Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1904-02-04
WORST BELIEVED
To Be OVER

! The great ice gorge concerning which
/ so much has been printed Is bringing
sightseers to Bloomsbury by the hun
dreds daily. Danville, which next &c
/ Bloomsbury and Cataw iSSa is situated
nearest the big gorge and therefore the
most likely 10 he affected by 1t, nat
uralIy feels the keenest interest and
among the sightseers on the spot the
/ largest number generally are found to
be DanviIle people.
On Saturday afternoon the 2:ll ID.
! l.. & W. train alone carried seventy
/ three of our townspeOple whose OBJ
jectiye point was Catawissa or Blooms
burg. The train was filled before 1t
reached our town and by the time the
! Danvillc contingent had distributed
/ themselves about the train standing
room was at premium Owing to
the crowded condition OF the cars 1t
was impossible for the bulk OF the
passengers to catch more than an oc-
casional glimpse of the ice and 1t was
only those that disregarded the rules
and rode upon the platform who had
anything like full view OF the gorge.
People who carried in their mind
images of the great ice gorge as pict-
ured from descriptions given earlier
in the week were doomed TO d.sap-
pointment. The evidences of great
flood were everywhere apparent, but
the mountain of ice had sunken into a
mole hill. The receding water, the
wasting action of sun and wind had
conspired to alter the entire aspect OF
the gorge In forty-eight hours the
change was remarkabIe-even twenty
four hours had done wonders. On Sat
urday afternoon the river along It's
entire course was well within its
banks. Here and there, 1t is true,
hump of ice rose slightly above the
shore, but the great body of ice through
ont the entire distance lay on level
with the river bank or slightly below
it,
There was no room to doubt, how
ever, that the most lurid descriptions
given of the food when at its height
in all instances conceded with fact.
There were plenty OF evidences both
of its fury and its scope in the over
turned dwellings, III the immense
windrows of ice masses stranded IN
the fields far from the river and III the
bands of Ice around the trees ten feet
tIom the ground which marked the
height of the flood on Sunday when
freezing conditions set in.
The beautiful stretch of farm land
between Rupert and Bloomsbury still
presents a desolate appearance. Things
around Catawissa also look bad, especi
ally between that point and Rupert,
where tine trolley track Is concealed
under deep deposit of ice and debris
aud the sagging wires and the trolley
pole, wrecked or leaning out OF per
peudicular add to the general aspect
of desolation. At no place, however,
does the ice gorge awe one as 1t did
earlier in the week and it requires an
effort of the miud, indeed, 10 associate
with it now the thought of any great
destruction.
The danger limit is not past
heavy rainfall in which the melting
snow would add to the volume of wat
er might precipitate flood III which
all the thrilling scenes OF week ago
would be repeated but under weather
conditions of any other sort things
will naturally follow their present
trend. The water may not fall much
lowe, which would be all the better
considering that it might assist III
wearing away the ice. Already 1t Is
apparent that the river has worked a
channel through the gorge. The water
has nearly receded from the farm land
and practically the entire current
which sweeps down by Danyille comes
through under the ice.
In view of these facts people in
Bloomsbury and in Catawissa Saturday
were inclined to be optimistic.
All had emerged from state OF sus.
pense. while not few were TO be
found who chose 10 regard the big ice
gorge as a closed incident and express
ed belief that it had passed point
when harm would be likely to result