The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1895-01-07

this morning. Fto had boon told that
forty feot would bo about tho top.notch
oftho rise, and was taking no chances.
II forty feot 10 reached hero, 1t will
canso some damage. thir.y.olght foot
being tho stage at which water will
commence TO cntor tho collars OF bust.
ness houses on Water stroct. A forty
foot stago will put tho water just Lowell
with tho Pau Handle tracks on Water
stro0t, and would enter houses In vnti.
Gus OF tho lower sections OF tho city.
Last night Captain Crockard, Of tho
wharfboat, received telegram from
Captain james A. Henderson, general
manager Of the Pittsburgh & Cincinnati
packet company, stating that ton feet
would DO reached At Pittsburgh to-day.
A telegram was alao received from tho
United States weather observer at Pitts.
burgh, as follows:
Ctotkur, lpAtt'inq. ". Va.
River breaking up. viii probably
roach 10 to 20 foot by Tuesday.
STEWART,
Observer, Weather Bureau.
Twenty feet at Pittsburgh on Tuesday
means about thirty foot hore ut that
time. II tho water were coming out
entirely from headwators It might mean
loss than that stago horo, but 1t must
DO remembered that all tho sido streams
as far down as Parkersburg are also
putting out. For thin reason thirty
feet Is about correct estimate oil tho
stago hero at that time.
About II o'clock tho river again start
cd to come up the marks and at 1880
p. m. ton feet we're recorded. higher
than 1t had been at any timo during the
day. The rising waters caused the ice
above the steel bridge to break up, an
event that had been expected through
out tho night. The breakup wa,
heraldcd by sounds like that OF pistol
shot, the cracking OF tho immense field
Office. Tho ton or twelve people on tho
whariboat know what was coming and
collected on the bows 10 witness tho re-
suit, which, it was feared, might DO
disastrous to tho boat.
The spectators did not have to wait
long. for. in about minute, an i'm.
mense cake, stretching almost across the
river, hove in view, coming diagonally
across tho river, from tho western pier
OF tho steel bridge. It missed the ferry
float at the upper ond Of tho public
landing. but struck the bow OF the
whariboat quartering blow that shook
tho craft from stem to stern, but on nc.
count OF being thin and not very solid,
1t broke into thousand and one pieces
and piled up ut the bows OF the boat,
soon forming 4 barrier from tho blows
Of the ice that followed tho first cake.
The ice was all large, and whenever it
struck the leo barrier ut the wharfboat
would rise up into the air ten or twelve
feet. The ice continued to pass down
for about forty minutes. and it is esti.
mated that tho river is clear at least
five miles above Wheeling now.
While the ice was passing, the Is
landslide ferry float broke loose, but was
caught before it had como down fifty
feet and safely harbored again.
Passengers coming in from the in
terror OF tho state on tho late trains last
night brig reports OF steady rain in
the territory tributary to the Ohio. In
the mountains tho snow is very heavy
and all OF the rivers are rising rapidly.
At Fairmont the Monongahela was re.
ported at tho fifteen foot stage and ris-
ing oveS foot per hour. The same con.
dition, practically. was reported at
Grafton and other points.
The leo broke in front OF Martins
Ferry at o'clock this morning, aud no
damage was known to have resulted at
that time.