Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1902-02-22
ICE CHOKES
THE RIVER
Worst Winter on the Water
Since 1895
FLOES ENDANGER SHIPPING
Captains Of Local Craft Have Great
Difficulty in Getting to
Philadelphia

That the readers Of the Evening
Journal may know the condition OF
the Delaware river at this time. a staff
reporter went to Philadelphia by water
yesterday. He learned that not
since 1895 has the river
and it's tributaries been jammed
with so much ice as they are at this
time. and zero weather for forty-eight
hours Is all that is needed to bring
navigation in the Delaware to a stand
still. Only the ice boats, heavy tugs
and steamers are running today and
lif It was not for the paths that these
boats have cut. the river would present
one unbroken field of ice Only twice
in the past thirty years has there been
so much floating ice in the river, but
neither time was navigation 50 imped-
ed as 1t is at this time
In 1895. shipping was at a standstill
for nearly a week. but after the Phila-
delpha ice boats had made several
trips up and down the river, steamboats,
land tugs were able to resume their
trips through the paths made by them.
Tn a short time the ice broke up and
hoated out to sea in huge fields. and
the river was clear Of all signs of It.
The worst of the present freezeup
came iast Monday week when storm
81 signals were displayed all along the
1 coast Wooden hull boats made all
{ haste TO tie up where they would be
b. protected from the heavy flows and
, MANY took shelter at Marcus Hook
Several ran in behind the breakers at
p New Castle and have been tied up
p there since. The Charles Warner
= Company's sand dredge with several
), lighters in tow tried TO breast the ice.
2. but mad to return to New Castle,
;. where IL now Is.
IT There we're more than fifty vessels OF
every description at Marcus Hook, un-
til last Sunday night, held I'm the grasp
of the ice. Early Monday morning the
r. Philadelphia ice boats came to their
4 aid ana twenty-five OF the ice hound
r. vessels were set free and towed To
4 Philadelphia by tugs
Occasionally the tugs would put their
. noses against too large an ice field and
again were brought to a standstill
until the ice boat once more came tC
their assistance.
The horse shoe" this side of Phila.
p delphia is the most difficult place In
Is the river for steam craft to pass. The
j. Evening Journal reporter went that way
e laboard the Charles Warner Co.'S tug.
p boat Meteor Captain Sullivan, yes
terday. and found the trip exceedingly
dangerous at times. The ice was cut
into large cakes by the river steamers
4 and the outgoing tide carried it dowr
IL the river. where meeting with resist
II ance from the incoming ice gorged
and became clogged oftentimes, reach
ing three and four feet above tn,
waters surface. The food tide carrie!
IL back into the shoe" again forming
m n barrier almost impossible.
The best idea of the "shOe" is OBJ
y tanned from the story of Captain Suln
y van.
- On Tuesday OF last week he got fas
: in the shoe above League Islams
. Navy Yard, and was held there unit
Wednesday. He fought valiantly Z,
!, get out and put the head of his boa
into the ice many times but made n,
y, impression on it. On Wednesday n
again attempted to get out, and afte
y several hours work succeeded. Sine
= that time Captain Sullivan has mad
n more than a dozen trips between thi
1, CITY and Philadelphia and each tim
!. has had to run the gauntlet. as it were
m through the gorge. While returning 3
this city on last Wednesday night hi
boat got into a flow Of ice which ex
tended from shore to shore. holding hi
boat fast.
~ He let go the two packets he had i
y tow and in an hours time had a pat
ss cut through TO the open water. Befoi
AZ he could take up his line again. how
he ever, an ice boat got in the way. an
or being between two fields of ice an
al across the tide. he was again caugl
ur and held two more hours.
,es Captain Sullivan has been vii
nd the local freight companies 4
IN more than thirty years. al
vs.. has seen but few freeze-ups on the n
Delaware the equal of the present on
The Christiana is also in the grasp
the ice king and the tugs and steam
10 Brandywine struggled to get throug
80 The ice ranges in thickness from tv
at to eight inches and some Of the fiel
ess are more than a mile long. At d
Die mouth of the creek the spectacle is o.
and that can barely be described The j
= is piled high and when a steam crs
pushes ner nose into the field the
L is clipped of like so many Shawn
and sent flying into the air. Floes III
probably weighed five tons disappe
we beneath the bow and reappear benea
tier the stern to threaten the destructi
Of another craft AS far as the sig
can reach this spectacle is to be SEE
[. Il is treacherous indeed but not wit
out magnificence.
Rivermen are praying for an eal
breaking up Of the fields
sla what cnree cronn or congh in