The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-12-02
CHIPPEWA lCE GORGE.
1t Is Causing Immense Destruc-
tion of Property.
DYNAMITE MAKES NO IMPRESSION.
Tho Powerful Explosive Has No Effect on
the Monster Ice Ficld-The Business Por-
tion OF Chippewa Falls Submerged, but
Goods Saved from Destruction.

Goods Saved from Destruction.
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis, Dec. e.-Yes,
tcrday was u day of excitement and
anxiety, and Inhabitants Of this little vii
lago are in state bordering on panic The
worst of tho situation is tho knowledge of
tho impending danger, and that they are
utterly. helpless to stay or avertit. Those
whose houses have been flooded have re-
moved their household goods and belong
ings to higher ground, and arc huddled
together In the schoolhouse and other va
cant buildings out of the path of tho tor.
rent that is sweeping down several Of the
main stracts
All hope Of breaking the gorge, and
thus allowing the pent up waters to grad
ually subside, is now abandoned. Efforts
yesterday were directed towards removing
household goods and merchandise out Of
the reach of the flood, All teams in the
city have been engaged In this work.
Every resident and business firm on River
street has moved out. The Chippewa
Lumber and Boom company's mill and
yards are under water, and all hope has
been given up of saving the entire busi-
hess portion Of tho place from boing SUBJ
merged.
1t was reported yesterday that another
gorge was forming thirty miles above
here, and this greatly added to the alarm,
as in case it should brsak nothing could
save the city from being swept away.
Reports of very serious nature came
from down tho river. The country overy-
where Is flooded The gorge continues to
grow in extent, 1t is now over five miles
long and in many places thirty to fifty
feet high. IL completely dams the river,
and this is what is causing the rapid rise.
The heavy rains of last week were fol-
lowed hy u sudden freeze, which quickly
massed the floating Ice In the Chippewa,
and the swiftly running current contin-
ually added to it until it reached its pres
ent gigantic proportions
Below hore tho Chippewa is falling.
There is no food at Eau Claire, but this
fact is causing the people at that place
much uneasiness, Ns it indicates that the
water Is being piled up as by Il dam above
them. The ice pack ut Badger Mills half
way between Eau Claire and Chippewa
Falls, is growing in extent, and everything
seems to indicate that the river is choking
up.
1t Is not believed that anything serious
can happen under the present conditions
for at least day or two. Everyone has
been sufficiently warned, and is in readi-
ness to fly the moment the crash comes
The business portion of Chippewa is
abandoned, and the flood may sweep away
many of the buildings without damaging
scarcely dollars worth Of merchandise
and other valuable goods that were stored
Of
the buildings have been stored in unoc-
cuped structures in remote portions Of
the city where the food cannot reach un-
less the entire city is overwhelmed and
swept away.
The postoffice is under three feet of
water, and Postmaster Mccain has moved
the office seven blocksfrom its old location
Ten stores on the south side of Spring
street are inundated. The offices of The
Herald and The Independent, newspapers,
are flooded, and the papors are being is
sued from other buildings.
At the Flambeau farm, fifteen miles
above this city, another ice gorge has
formed The river has overhowed It's banks
and inundated the country twenty miles
either side. Domestic animals have per-
ishod by the score. Farms and farmhouses
are flooded, and the losses will reach into
the hundreds Of thousands. 1t is safe to
estimate that at least 5000 horses COWS
l. Il hogs have met death in the flood
Tho most stubborn resistance offered by
the obstruction is in that portion of tho
river between the wagon bridge and the
central railroad bridge, about half n milo
in length. Yesterday Mayor Lndley or
dered an explosion of 900 pounds of dy-
Mantle, but after 800 pounds had been ex.
ploded the experiment was abandoned as
a failure. Railroad officials who vowed
the gorge state that there is not sufficient
dynamite obtainable to blast channel
through the ice.
A dispatch from Durand Wis, says:
The ice gorge which begun at West
Newton, on the Mississippi, and gradually
extended up the Chippewa Friday, has
reached Round Hill, three miles below
this city, The nearness of the gorge has
forced the water at this point higher than
at any time during tho 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 com.
pletely submerged.
At Round Hill the river is tlanked by
bluffs which make u gorge very danger
Gus TO the city, although the wide bottom
on tho west side, making the river over u
mile wide at this point, causes the water
to rise slowly. AS far as known no lives
have been lost, but those living on tho
Chippewa bottoms have been rescued with
difficulty. Several families on the Buff
falo county side were driven from their
homes at 2 o'clock Sunday morning by
tho forming Of gorge at Plum Island.
Scantly dressed they waded through the
ice and water to high point on the rail.
road track, from which point they were
rescued by Il relief train from this place.
Several of the party were badly frozen.
Others have escaped on the ice pack after
It formed around their homes. Stocks
of all kinds have perished, and buildings
have been greatly damaged.