The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-12-03
TOWNS RE TN PERI
HUGE ICE GORGE IN THE CHIPPEWA
RIVER IN WISCONSIN.
4 VAST ''' Amount OF Damage Has Az.
q ready been Done, and When the.
Gorge breaks CnIamitous Conse-
Gu ,t'a'1 Will surely I'ollow-It Is
1. IFei,red That Some Lives Have Al
ready Been lost.

Chippewa Falls, Wis, DEG. O. Az
{ immense ice gorge thirty feet high has
{ formed across the Chippewa river be-
low this city, and many farms and
/ farm buildings of the Chippewa val
ley are under water The flood is be-
ing added to hourly at the rate of six
4 inches. and unless the gorge breaks
soon this city will be partly under
water Easements of buildings on
Spring street are flooded and in some
instances floors are under water Peo-
pie living in or occupying business
houses in the lower part of the city
are hastily removing their personal eff
fects to higher ground In 1894 sim
liar Hood occurred, causing a loss Of
many thousands Of dollars. a great
! deal of railway property is threatened
and many highway and railway
bridges will probably be swept away.
Below the immense gorge the river is
practically dry, and when the jam
u breaks the body of water in the reser-
Volr must carry destruction to the val
icy below. Eau Claire has every reason
10 feel apprehension, as it's danger be-
gins when that of Chippewa Falls has
passed: The gorge is five miles long.
At Irvine the Wisconsin Central rail-
light plant partly flooded and the town
is in darkness. F -l. y
Possibly Loss of Life .&
Eau Claire, Wis, Dec. 2.-The Chip
peWa river is gorged with ice at many
points between the Dells Sorting works.
aust above the city, and Gravel island,
just this side of Chippewa Falls. The
reports from that city, where the water
is backing up and accommodating at the
rate of six inches and hour, have
caused much alarm here as to the pos
slbility Of sudden breaking Of the ice
packs and rush of ice, logs and water
down upon the city. Experienced men,
however, claim there is no danger,
though the situation is carefully
watched. The river has been full Of
floating ice and is twelve feet above
low water mark, but not rising.
The following report was brought
from Durand by an eye witness: The
ice formed a gorge at the mouth of the
Chippewa, which caused the water to-
back up rapidly. On the low lands be-
low Durand the rise was so rapid that
many families had to flee in their night
robes to places of safety and leave
their all behind them. The suffering
among the women and children was in
tense and many are reported as hav-
ing frozen feet and limbs AS a rule
those who could, fed to the railroad
track. There they built a fire and;
tried to protect themselves from the
frosty winds until relief arrived. An
engine and coach sent out from Du-
rand gathered up about forty Of fifty
Of these unfortunate people, but SO fast
was the water rising that the train had
tn 111Y. ~ sc1+ ~ 4
some. of the people We're not reached
by the rescuing party, and possibly
may have. persisted. The bottoms are
all under water and the stock and
produce are q complete loss. Dead ami
mails could be seen all about the neigh
borhood frozen stiff in the water In
most of the homes were stored the
winters supplies, and these We're all
lost.
On account of the fcod there have
been no trains for three days on the.
Valley division of the Milwaukee road.
A messenger from Durs nd reports.
eight miles of track below Durand I'M
der water. Thirty-seven men, women
and children, refugees from the low
lands, are quartered in the Durand
court house.
The Wisconsin Raging
Stevens Point, Wis, Dec. 3 - The
water in the Wisconsin river at this.
point is the highest at present that it
has ever been in the history of this.
city. At present the streets for several
blocks are flooded and last night the
people in the flooded districts carried
all there goods to upper stories. a.
dixie was built number of years ago
for the protection of large part Of
the residence portion Of the city, but
this has now fallen into disrepair, and
if the threatened flood comes hundreds
of families will be compelled to seek
shelter on higher grounds.
DULUTH MAN CALLED.