Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-02-20
ICE MOVES
OFF THE RIVER

The general break up which seemed
imminent since last Thursday. occur
red on Saturday. AS result of heavy
rains and high temperature with con-
sequent melting of snow the small
streams were transformed into verit-
able torrents. The ice left the river
Saturday OH nine foot flood.
Blizzard 8 run had not been so high
since 1904 and the usual flood condi-
tions prevailed about the d. l.. 81 w.
station. The railway track was under
three feet, of water and thers--were,no
trains between the 1919 a. m. train
east and the :33 train west. There
were fifteen inches of water in the
station. The flood in that section of
town reached it's maximum height
about / p. m. when the entire d. l..
& w. track was submerged between
Church street and Wall street. Famil-
lar lines were obliterated. The canal,
Billiards. run and the stream that
flows down from the Chamberlin farm
were all swollen up and the flood,
which like an immense lake lay on
each side of the railroad from above
the stove works to the ID. L. & W.
station.
At the stove works the water enter
ed the warehouse, but by dint of good
management and hard work the goods
were all gotten out of the way in
time. 1t is fortunate that the water
did not enter the foundry, as no
amount of precapsion there can pro-
tect the "finors, which are invari-
ably ruined by high water. Neither
was any damage done at the d. L. &
W. station, although the office, the
waiting rooms, the warehouse and the
long concrete platform, when the wat
er subsided, were in a deplorable con-
dition. coated over with mud nearly
an eighth of an inch deep. necessitat-
ing.
ing an immediate and thorough clean
Mahoning creek was far out of its
banks. The company houses on North
cumberland and West Centre streets
were all surrounded by water The
occupants were Obliged to remove
their household goods and take up
their abode on the second story. At
p. m. the bar mill at the Reading iron
works was obliged to shut down by
reason of the high water, which filled
the wheel pits.
By Saturday morning the river had
risen only few feet. 1t went up with
jump, however, during the forenoon
and by noon it stood at the 8 foot
mark. Shortly after twelve O'Clock
the ice broke and moved off easily.
The ice under the action of the warm
wind and the rain had melted consid-
erably and seemed nowhere more than
six inches thick.
The crew at the water works sound
ed the whistle, which at such times is
always understood to be signal that
the ice is moving. A crowd of people
were soon seen hurrying to the bridge
anxious to witness the break up on the
river. The movement of ice, how
ever, did not afford spectacle that
will bear any comparison with some
of the sights witnessed on the river in
the past when the ice took its depar-
ture. Yesterday the river had attain
ed height of sixteen feet and large
quantities of heavy ice were coming
down from the northern part of the
State.
The merchants onsMill street Satur-
day morning began to prepare for the
worst by removing the goods from
their cellars. The water made it's ap-
pearance at only couple of places,
however, and on the whole the dam
age caused by high water anywhere in
town was light.