Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-03
FLOODS BEGIN TO SUBSlDE
Citizens of Chippewa Falls Now Hope the
Town May Be Saved.
BUSINESS SECTION ALMOST DESERTED
As the waters Rushed Through the
streets Wagons of All kinds Were
i'm Great Demand Removing
Goods to High Ground.

Tho water has reCeded about six inches and
! 1t is believed it may not rise higher, al
though the city has twice been fooled within
| the past forty-eight hours by exactly the
! same conditions Last night the water re-
| cedcd eight inches between the hours OF s
/ and -, but after that hour 1t came UP rap
| idly until IL had gone two feet above It's
! former high water mark. Tonghts bright
/ prospects may be but a repetition of these
of last night and the night before and many
| expect that before daylight the water Will
! be creeping up Bridge street into the resi-
! dence portion. The gorge in the channel
| OF the river has been added to all dav
! and tonight It seems a veritable mountain,
| which tons of dynamite cannot affect. If
| the water succeeds in cutting a passage be-
/ meath this immense mass of frozen snow and
! ice a further rise may not be experienced
/ but it is doubtful II sufficient volume can
/ find its way under 1t to save the city from
1 further destruction. At o'clock tonight an
I immense amount OF anchor ice piled up in
! the river at the foot of Bridge street, indi-
I eating that the gorge had anchored on the
/ bottom and that the water was no longer
! finding its way beneath. The fact that the
/ river had fallen fifteen inches at Eau Claire
/ seems to warrant this belief, but, neverthe
| less, the water did not continue in this city
] after that hour. IL may be possible the
! water found another means of passing down
| tho river, but the citizens will not feel alb
| solutely safe until 1t has been demonstrated
| by several days observation that the river
has reached its maximum height.
CITY WAS PANIC STRICKEN.
The situation here was interesting in the
| extreme today The city was panic-strcllen,
and men with blanched faces rushed back
and forth scarcely conscious of their ac-
| tions The alarm may be unfounded. but
| nevertheless it exists, and the condition of
the river seems to auger i'll for the entire
city Wild reports reach town of the havoc
wrought by the stream above and ter
rible catastrophe may oycrtake the city at
any moment. No one knows just what is
in store, and the condition of uncertainty
adds more to the excitement of the moment
than the actual destruction of property by
the river possibly could One rumor TO the
effect the river would cut a passage for
itself through the high banks north OF the
| city gave rise to a great deal of apprehen-
sion. The river course is seriously Oh
structed by the gorge which has now
reached to within short distance of the
dam, and the probable turning Of the course
of the stream upon the city seems so plaus-
ible that every one became more panic
stricken. Hundreds of teams started at
daylight to move the effects of merchants
out of the way OF possible danger, and
Bridge and Central streets were choked
with wagons loaded down with. merchan-
were filled to such an extent that the con-
tents spilled over the sides and ends, and
! the scene was one OF indescrfbable con-
| fusion. By morning not a building In the
business portion of the city will be occu-
pied. Both the Lumbermens and First
National banks moved this afternoon, and
the higher portions of the city are fairly
congested with the enormous amount of
| material that has been stored there for
safety.
o'n ~
between Bridge and Bay streets and the
water was climbing steadily toward the
basement of the city hall. 1t is impossible
to see how any of the lower portion of the
city can escape for the coming of the waters
seems as sure as it is deliberate and the
valley may be completely inundated. 1t is
thought the flood may have spent it's force
for the outlying districts. The critical con
dition here; however. continues to excite
fear and the developments OF the next
twenty-four hours will be anXiously awaited
EAU CLAIRE FEELS RELIEF.
EAU CLAIRE Wis, Dec. 2-There is
not so much alarm tonight as there has
been as there is little likelihood that the
lessenng volume OF water coming from above
can either push the ice gorge down or make
an overflow which would reach this city. 1t
is certain that as long as the present
weather conditions continue the gorge will
not move and as long as it does not,
Chippewa Fails, must take the accumula-
tion of water and Eau Claire will be in no
danger. Even should higher temperature
prevail and loosen the gorge, it seems likely
that enough of the Ice and water would be
held at the reservoir above this city to pre-
vent any danger here. All the families here
who had vacated their homes in anticipation
Of danger have moved back into them.
DURAND, Wis, Dec, 2.-The flood condi-
tions remain unchanged tonight Further
danger is apprehended as If the jam up
the river breaks, 1t will raise such a nood
of ice and water as will inundate half the
town. Grave fears are entertained for Me
lnenery and other men who we're left oil
the bottoms Sunday and ii is thought proba-
BILE some lives were lost.
TREMPELEAU, Wis, Dec. Over 600
600 feet of logs are fast in the ice gorge
between here and La Crosse. They came out
OF the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers dur
ing the recent floods. The Mississippi at |
this point has risen seven feet within the |
last forty-eight hours.
ST PAUL, Dec. "A Bismarck n. d.. !
special to the Dispatch says The report |
reached here today from Williamsport EN- |
mons county, that a Russian family, con- |
sisting OF man, his wife and three chill |
dren, had perished in the terrible blazrrd |
on Thanksgiving day 1t Is expected That |
a number of people were frozen to death in |
different sections of the state whose deaths |
have not been reported. Cattle that were |
not protected nearly all perished. In a band |
Of 200 near here only thirty were found |
alive.
PORT ARTHUR, Ont Dec. 2.-The in
tense cold has seriously interfered with |
navigation. The inner harbor at Port Ar |
thur Is frozen over and the Kaministiqui is |
solid at the tower and at the coal dock The |
big American steamer, Sauber, is aground |
and frozen in, and the captain expects to |
be there all winter. The Algonquin and |
two American steamers arrived today, and |
are lying at the mouth of the river awaiting |
orders. The Daxon has just come in on
her last trip from Duluth
ATLANTA, Ga, Dec. "A snow storm Of
almost unprecedented severity for this sea-
son OF the year broke upon this section this
morning Snow began falling at 6 o'clock
and fell without cessation until H. when
1t lay four inches deep. The street car
service is badly impeded
FIREMEN MEET DEATH IN 4 CHURCH
Roman Catholic Structure nt Chelsea,
y. j.. Completely Destroyed.
I Rro