New-York tribune., 1909-04-22
TO BLOW UP ICE JAN
ST4TE AUTHORITIES TfKE
ACTION.
DNnGmitc To BE Rushed from Buf
fd'0 to RcIicrc Conditions IN the
.NiqgdrG RiTrr.
Nqg'GrG RiTcr.

Lewiston. y Y. April 21-With the approval
Of the War Department 1T Washington and
Governor Hughes. efforts viii be made to-mor-
row by state employees 20 tisodge the ice jam
in the Niagara River by the Of dynamite
Announcement 10 this effect made tonight
at Albany by 2. c. Stevens. State Supern
tendent of Public Works
Henry A. Kunze. Assistant Superintendent OF
Public Works. and Charles A Tuttle. expert
high explosives looked over the situation this
afternoon and declared their faith in the use of
dynamite for a safe breaking of the jam. They
were sent from Albany by Superintendent
Stevens. to whom the appeal of the citizens OF
Youngstown and Lewiston to Governor Hughes
for help had been referred. The two engineers
returned Buffalo late this afternoon TO make
arrangements for securing the explosives Two
carloads of dynamite will he rushed to Youngs-
town soon as it can be got together and the
work will begia Youngstown at dawn.
In the mean time the ice remains passive but
threatening. The key TO the jam apparently IS
the of ice lodged the sandbar at the
mouth of the river Pressed forward against
this as we'll as laterally toward either bank is a
mammoth field of ice varying in thickness from
tFirty-to seventy feet and intcrmngled with 1t
are great rocks, pieces of timber from shattered
piers and the trunks of trees.
Bows and men of adventurous spirit To day
crept far out over the ice hummocks,. but they
invariably returned drenched with slime and
with no desire repeat tie Journey. 4 rumor
was current to-day that a boy dropped into
| crevasse. but there apparently no witnesses
and no lad is reported missing.
The fats at Niagara -on-the-Lake are now
covered with two feet Of water. cellars are
flooded and the pumping station is crippled At
Lewiston some of the cellars the high banks
are flooded and the hotels in constant dan
ger although no more damage was reported
during the day. Both banks of the river will he
patrolled during the night. This is considered
necessary. although some of the watchers haze
been without sleep for week
The ice Jam proper does not affect the river
just below the cataract. The whirlpool rapids
form a space of open water between the more or
less connected mass of ice below and the iso-
lated but more picturesque foes in the upper
river
Interest at the falls to-day centred in the
huge mounds of ice at the hem II the Bridal
Veil Falls where the body Of a supposed suicide
has been exposed partly by the drop in the
water level and partly by the pounding Of the
ice. which steadily sailing down the river and
over the cataract Attempts recover the
body were unsuccessful
The ice is piled sixty feet high in the river
here. and standing on the top OF the
pack touch the flooring Of the Lewiston
Suspension Bridge. A rise OF seven feet in the
ice Jam would mean the destruction OF IiiS
bridge
The river is packed az full of ice as possible.
and when it moves out il is feared it will sweep
everything along the banks with it, including
the Cana dian governments lighthouse at Ma
gara-on-t the-L1ake, and the United states life
saving station at Fort Niagara
Albany, April 21.-Reports submitted this
afternoon TO Superintendent Stevens by Messrs.
Kunze and Tuttle who were detailed 10 make
an examination of the river. stated that condf-
tions were serious; that the ice twelve
miles long and sixty feet high; that great dam
age was inevitable and that something should
be done at once They recommended the use
of dynamite.
These reports submitted Governor
Hughes. who Immediately telephOned To the War
Department at washington, the river is
international waterway. The department told
the Governor that ii could not act as quickly
as the state and at consented 10 any ar
rangements that the state might make to re-
lieve conditions.
Governor Hughes and Superintendent Stevens
conferred with Senator Aids, chairman Of the
Senate Finance Committee and Assemblyman
Merritt chairman of the Assembly Ways and
Means Committee, and II agreed that what
ever money was spent by the Department Of
Public Works would be reimbursed. II is esti-
mated that about $4,000 will be necessary.