St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1896-03-06
HIGH WATER.
A Short Freshet that Did a Great Deal
of Damage all over New England.
The Story Of the Flood in st. Johnsbury- Hun
dreds of Acres Of Floating Ice in the Pas
sumpsic Valley.

The thaw that came Saturday accom-.
panied by two days rain caused one Of
the most destructive treshets that this
section has ever seen. Much damage
was done by the ice which broke up in a
very lew hours and came down the
streams in great cakes. Ice jams were
formed in all the rivers and some of the
jams are still unbroken. The waters re.
ceded Sunday and on Monday there was
cold snap accompanied by about eight
inches of snow. Since Saturday we
have had all kinds of weather and now
the railroads and highways are badly
drifted with snow.
MOOSE RIVER ON THE RAMPAGE,
The most serious trouble from this
stream was at Elm street just above
where the Moose River enters the Pas
sumpsic and this street suffered more
than any other place in the village. The
river rose rapidly Saturday night and
before daylight had formed big ice jam
and flooded the cellars OF the houses on
Elm street. The river was highest about
O'Clock Sunday morning and the ice
left the stream about this time.
In the house owned by Mathew Cald-
beck and occupied by A. Chabot the
water was three leet deep and several
lights of glass were broken here. George
Parridis had corner of his house taken
away together with some windows in
the cellar and eight chickens were
drowned. A. Morency estimates his
damage at $50 His cellar was filed
with water and portion Of his piazza
taken away. Charles Asselin told the
representative of the CALIFORNIAN that
$50 would cover his loss. His cellar
was filed with water, the water forcing
its way into the cellar through holes
made by rabbits. George Asselin, who
/ is recovering from typhoid fever, was
taken from the house early in the even
ing Mr. Asselin lost two rabbits early
in the day and found them later floating
OIL an ice cake in the middle of the river
anXiously looking for a warmer berth
Much damage was done to the highway
on Elm street and many trees swept
away. Elm street was completely filled
with ice cakes all day Sunday, but th'
street department opened the highway
Monday.
THE FLOOD ON SLEEPER'S S RIVER.
This river did very little damage ii
Fairbanks village and no damage of any
consequence was done to the scale works
Early Sunday morning the blacksmith
shop was flooded, but the ice jam below
the factory soon broke up and formed {
much more serious jam just above thC
railroad trestle. The employees of tht
scale corporation watched the rising
river very closely Sunday and saved then
railroad bridge below the foundry by
loading the bridge down with cars 6lleC
with pig iron.
The ice jam above the railroad trestl
was the largest one ever seen on the rive
and was not broken up until late Sunda,
afternoon, A gang of brave men from
the scale works used dynamite cartridges
on one side of the river while a railroad
gang tried to break the jam on the othe
side with powder. Several hundred
people gathered Sunday afternoon tt
watch the proceedings. Before the jan
was broken one section of the piles sup
porting the trestle was swept away
Above Fairbanks village the highwa,
was under water in number OF place
and some of the fences were washed
away.
THE FLOOD OF THE PASsUMPSIC RIVER
No one can remember the time whei
there was so many acres OF ice as ther
has been in the Passumpsic valley thi
week. At the Woodruff farm on tn
Center road forty acres of land are coy
cred with ice cakes piled several layer
deep, and the Woodrufis are wouderin,
il they had better have an ice house bull
to store the immense quantity OF ice.
The worst damage done was at st
Iohnsbury Center where the highwa,
runs close to the river for nearly
mile. The ice jam began to form a
about O'Clock Sunday morning Th
river reached it's highest point Sunda,
afternoon, being higher than ever beIor
because of the ice jam at the Woodruff
place. Great fears were entertained tha
the highway bridge at the depot woul,
be swept away, but the ice passed dow,
the river before the bridge was de
stroycd. The ground was frozen S,
hard that the water did not wash tn
railroad embankment or the highway.
Five families at the Center had t,
leave their houses and in a dozen NOR
houses the cellars were filled with water
The water was four feet deep in tn
Methodist church vestry, and in one cas-
a woman stayed so long in her hous
that she had to be rescued by men in
boat. The highway to the Center 70
nearly mile was filled with huge ic
cakes and the town road commissions