St. Paul daily globe., 1895-01-08
HAVOC ON The OHIO.
Big Flood and q Crush of lee
Sweeping Down the
Stream.
DAMAGE ABOVE PITTSBURG
Shown by the Quantity Of
oe Wreckage Afioat - The
Fleets Threatened.
DAMAGE ABOVE PITTSBURG
COAL BARGES. SWEPT AWAY.
AS Far as Known But One
Life Was Lost--Finaneial
Loss Heavy.

PITTsBURG. Jan. 7.-River men are
thoroughly alarmed over the prObabil-
ity Of big flood at this point. The
Monongahela came out with rush this
morning. and with the breaking OF the
ice in the upper pools the damage 10
boats began. Immense coal fleets were
threatened with total destruction. The
Allegheny is also full of ice and is rum
ming like torrent. a great amount OF
wreckage is coming down, indicating
damage at points above. River men
said today that they expected stage or
thirty feet, with a prospect of going
still higher. In the great flood OF 1854
the Allegheny rose TO thiTty-three feet,
and great damage was done.
There was intense excitement along
the MonongaheIa wharyes all day. All
the boats in the harbor bad steam up
and were doing all they could to keep
out of the way of the rapidly rising
water. The channel was full Of ice and
snow and the current was very swift.
The docks at McKeespOrt and the boats
tied up along the river gave way early
this morning and went rushing down
the river. The ferrybOat 4. P. Sinclair
broke from her moOrings and ttoated
down stream. She was caught IN the
barbor and
flowed Safely 10 shore.
The report of twenty-five feet at
Lock No 4 and twenty>three feet at
MOrgantown caused a general panic
among the coal operators, and most OF
the clerks and employees were ordered
out OF the offices anu stationed along
the river at different points 10 look
after the safety of the craft and make
reports TO the general Offices.
There were several mIllion bushels of
coal on fats in the harbor here, and
every effort was put forth to keep the
fleets from being wrecked. Several
coal barges. house boat and a swing
ing ferry boat broke from their moor
ings and went down with the current.
The most serious damage in the Allie
gheny will be done to the government
work at Herris island, where the new
dam is in course of construction. The
water is now over the Golfer daGis. and
it is likely that all OF the work will be
destroyed.
The residents of Etna and Sharps-
burg, suburbs on the Allegheny, are
alarmed over the
Prospects of a Big Flood.
The low ground in both towns is SUBJ
merged. and the water rising.
The railroads both East and West are
beng troubled by the high water. al
though as yet no serious damage has
been done on any OF the lines. At Me-
Donald, On the Panhandle, the Union
News company's stand WAS washed
away this morning. The building was
built on piles along the river bank. and
when the ice broke the piles were
knocked from under it and the building
aeated down stream.
No trouble was reported on the Fort
Wayne, although trains were somewhat
delayed by a landslide at Ben Avon,
but 10 serious damage was done. A
landslide at ConnellsYllle. on the Balti-
more Il Ohio. completely interrupted
traffic for several hours.
FOrecaster Stewart, of the local signal
service station, does not think the stage
in the Allegheny river will exceed
twenty-five feet. He says that the only
danger now from food is to be appre-
hended from the MonOngahela river.
The latest news is encouraging, and
indicates that the
Flood Has Done Hts Worst
as far as Pittsburg and points above on
both rivers are concerned. What further
damage may be d3ne will be below.
At 10 pm. the Monongahela here reg
listers twenty three feet, and rising very
slowly. At Morgantown it reached
twenty-five feet, without doing much
damage, and al p. m. had receded to
twenty-fOur feet. kittan!ng, on the
Allegheny, reports an eleYen-foot stage.
rising very slowly, The Taln-faiI has
stopped, and freeze is expected to-
night.
The heaviest individual loss so far re-
ported was that at McKeeSport, where
fifty coal barges were carried from the