The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-12-02
WAITING FOR TIE CRASH.
PEOPLE OF CHIPPEWA PANIC
STRICKEN AT THE tCE-PACK.
The Dam is 40 eet High and the Peo-
Pile Below il Are Waiting
in Fear

in Fear.
Chippewa Falls, Wis, Dec This
has been day of excitement and anx-
iety and tonight finds the inhabitants
of this little village in a state bordering
on panic. The worst of the situation is
the knowledge of impending danger and
of the fact that they are utterly helpless
to stay or to avert it. Those whose
houses have been flooded have removed
their household goods and belongings to
higher ground and are huddled together
in the school houses and other vacant
buildings out Of the path Of the torrent
that is sweeping down several of the
main streets. All hope Of breaking
the gorge and thus allowing the waters
to gradually subside is now abandoned.
All efforts to-day were directed towards
removing household goods and merchan-
disc out of the reach of the food. Every
team in the city has been engaged in
this work. Every resident and business
firm of River street has moved out.
The Chippewa Lumber and Boom Com
panys mill and yards are under water
and all hope has been given up of saving
the entire business portion of the place
from being submerged. 1t was re-
ported this morning that another gorge
was forming thirty miles above here and
this greatly added to the alarm ,as IN
case it should break, nothing could save
the city from being swept away.
Reports of a very serious nature came
from down the river. The gorge contin-
ues to grow in extent 1t is now over five
miles long and in many places 30 to 80
feet high. 1t completely dams the river and
this is what is causing the rapid rise Of
the river here. The heavy rains of last
week were followed by a sudden freeze
which quickly massed the floating ice in
the Chippewa and the swiftly running
current continually added to it until it
reached its present gigantic proportions
Below here the Chippewa is falling.
There is no flood at Eau Claire, but this
fact is causing the people at that place
much uueasiness as it indicates that the
water is being piled up as by a dam, above
them The ice pack at Badger mills,
half way between Eau Claire and Chip
pewa Falls is growing in extent and it
seems to indicate that the river is choked
up. 1t is not believed anything serious
can happen under the present conditions
for at least a day or two and it is be-
leved that everyone has been sufficiently
warned and is in readiness to fly, the
moment the crash comes.
Milwaukee, Wis, Dee. IA special to
the Wisconsin from Durand, Wis, says;
The ice gorge, which begun at West New
ton, on the Mississippi and gradually
extended up to Chippewa Falls Fri
day, has reached Round Hill, three miles
below this city The gorge has forced
the water at this point higher than at any
time during the flood, although the river
is slightly falling The eighteen miles
of the Chippewa below Round Hill, is one
field of packed ice, and the bottom lands
over which the Chicago, Milwaukee and
St Paul railway track runs is complete
~ submerged, at Round Hill The river
is fanked by bluffs which makes a gorge
there dangerous to this city, although the
wide bottoms on the west side, making
the river mile wide at this point, causes
the water to rise slowly.
As far as known no lives have been
lost, but those living on the Chippewa
bottoms have been rescued with diff
fculty.
THE RIVER STILL RISING.
Chippewa Fall, Dec. 1.-The Chippewa
river shows no sign of abatement to-
night. 1t rose four feet to-day and at
8 o'clock this evening the waters are
rising OF the rate OF two inches an hour
Reports from various sections indicate
deporable condition Of affairs. At the
Flambeau farm fifteen miles above this
city, another ice gorge has formed. The
river has overfowed its banks and in
undated the country twenty miles on
either side. Domestic animals have
perished by the score Farms and farm
houses are flooded and the losses will
reach into the hundreds Of thousands.
These reports are meagre and uncorr0b-
grated. but it is safe to estimate that at
least 1900 horses, COWS and hogs have
met death in the flood. At Chippewa
Falls the river is fully three quarters
of mile wide and it's surface is covered
with ice to n depth varying from
10 to 80 feet. The most stubborn re-
sistance offered by the obstruction is in
that portion of the river between the
wagon bridge and the Central railroad
bridge, about half a mile in length. To
day Mayor Lindley ordered an explosion
Of 500 pounds Of dynamite, but after
300 pounds had been exploded the expert
ment was abandoned as a failure.
Railroad officials who viewed the gorge,
state that there is not sufficient dynamite
obtainable to blast channel for the river
through the frozen mass of snow, logs
and ice.
HANNAS VISIT THE MKINLEYS.