Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1896-12-04

this little village in a state bordering on
knowledge of the impending danger
and of the fact that they are utterly
helpless to stay or avert it. Those
whose houses have been flooded have
removed much of 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 pent-up waters to
gradually sudside is now abandoned.
All efforts today were directed to re-
moving household goods and merchan-
disc out of reach of the food. Every
team IN the city has been engaged in
this work. Every resident and business
firm of River street have moved out.
The Chippewa Lumber and Boom
company's mill and yard are under
water, ant all hope has vanished of saw
ing the entire business portion of the
place from being submerged, and the
water will soon reach the courthouse,
eight blocks from the river.
A report from Little Falls was
brought in this morning that another
gorge was formed thirty miles above
here. and this greatly added to the
- H.
ing could save the city from being
swept away. Reports of very serious
nature come from down the river. The
country everywhere is flooded. The
gorge continues to grow in extent. 1t
is now five miles long and in many
places thirty to fifty feet high. 1t COM
pletely dams the river, and this is what
is causing the rapid rise of the river
here. The heavy rains of last week
here were followed by sudden freeze,
which suddenly massed the floating ice
in the Chippewa, and the swiftly run
ming current continually added to it un-
til it reached its present gigantic pro-
portions. Below here the Chippewa is
falling. There is no food at Eau Claire,
but this fact is causing the people at
that place much uneasiness, as it indi
Gates the water is being piled up by
dam above them. The ice-pack at Bad |
ger mills, half way between Eau Claire |
and Chippewa Falls, is growing in ex-
tent, and everything seems to indicate !
RI ar the river Is chOkinO IN
The Chippewa river is filled with
gorges at many points. AT Flambeau
farm the river ran over its banks, de-
stroying 800 head of live stock and ruin
ing a dozen farms.
It is feared the course of the river
will be changed, throwing it directly on
the town and completely inundating it.
In that event heavy loss to property |
and life cannot be avoided.
The business portion of Chippewa
Falls is abandoned tonight, and the
food may sweep away many OF the
buildings without damaging scarcely
dollars worth of merchandise and other
valuable goods that were stored there
until today Business men decided not
to take chances with the foe that threat
ened to sweep their possessions from
them, and at an early hour they began
the removal of their stocks.
AT o'clock tonight every business
house on Spring street and Bridge street
from the river to Center street is de-
serted and the contents of buildings have
been stored in unoccupied structures in
remote portions of the city, where theti
floods cannot reach unless the entire
city is overwhelmed and swept away
The Chippewa river shows no signs Of
abatement. It rose four feet today and
at o'clock this evening the water is
rising at the rate of two inches an hour.
The postofice is under three feet of
alter, and Postmaster Mccall has moved
the office seven blocks from its old looa-
tion. Ten stores on the south side OF
Spring street are inundated. The offices
of the Hrald and the Independent news
papers are flooded and the papers will
be issued from other buildings. The
stores of Heller Il Jacobs, jenkins Bros.
E. Posnansky, Weilberg Bros, Goddard
* Wilson, the Goodluck Dry Goods
company and the Mitchell restaurant
are under water, and twenty other firms
have vacated their places of business.
At Chippewa Falls the river is fully
three-quarters of a mile wide, and its
surface is covered with ice to depth
varying from ten to thirty feet. The S