Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1905-03-09

the press this morning thn big wooden
bridge still spanned the river. The
great ice gorge al Roaring Greek was
intact The river, however. covered
with ice approximatiug three feet in
49, k4u,,. i,v ran u"Ou CONDITIONS VT
prevailing at Catawissa. At late
hour the preceding night the water
rose 4o a height Of q feet On Mon
dav night the eth INST, two spans OF
tbe Catawissa river bridge were raised
from their piers. At Wilkesbarre and
noints below great food was on, at
the former place at 9 p. III. on the SIN
inst. the water reaching the 27 1907
mark. AT NautiCoke there was ~
foot food. During March the 8th the
ice gorge above Berwick moved about
miles and then iammed. AT 8o'olock
at night there was movement IN the
Roaring Greek lam, which gave rise 10
the report that the ice was moving
The disturbance, however, was purely
local in its nature and the great gorge
! held fast
When morning dawned the height ot
water in the river at Danvllle ana not
exceed twenty feet The situation was
fun of suspense and uncertainty, All
knew that the great ice dam at Roar
ing Creek was holding back the might
iesr food that ever swept down the
valley Of Susquehanna. How long
wopld il be able TO maintain its su'
Dremacy in the face OF tue mighty pres
snrs hack of il and when IT broke
what would il mean TO DanVllle
These were the reflections that thflh
ed the people during the morning
hours.
At 10 O'Clock in the forenoon th'
river at Danville was 23 feet hlgh. l
was then rising rapidly. At 10 a
O'Clock the whistle at the Water WORK
/ sounded. which was the prearrange'
warning that the ice was moving.
was an anxious ana exCIted thronI
that materialized from every part o
toYn and before the whistle had ceaS
cd 70 blow the street all about the en-
5 trance to the bridge was packed wml
r the river bank from the Water Work
to Pine street was black with human
, itv There were at least 1000 Peopl
in the crowd.
with a STOW and uniform motion th
ponderous mass Of ice, intact ffoi
shore to shore, moved down upon tn
bridge. The ice as it struck the pier
broke up into immense masses whic
|. revealed thickness exceeding tire
feet. AT three of the piers the lC
cakes each many tons in weight wei
d driven up against the sidewalks, tear
r. mo away many of the timbers. AT OF
Y place the railing was broken and theI
If were only three plank left to walk ul
:. on. The accompanying cut sho"s u
v anrearance presented by the hrldE
J. duriug the forenoon while the wau
J. was steadily rising and after the b
It crowd had assembled to see the II
move. Tie number of persons seen
re the sidewalk shows that not"lthst'n'
l. ing the damage wrought by the ice u
80 belief was not general that the brld
le was i'm any immediate danger OF ben
'p sweut away.
to SHORTLY after II 0 clock the ice sto
~ ned moving. Aisle o'clock in t
ed afternoon the Water Works aga
by sound I'd the warning that the ice "
as moviug. In few minutes the gre
sc, mass Of humanity present in the tci
noon again lined the river bank. l
ID. water had reached tie p foot m'
81 and the ice was running rapidly. Ih'
ne was ,tIll room for rise of five f
in before tho bridge seemed IN any este