Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-25
MERCHANTS MOVING GOODS.
preparing for Flood-Angry About tn
Long Bridge.


Long Bridge
In the event Of q food in the Potomac the
merchants the south side of the avenue do
not propose to be caught mapping. The major
i;y Of them. believing that IAN ounce of pre-
Veution Is better than pound of cure"
and 18th the great damage which foods
here have csu-ed them in the past fresh in
their minds, have already begun TO prepare as
bes; they can for what most of them fear
may be the worst one in the history of the city
Some Of them began week ago to remove
al the goods they conveniently could from
their store cellars to places Of safety, and
NJ the present time hardly merchant in
what has heretofore been the flooded dis
trict has failed to take the precaution of
reducing the apparent danger to a minimum by
removing his goods. Not only have they done
that. but some Of them have gone to the work
Of stopping up as best thew could all pipes and
other channels through which the rising waters
might make their way into their premises.
The time and cost Of such removal has as
was stated TO a STAR reporter TO-DAY, been con-
siderable and this has excited Indignation
sgsinst the existence Of so great a menace to
public safety as the Long bridge in its present
condition.
One prominent avenue merchant in what is
Known "a the threa tened district remarked that
only good fortune could in his osinion avert
food which would prove to be the most disas-
trous ever known here. He said that he for
one was IN favor OF taking heroic measures in
the matter TO the extent of applying dynamite
a. the bridge obstruction II its removal could
De brought about in no other way.
THE ICE WASHING AWAY
Providence is helping considerably to
solve the ice problem" said Commodore SUIT
ton to the Commissioners this morning while
there Is a very slight perceptible thaw in the
Ice the under currents are washing it
away underneath, and If old Jupiter Pluvius
holds Of for ten DAYS and the mild weather con-
tnues the ice will break up and float out Of the
river without doing any damage. / hear
that the snow and ice in the mountains
Il melting slowly, and this Is a favorable
sign IL We can once get the channel clear
before general thaw takes place the chances
.: . Hood vii be small OF course the Long
bridge Is the most important place to watch.
The heavy piers with their broad bases Of
riprap 10 protect the foundations form a
big dam. and the ice will gorge
here before anywhere else. As / have said
before. the breaking Of the ice should commence
near the mouth Of the river. The ebb-tide will
carry II out, and II cannot get back. The
reason l. plain enough. The ebb-tide runs
out IN seven hours while the hood-tide
tales but i've hours to make. The shipping
Interests along the river front bordering on
TIE Warrington channel are better protected
this year than ever before, and the ice will not
damage any OF the boats. The reason for this
i that the Improvement of the fats has prac-
ueally closed the channel from the west"
But the Washington channel Will suffer, ="
INTERCEPTED Capt ROssel- Il mean bv that
that II will I'll up by the mud deposits brought
down. snd when navigation opens the large
steamers viii have considerable trouble getting
cut
Yes that's so, captain, but We can't remedy
that"
Mn. STEVENS PLAN
Mr- W. Y Stevens, the superintendent of the
bathing beach. appeared before the Commits
sioners this morning and submitted diagram
~ al ice breaker for use in the Po-
tomac riVer- HIS idea Is to construct an or
binary scow with sides eight feet high and
shape one end liks pillow With iron facing. A
TX boat pushes the attachment and IL plows
under the Ice AMI after lifting IL the ice breaks
from ITS Own weight and falls 20 each side
srEaNBOArs ArTEMPT To ERE.K TEE ICE
There vas Al attempt on the part OF the
Norfolk and Washington proDellers to break
tn Ice IN the Washington channel this morning.
The Norfolk left her dock with a
god had Of steam on and succeeded
n crushing through to the dock Of the
detuuct People Na-hington and Norfolk line
Then backing 10 the ferry wharf she made one
Hal buck against the ice and came to dead
stop IA two lengths. She then returned to her
d0cA With this experience her officers think
y would be inpraeticable to cut q passage &c
the bay.