Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-02-22
HIGH WATER TO-DAY.
THE RIVER - RISING AT COLUMBIA
AND sCOTTsyILLE-
THE GORGE BROKEN Ar RICHMOND.
The lee stiII Firm Below the city,
and the Flood May Cause some
p,mage This Mornfng-steamer
Reaches City Point.

The Zee gorge in James river between
| the bridges and the wharves has been
broken. and the river Is clear down 90 far
IS Chamn's Bluff but all danger Of injury
/ N Mavo's bridge and q serious inunda-
| tion Of the lower portion q the city Is
not over By any means Tor the water was
/ rising all Of Yesterday 81 Columbia, and
! al 7 O'Clock IN the evening had reached
J the height Of seventeen feet. which would
Indicate a rather serious rise here to-day.
The river IS still g5rged below the city
AZ Hatcher's. or what Is known as Devil 8
Reach. and the gorge extends FOR mile
and a quarter to Dutch Gap. though that
thoroughfare Is open. and the city tug
came through Il yesterday and is az pres
| ent engaged IN an attack upon the ice
with a view Of opening channel through
20 Richmond II Captain Cunningham
succeeds in forcing channel az this point
| 70 S. probable that the water now pent up
on this side Of the gorge will flow or be-
| fore the up-country water gets here. ply
unless this s done. 90 ia highly pfouaD.a
| that tho food coming down now VIII
]
cause all ~ the lower districts ~ the
city 10 become inundated.
4 CHANNEL IL THE CENTRE.
Il was only after almost supcrhuman
efforts that a channel was yesterday
forced through the ice opposite inc
vgharvce. The gorge was banked UP 90 "a
depfh of twenty feet Zoo some places but
Colonel O.. T. T.. Burgwyn. Mr.. W. IT.
Curtis. the chairman n the james River
Committee. and Mr. J.. &. Warman. The
government engineer. went to work on lL
with "a will and aided by dynamite ana
powder which they used unst.nfcdiy. they
gradually weakened the ice and hnilir.
about 1 O'Clock. were rewarded by seeing
the gorge begin 10 crumblo and then open
up "a channel directly down tho middle ~
the river. This gave an avenue for the
peut-up waterf 20 flow out. and they did
so with "a rush. carrying great bodies ot
fee upon their bosom.
From chat time on. the water iu Tho
river opposite The cts. and th1t backed
up 0u Ine river streets. began 90 recede.
though very slowly. and go dark Lester
street was stIll covered and the whtrFe
were 40 least three feet under water
II may be that this water VIII run ot
by morning hut the steamboat people
arc NOT inclined to think $50. ord arc
ing their vessels as yet
THE s.. r.. MORGAN COMES TIP.
The s. d. Morgan. the new steamship
which has just been pot iu service on
the james arrived yesterday afternoon
~ city Point and tho captain of the
heavy steel craft telegraphcd here and
hesought the owncrs 20 let him como on
o. Richmond. expressing the conviction
o.. q D. Hn g. d. "a
Ittls difficulty. ID was considered "a risky
venture. however. and SIR =. D1bney
Cfushaw toloeraphod him 90 wait 40
City Point for further orders.
s gentleman. who rode on horseback
from Dutch Gap to Richmond yesterday
afternoon. said that the lre was bank. i
soudlv from Devils Reach 90 the sap,
and that 90 was more than the city tus
uuaided could dO 90 break through The
Ced4f-W Works tug Lucille Ross left here
yesterday afternoon 60 90 down 90 bevlfs
Reach. but whether she intended 20 ai-
tack the eoree from this side. could nor
De learned
THE ICE GIVING WAY.
There has been some little breaking
and crumblIng OF the lcc I'm the uelghbor-
hood OF the Southern railway ana Mhlo.a
bridges. Captain West having been bl1hi-
ius there pretty much al NJ tefd1y. /
lIe succeeded boz opening up another chln- /
mel making four in all. flowing under hia
bridge aud he also widcned the channels /
that had previously been made. lhua
ho feels that Notwithstanding me h'th /
water now en route. his bridge s SAFE
and unless tht See around tho piers SUPP ]
porting Nayo's bridge breaks away sud- /
denly. that structure Will Boo al proc /
liability. withstand the strain which has /
been placed upon &c.
WATER AT COLUMBIA
II cannot of course be predicted no"
what oncct tho high water "nl'n ""' I
roach here to-day viii have upon lne |
BRIDGES. AT O'Clock last night tlefe /
were L. feet OF high water 100 tolumDii' /
and the river was on stand, though Al /
Scott.v.Ile 10 was sun rising, ana
tered fl rise of 1880 feet At Lyncho-fs /
N MIS- RISING slowly, with "a rise ODD % /
f,.t already registered. 40 the Che t-
ptako aud Ohio offices 30 was fAd mat /
d. feet at columbia was slineiont GO throw /
the water into Main street. even WIN h' /
Zee in the river. and With the forse at I
Devils Reach and the heavy heia OBJ l.' /
between the bridges and the whIrfts, me /
rise might prove "a very serious one.
Tho Chcmical-Works barge. which was /
washed away last Friday has been Joe
Gated az warwick Park, where 30 is safe. |
together with the 20 tons OF fertilizer |
which went away with a.
MUCH DAMAGE DONE
Mr. Irving Weislger. agent of the Viz /
clnia Navigation Company made an ln- /
spsction yesterday OF the company 3 proc /
pcrty nov partially submerged and sa} /
that the unler-structufe OF the wharf o.. !
so far a. he can now ascertain. intact, /
but that the superstructure is a total /
wreck lie estimates that the damage /
wrought by the ice 10 his sheds vii as-
greeate about 500. The old Dominion !
sheds are also badly damaged. but the /
wreck there Is not near 60 great AS that /
az the Navigation Company wharf The 4
Clyde-I.ine people have suffered very ut- /
tie damage
The Committee Meeting.
The Committee on James-River I'M
proNemeut met yesterday morning in trs /
Once OF the harbormaster Major Il. T..
Enery. OF Roanoke Rapids g. c. vas
present A. an expert he was invited 10
express sn opinion on the best methods
of dealing with tho existing gorge In the
river he agreed with Colonel Cutshaw
tnat it might be We'll % experiment With
dynamite
Mr Seay moved that $50 or so much
thereof as may be- necessary. be appro-
1riated from the expense fund % ho used
10 blasting with dynamite. and that the
hartman and city Engineer b. instruct
ad 20 proceed a. once 10 take an ncces-
sary action no reference 90 the matter.
VIRGINIA HIsTORICAL SOCIETY.