Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-08-09
RELEASING THE YUKON.
How the Ice Barrier is Blown Up by
Dynamite.


The upheaval of the ice thar binds tho
Yukon is always fascinating and excit-
ins, but no greater and more spectacular
scene in connection with the breaking
has been chron;cled than that NJ Five
Fingers rapids this summer. The high
rocky pillars that standSas barriers al
the rapids cnoked with ice. and for DAYS
sustained weight of hundreds OF thou
SANDS Of tons of ice and blockaded VA
Ter. which, when it broke, tore through
the gorge with terrific force and "a speed
81 thirty miles an hour in widest
tumult
All the rock barriers that form the
channel and the Fingers wCtc Sus-
tanning an untold weight Of lee and
water gathered there as the result uf
inc IN How of days from the upper Nuhoa.
lhe water spread far mp the stream,
anu threatened to overflow the banhs
and there is no telling what might hay
beer the result had net the governments
biaSted the keystone Of ice from the
lover portion and opened the gorge.
Capt. Jack Williams of the White
faS> Company fired the charge which
opened the jam. lie was standing in
front of the Fingers and vet on u
piece of ice when the telling shot was
fired, With unexpected suddeness the
great mass of blocked matter forced the
situation, and Williams was sent swirl
ing down the stream before the crack
ling, maddening twuult OF escaping W.T.
tiers and chaotic ice foes. Fortunately
lie was swept to the base of one of the
cliffs. aud there found a narrow niche
IN which to cling. lie seized the pro-
jecting wall and sprung TO the niche
and with his back turned to the blur
and facing the wild procession Of the
elements he stood in fear and trembling.
One solid hour he stood on that rock
and the grinding. crunching and punC-
ing lee went past him in mercileSS roar
Williams fellows had gone TO the
lowe, end of the rapids. expecting to soc
him on some ice foes far down stream.
or, pr"hapS. most likely, rot see him AT
all. Walter Wensky, German consul ut
Dawson, happened along NJ that time,
ana. with a strong field glass, scanned
the conyon. Wensky went up stream in
the 'anvon. Wcncky went M stream in
- ri h
The roaring of the rushing ice and
ga ar through the rocky gorge made it
| IMPOSSIBLE to hear any one sneak in the
vicinity Of whore Williams stood and he
heard. II was all men could lo 20 hear
enc another when they stood together
| TIL" tremendous force of miles of ice
and water above the Fingers was drlv-
| ing the water through the gorge at the
hurricane speed OF thirty miles an hour
| II was enc wild, pluuging race. of which
| Consul Wensky says:
Never in my life had | seen such n
spectacle of grandeur. such a magnificent
| demonstration of natures physical forces
eSerting their awful power. If ever there
| was scene awe-inspiring in its effort on
man. this was one
There being no time to lose in an eff
| fort TO save Williams. we rushed up the
| river, and after travelling some distance
| came TO where we could shout across TO a
| wood camp. A man named Eho was
| there and he heard us. We told him of
| the pfedicament and the took Il rope and
Went to the rescue. The line was made
| fast and dropped fifty feet over the bluff
| 1t fell within the reach of Williams and
| he seized it, A few seconds later he
was dangling from the line and swing
| ing in mid-air as he desperately fought
and climbed for life. The struggle did
not last long. Muscular and active that
| he was. Williams soon sealed the cliff
| and was safe.
"'Thc intensity of that grand escaping
| flood and jam thrills me yet The ice
| was four hours passing through the
| gorge. Il Was swollen to fifteen feet
| above the normal level of the river as 1t
made its escape. and went on plungiug
| andNgrinding with the fury of a monster.
| Far below the rapids the river travelled
| at great speed, cutting away in the dis
/ taH"e bends of the stream wish white
mailed turbulent crest as far as the
| eye could reach. running until finally
worn out and exhausted mile away'-St
| Louis Globe Democrat.