale stores and running
large stocks, filling Water street with a
rushing torrent five feet deep and sink
ing the steamer Emerald, and three
schOoners. The schOoners were valued
at $4,000 and had $4,000 worth of
grain OH board.
LATER.
Accounts of the great frcshets in Ohio,
Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York and
New Jersey continue to pour in. In
Ohio and Indiana the destruction of
property has been great.
The iron railroad bridge over the
Wabash, at Delphi, Ind, was carried
away. The guard locks of the Wabash
and Erie Canal also gave way, and in
short time 200 people were fleeing
from their homes.
A blizzard has aggravated the snow
blockade that has afflicted southern
Minnesota for two weeks. On the Sioux
City road the snow is four feet deep on
the level. The drifts in some places
are higher than the telegraph poles.
Great efforts have been made to break
the blockade, but a train at Mountain
Lake has been blOckaded ten days.
The railroad between Trenton and
Burlington, n. j., is under water. Ca
nal boats were lying across the track on
the Trenton road. a number of estab-
lishments were inundated. The rail
road bridge on the main line between
there and New York was in a perilOus
position. Twenty-seven cars contain
ing eight tons each were placed on it
and held it in position. The water was
at the axles of the wheels.
Thousands of people cougregated on
the bank of the river at Washington
Saturday, watching the rush of water
aud waiting with patience to see the
historic Long Bridge and Aqueduct
Bridge connecting Georgetown with
Virginia swept away by the ice. The
lower part of the city, that lying south
of Pennsylvania avenue, was submerg-
ed and connection with South Washing
ton by means of street cars was sus-
pended. In some of the streets the
water is from to 3 feet deep. At II
o'clock the water had backed up to the
middle of Pennsylvania avenue in GER
tain localities, and the merchants doing
business on the south side were busily
engaged in removing their goods to a
place of safety.