The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1896-12-02
It is Causing Immense Destruction of
Property.
DYNAMITE MAKES NO IMPRESSION
The Powerful Explosive Has No Effect on
the Monster Ice Field-The Business Por-
tion of Chippewa Falls Submerged
Goods Saved From Destruction.

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 are huddled
together in the schoolhouse and other va
can't buildings out Of the path of the tor
rent that is sweeping down several of the
main streets.
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 companys mill and
yards are under water, and all hope has
been given up OF saving the entire busi-
ness portion of the place from boing sub
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 break nothing could
save the city from being swept away.
Reports of a very serious nature came
from down the river. The country every
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. 1t completely dams the river,
and this is what is causing the rapid rise
The heavy rains of last week were fol-
lowed by 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 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 indicates that the
water is being piled up as by a dam above
them. The ice pack at Badger Mills. half
way between Eau Claire and Chippewa
Falls, is growing in extent, and everything
seems 10 indicate that the river is choking
up
II is not believed that ANYTHING serious
can happen under the present conditions
for at least a day or two. Everyone has
been sufficiently warned, and is in readi-
ness to ay 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
there until yesterday. The contents of
the buildings have been stored in unoe-
cupied structures in remote portions 2f
the city. where the flood cannot reach nm
less the entire city is overwhelmed and
swept away.
The postoffiue is under three feet Of
water, aud Postmaster McCalm has moved
the office seven blocks from 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 papers are being is
sued from other buildings
At the Flambeau farm, fifteen miles
above this city, another ice gorge has
formed, The river has over1owed its banks
and inundated the country twenty miles
either side. Domestic animals have per
ished 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
and hogs have met death in the flood
The most stubborn resistance offered by
the obstruction is in that portion of the
river between the wagon bridge and the
central railroad bridge, about half mile
in length Yesterday Mayor Lindley or
dered an explosion of 500 pounds Of dy-
Mantle, but after 300 pounds had been ex-
ploded the experiment was abandoned as
u failure. Railroad officials who viewed
the gorge state that there is not sufficient
dynamite obtainable to blast a channel
through the ice.
A dispatch from Durand, Wis, says;
The zee gorge which begun at West
Newton, on the Mississippi, and gradually
e extended up the Chippewa Friday, has