Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-02-12


The circumstances under which the
present cold wave swooped down upon
the country made it very bad for ship
packets lured upon their accustomed
voyages by the fine stage of water
have been caught away from port or
harbor and great inconvenience and
loss is certain to be the result. Several
steamers, tugs and tows have already
met with misfortune, and the worst of
it is conservative river men fear the
disaster has only begun. To be ground
ed and frozen in is trial that even
the veteran steamboat captain does not
banker for, but when the breakup
comes the stoutest quaver. If the ice
is heavy and the current strong, craft
unprotected by break-waters or snugly
tucked away in cove or inlet is almost
cercain to suffer despite the utmost
vigilance. Steamboat companies, indi-
vidual owners and shippers who have
vast interests at stake will be appre-
hensive until the watery highway is
again freed from its icy letters and has
resumed its peaceful flow oceanward.
The phenomenally low temperature
which reached a minimum register
Thursday night is responsible in a
great measure for the untoward condi-
ton with which the shipping on the
middle and lower Ohio is beset. The
boreal blast which sent the mercury
scudding to marks almost unheard Of
in this latitude, naturally had its eff
feet upon the river, and set at naught
the calculations of the most exRer-
fenced boat masters Craft which
| could have reached their destination
under ordinary circumstances were
| forced to shore and were glad to take
| advantage of any nook or headland
| that offered the scantest refuge. Tows
going South were caught without cover
and tugs and packets running light
Jared but little better.
The Register has pretty complete in
| formation as to the location and condi-
ton of shipping between this point and
Marietta. The j. C. Fisher is close to
bank at Bloch's tobacco works, on the
| South Side, where it was run in We'd
nesday The Eliza and Mount Clare
are Struggled in at the foot of Paden'S
| Island, and are fairly safe. The Tom
| Dodsworth and John ". Allies are hard
aground at Petticoat Rifle, and the
! George Shiras was ice-locked at New
port, but cut her way to the bank Fri
| day night, and is now in good shape.
TIE Joseph Walton and tow is ground
ed at the mouth of Muskingum river
off Marietta. The tug can eXtricate
herself, but the tow is not so fortunate.
| The side-weel steamer City of Pitts
burg, nearing completion at the Gilman
avenue landing at Marietta, is stuck
on twelve inches of ice, and is in very
perilous position. She is exposed to
the full force of the current, and the
towboat Fallie worked all day yester
day in an unsuccessful attempt to pull
her off. The bow of the Pittsburg is
elevated about three feet above her
normal level. The towboat Valley,
with three barges of railroad iron, and
the Tornado, Belle MCGOWAN and Dick
Fulton, with their tows, are at the head
% lei
Wood and tow are frozen in at Ravens
wood, and the Fred Wilson is sunk to
the pilot house at Halls wood yard.
She was cut down by the ice. The
Enterprise, owned by the same com
pany, left her empties at Middleport
and went to the assistance Of the Fred
Wilson, but her efforts were futile. The
Coal City is also at the wood yard with
twenty barges of coal. The Stella
Moran and Little Fred are at Eight
Mile. The former has three barges.
The Little Dick and tow is close under
the headland at Crosse Island. The
steamer Kanawha is off Marietta; the
Queen City is at Bellaire, and the Vir-
ginia is at MiddNport
An unknown" with a tow of load
ed barges is lying in behind Middle
Island near Reynolds landing, and an
other tug, the name of which was not
learned, has stuck her tow on the head
of Jennie Lind bar.
The keystone State made good her
trip to Cincinnati and is safely harbor-
ed there.
THE pGVEp .rT 0C(NE