The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-12-03
THH ICE GoRGEs IN WISCONSIN
THREATEN TERRIBLE CON.
SEQUENCES
A WORLD OF WATER IS STORED Up
Should the Ice Gorges Suddenly Give
Way the Result Would Be Fright
ful-Everybody Preparing
for the Worst.

OF this little village in state borderin
on panic, The worst of the situation
the knowledge of the impending DANCE
and the further knowledge that they ar
utterly helpless to stay or avert i
Those whose houses have been floode
have removed such of their househol
goods and belongings to higher groun
and are huddled together in the schoc
houses and other vacant buildings out O
the path of the torrent that is sweepin
down several of the main streets. A
hope of breaking the gorge and thus al
lowing the pent-up waters to gradual
subside is now abandoned. All effort
today were directed towards remoyin
household goods and merchandise out O
the reach of the flood. Every team il
the city has been engaged in this work
Every resident and firm on River stree
has moved out. The Chippewa Lumbe
and Boom company's mill and yards ar,
under water and all hope has been giver
up of saving the entire business portion
of the place from being submerged, anG
the water will soon reach the court
bouso o;,h+ ,Io,.a 80. A..
0af' esn. D'ochs irolii lhe river
A report from Little Falls was brought
In this morning that another gorge was
forming thirty miles above here, and
this greatly added to the alarm, as in
case i should break nothing could save
the city from being swept away. Re
a
from down the river. The country
everywhere is flooded. The gorge con-
tinues to grow in extent. 1t is not over
five miles long. 1t completely dams the
river and this is what is causing the
rapid rise here. Below here the Chip
pewa is falling There is no flood at
Eau Claire, but this fact is causing the
people at that place much uneasiness, as
it indicates that the water is being piled
up, as by dam above them.
The ice pack mt Badger mills, half way
between Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls,
is growing in extent and everything
seems to indicate that the river is chok-
ing up.
1t is not believed that anything serious
can happen under the present conditions
for at least a day or two, and it is be-
lieyed every ono has been sufficiently
warned and is in readiness to fly the
moment the crash comes.
The business portion of Chippewa Falls
is abandoned tonight. The Chippewa
river shows no signs of abatement. 1t
rose four feet today and at 8 o'clock this
evening water was rising at the rate of
two inches an hour.
The postoffice is under three feet of
water and the postmaster has removed
to an office several blocks away.
Ten streets on the south side of
At Flambeau. fifteen miles above this
city, another ice gorge has formed The
river has overflowed its banks and in
undated the country twenty miles on
either side. Domestic animals have
persisted by the score, farms and farm
houses are flooded and the losses will
reach up in the hundreds of thousands
These reports are meagre and are not
corroborated, but it is safe to say that
at least 5000 horses, cows and hogs have
met death in the food.
At Chippewa Falls the river is fully |
.three-eighths of mile wide and its
surface is covered with ice to a depth |
varying from ten to thirty feet. The
most stubborn resistance offered is the
between the wagon bridge and the Cen
trail railroad bridge, a space about half
a mile in, length.
Today Mayor Lindley ordered an ex-
plosion of 500 pounds of dynamite, but
after 200 hounds had been exploded the
experiment was abandoned as a failure.
Railroad officials from the gorge stated
that there is not sufficient dynamite to
enable them to blast off the river through
the frozen mass of snow, logs and ice
The river has risen slowly up to .
o'cjock
a..
SITUATION AT EAU CLAIRE.
Eau Claire Wis, Dee Lowing to
railway traffic on the Wabash and Du-
rand branch of the Chicago Milwaukee
and st. Paul railway Great damage
has been done to farming along the
Chippewa river The farmers famllles
escaped to the railway track from the
rising water and were rescued by
trainmen and an engine. The great
ice gorge three miles from Eau Clare
is causing the inundation OF chippewa
Fails. hut is protecting Eau Claire and
Durand. It extends for miles ana can
not be broken. Unless 1t shoulu give
way no great damage is looked for here.
AT CHIPPEWA FALLS. wv.
f fee that E"'p the water reached to Within
that Inv This evening the gorge would be
!, s b;a6 =" tho falls The water mad re- |
,odnd from thn Wisconsin Central tracks,