Morning journal and courier., 1888-02-22
FEBRUARY FRESHETS.

ed-An Ice Gorge on the Housaton1c- Perilous Night on the Steamer Nauga-
 tuck.
 ANsoN1A, Feb. 21.-This morning the eff fects of yesterdays heavy downpour were
 apparent. The Naugatuck and Housatonic rivers were rapidly rising; the ice, which was
 sixteen inches thick, broke up and hoated
 out. The first report of trouble came from
 the covered bridge at Bridge street, Ansonia,
 across which the Birmingham and Ansonia
 horse car track runs. Then came the account
 of the giving away of the dam at the West
 Ansonia reservoir, which fortunately did no
 very serious damage.
 As early as o'clock Monday night the few
 pedestrians who ventured out noticed the shaky condition of the covered bridge at
 Bridge street In late horse car which
 passed over the bridge was seated gentle man who expressed the opinion that the bridge was unsafe, and the last car passed over at 10 o'clock.
 The mass of thick ice of the Naugatuck broke up about midnight and augmented by the enormous quantity from the reservoir in the northern part of the town came down the swollen river and crashed into the unpro- tected spiles supporting the bridge. The fourth spile from the east shore was cut off completely and forty four feet of the bridge caved in and would have washed away had net iron bands of the horse car track and it's transverse planking supported it. It will take three days to repair the bridge so that travel over it can be resumed.
 The structure has shown it's weakness at high water every year and the break of last night will doubtless result in the building of iron structure there. The railway bridge close by showed the effects of the ice foe by it's shivered piles. The Derby road had 8 gang of men out at eight o'clock removing the accumulated ice from their structure. Reports from along the line of the Naugatuck road north of here show that nothing of serious nature has occurred. Near Burtville the water was very high and had flooded sev- eral places.
 The factories did not experience any diff culty from the high water, having prepared the banks along the river front. Cellars were flooded all over town and considerable damage was done. The river was highest at abont five o'clock this morning, from which time it decreased slowly.
 The people of the western portion of the town had genuine surprise this morning when they found their water pipes empty. It was soon learned that the cause was that there was no water in the reservoir, the dam having givenaway sometime during the night, leaving the entire district without drop of water. Superintendent Fiske at once drove to Birmingham and the gates between the two systems were OpeneQ, auO w 6SG AQSOQ1a is now supplied with water from the reser- voirs upon Derby Hill otherwise there would not be drop of water to use for household purposes or for fire.
 The reservoir is situated among the hills in West Ansonia and is fed by springs. It does not cover more than about eight acres of land and has depth of eighteen feet. A high wall of solid masonry, backed by dirt on the north, retains the water and it was supposed to be strong enough to resist any pressure that might be brought against it. There was one weak spot in it's construction, however, and that point was where the wall connected with the eastern bank, which was not extend forced passage, small at first, but growing larger until the whole reservoir was emptied into the valley below. The hole was large enough to drive through. The upper part of the wall remained, while the lower part was gone, forming an arch. At what time the accident occurred is unknown, but at eleven o'clock Monday night the pressure was on the | pipes as usual. Leaving the dam the waters ran down the natural course of the stream until the little bridge across the main road was reached, which was undermined, but yet remains in position. The water then followed down the south side of the road, gullying out the gutter in some places to depth of four | feet, and for sixty rods it's course is marked l with dirt and gravel. It finally crossed the ! road and passing down by Kings cider mill | reached the Naugatuck river. But for the ! heavy bed of ice upon the roadway nothing would have remained except gully to show where the read was.
 Captain Samson of the steamer Naugatuck l had an exciting time during the breaking up of the ice in the Housatonic river. He got | up steam and made all preparations for the l protection of the boat yesterday afternoon. l when loud reports resembling the discharge | of musketry gave evidence that the ice was | cracking and would soon break up. At 1 about two o'clock this morning things looked | rather serious for the steamer. The water | was rising rapidly and the chances were that | she would go down the river or be swamped l under the huge cakes of ice. Now and then | the boat would be struck on the side shaking | her from stem to stern, while at the same l moment ceuld be seen in the distance ice | piled mountains high and coming down with | sufficient power to. drive dozen steamers like the Naugatuck into the sand. But the steamer was anchored in lucky spot, the ice bounding off her side without causing her to drift. The steamer Rosedale was not 50 for tunate, as she was whirled around the Sound all night among the ice foes like cork and did not get to her dock until seven o'clock this morning. The storm and freshet was the severest Derby people have experienced in years.
 The foe in the Housatonic broke up about 3 o'clock this morning and came down with terrific force. A dam was formed just below Squantuck and the water backed up two feet higher than was before known. The roads along the river are obliterated and the ice lies in great piles fo- miles, At Zosr Bridge the piles are within four feet of the bottom of the bridge Frenehs house, about which there was such jam last year, is shut in now with the ice piled up to the caves. The ice was lifted high above the huge spiles at Otter Rock and they are mostly hidden from sight. The scene far surpasses in grandeur anything that has ever been witnessed along the river. Days must elapse before roads can be cut through the mass, and travel is suspended except on foot. ,..
 One kind of medicine will not cure all | kinds of diseases. Dr. Kilmers prepara- tions are specifcs-a remedy for each dis ease. They are the result of successful practice since 1852 Guide to Health (sent