Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-02-06
The FLOOD.
Notes Of the Ridwiatsr DsIug3 In
the Ohio.
Facts, Incidents and Gossip Picked Up
Along the Edge Of the Riyer-Ihe
Stage Of Water Here
and Above.

The river was the almost universal topic
OF conversation yesterday. In hotels, sa-
looms, restaurants, and other places where
humanity is wont to congregate, the stage
of water here and surmises as to the guam
tity yet to come from above were the themes
Of the major portion of the talk, aud for
nonce all seemed to take a deep interest in
the fIeshet The wharf was the center OF
attraction. Many people had had no init
nation that a food was probable until
tie REGISTER was laid before them
with its exclusive account of what was
Transporting in river circles, and early morn
ing found the river banks throughout the
entire length of the city thickly dotted
with surprised and curious citizens.
The various telegraph offices were sur,
rounded all day long with anxious house
holders from the Island and other low lying
localities, and the special reports which the
companies bulletined from time to time
were eagerly scanned. n
AT NOON q
The marks showed 81 feet 4 inches, and
rising at the rate of 6 inches per hour. The
euLlTc SlTcdIu, lIOlll Ddlh " Odlhl Wa WV
cred with a Jam of ice of the heaviest de-
scription. seeIhing and boiling like some
immence cauldron, and whirled hither and
thither among it were hundreds Of saw logs,
fragments of fences, trees, boards, aud all
the miscellaneous plumber gathered up by
the food in its long journey from the
Pennsylvania mountains. At intervals OF
a half an hour or so coal barges, some torn
and twisted by the ice, and two or three
broken square in two, tioated past the city
and attracted the attention OF the hun
dreds of people who viewed the scene from
the banks. When it is recollected that
probably two-thirds of the ice and drift
WENT DOWN BACK RIVER,
and therefore not visiblet)people about the
wharf, some idea of the enormous quantity
Of floating matter caR be obtained. Many
Of the barges borne down by the
current showed, by the broken fragments
of lines and chains attached to their bows,
that desperate attempts had been made by
their owners TO save them before they were
finally carried away by the ice. About 8
o'clock in the morning several barges
passed down Back river, one or two having
wagons and trucks on their decks, and
others having considerable quantities OF
lumber and other property on board. At
/ o'clock a very large float passed down in
front of the landing, having several wagons
on its deck, and a large office and Fair-
banks scale, showing that it was the head
quarters OF some coal company. The barge
had evidently come in contact with the
Steubenyille bridge piers, as the. house was
in a badly wrecked condition.
ABOUT 2 O'clock
the towboat John w. Gault passed down,
broadside to the current, and utterly help
Loco Sha bod ctaanl nm and q full HrpW
was aboard, but nothing could be done to
rescue her from her perilous position. At
half past l o'clock the marks registered 80
feet, showing q steady rise OF about six
inches per hOu The ice was running as
heavy as ever, and was apparently as solid
as so much granite. Many cakes of clear
blue Allegheny ice we're from sixteen to
twenty-four inches in thickness, and in nu-
merous instances, where several cakes,had
become piled on top of each other, the ice
rose three or four feet out of the water, in.
dicating ali thickness. At three
O'Clock eight inches had been added to the
depth in the channel, with the rate OF in
crease about the same as before. At this
hour the
SCENE AT THE WHARF
was interesting and exciting, and hundreds
OF people were drawn thither to view the
mass of turbid water aud jam OF ice that
flowed swiftly by. A reporter made a tour
Of the city at this time, with a view OF as
c%ertalning 10 what extent the river had
encroached upon the dOmiciles and bust
ness houses Of citizens, with the following
result:
On the Island but little damage had been
done, though many persons had gloomy
orebodings of the fate in store for them
during the coming night, and were making
.,,,l l,,n,g.Nsnn 1E tEAs- hA.nahA1l rNlo |
as would ensure their safety. The water
was over the bank in numerous instances
on the Back river side, but beyond the
flooding Of back yards and vacant lots no
harm had been done. The west ends of
Ohio. Virginia and Delaware streets were
under water, and the Old Fair Grounds
were damp and aninViting.
II NEW FAIR GROUNDS
we're partly submerged, and it was predicted
that by this morning a good part OF the
fences surrounding it would have been de-
molished by the ice and carried off. On
the Bridgeport side the trestle work of the
TuScarawas Valley railroad had received
many severe knocks from the ice, but as far
as could be aScertained, had not material
ly damaged. In North Wheeling the low
ground in the neighborhood of the cooper
shops was many feet under water, and some
material had been carried away. At the
F., w. & KY, freight depot the current
had cut into the bank TO a serious extent,
and many tons of earth had fallen into
the water. At the mouth of the creek the
ice had been jammeG into a solid mass, ap.
parently
NTENDISG TO II BOTTOM,
and the surface OF the gorge was within a
foot or two of the new railroad bridge. The
piles supporting the p, w. & Ky trestle
south of the creek looked as if axemen had
been at work on them, and occasionally the
contact of an unusually heavy cake OF ice
would give the solid structure a jar that
could be felt a hundred feet away. That
part OF tie road bed extending
from the southern end OF the
trestle TO the Riverside landing, being
built of newly made ground, was badly
undermined by the water, and considerable
furniture and movable effects contained in
the numerous floating shanties along the
shore, south Of the creek, had been re-
moved to a place of safety, aud those in.
terested were fearful that their homes
would be carried away before morning.
At the Riverside warehouse the bank had
been badly cut by the current, but this
fact did not deter the irrepressible small
boy from engaging in the work of catching
urllt at that point, tnouSn IN imminent
danger Of being
DUMPED INTO THE RIVER
by a sudden slip Of the earth.
Reports from Benwood and Bellaire were
to the effect that a considerable portion
OF those places were submerged, and that
some Of the streets were navigable for skiffs
and RATS. The low lying portion of the
Eighth ward were also invaded by this
rising waters, but no serious damage was
done up to dark.
At ten o'clock last night there was IS
feet of water in the emanuel, and the rise
still continued at the rate of about four
inches per hour. Specials from Pittsburgh
report the Allegheny river falling and the
MOnongahela rising, and the highest point
here will probably be touched about day
light this morning; Reports from the
Garden Spot at the hour named stated that
the cellars on SOuth York street ve-e tlon3-