The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1883-02-24
THE DEUCE.
1t WAS bad Enough But Might Have Been
wOrse---General Subsidence of
the Waters.
abandoned
At OTTA WA.

On Thursday and Friday OF last week
D all the conditions were favorable not only
at Ottawa but throughout the west, for the
! most tremendous food seen here since the
. discovery of America The late fall rains
2 had fllea the ponds, raised the streams
above their usual winter level, and meas.
t uraby saturated the ground with water
! Then came the hard freeze.up in the early
part Of January, and upon it snow fall
averaging all over the west from foot to
30 inches in depth. About week ago last
Monday, for the first time since New Y ear,
Il the thermometer rose above freezing point
u 7, WAN, -n -.r:aIr then to 30, ana Dy
4 Thursday there was a general thaw and
rapid rush of water to the rivers. Thurs
day night there was a furious thunder
storm, raging with about the same violence
from Omaha to Buffalo cast and west and
from Wisconsin to Kentucky north and
south. The effect ola warm rain like that
on two feet of snow is readily conceived.
The streams everywhere went up with a
bound, and hardly telegram on Saturday
from anywhere in Illinois, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Indiana or Ohio failed to state
that the waters are higher than ever be-
fore known at this point" At Ottawa the
rivers rose fifteen feet In as many hours,
and by Saturday morning were two feet
above any previous high water mark; but
meantime on Friday it had turned sudden
ly cold, and the cold snap was as wide in
extent as the thunder storm, and this hav.
ing etfectually checked the thaw, arrested
the deluge. Had the freeze not come in
the nick of time, and the thaw OF Thurs
day night continued, 1t Is frightful to think
Of the height and destructiveness the food
would have attained. As Ii was Ottawa
escaped with comparatively little harm.
Such minor casualties rs occurred are de. |
tailed elsewhere.
THROUGHOUT THE STATE.
The sudden and destructive rise of
streams was most serious in the northern |
and middle portions OF the state. The
Fox rose above high water mark at Elgin,
but did no damage beyond flooding a part
of the town and driving dozen families
from their homes. AT Joliet the Des
PLANES was booming; the southern part of
the city was flooded, ana the railroads
were stopped for six hours At Whining
ton several bridges were carried away and
the whole southern part of the town flood
ed This side OF Dayton, by the rush of
water into the feeder from side streams
about 100 yards of the bank of that ditch
were carried away, cutting off the water
power at Ottawa. But Mr.. Thomas was
on hand with his repair gang
and tho break has already been closed).
Further south and south.ess in the state
half the country was under water. The
Iroquois river from the Indiana line to the
Ksnkakee, had an overflow of unheard.of
proportions. 1t became great, broad
lake, submerging farms and inundating
towns and villages. The city of Watseka,
Ill.,, wos flooded. The Kankskce river was {
also booming at tremendous rate. Il
Around Bloomington everything seemed (,
% be afloat. All the bridges of the C. & t
4. road on Salt Creek were swept away /
md the l. b. Il w. on the Mackinac was +
About all the bridges on {
roads throughout the counties of
Mclean, Ford, Vermillion, C
&C., are on the DRIFT toward the Wabash o
IT Mississippi; and the Military Tract" b
AIRED about the same way, between the II. o
inois and Mississippi. c.
The extraordinary rise o. the Illinois in Il
his region, however, has not yet reached t.