Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-10-01
When the leo Broke Up.

Every year the famous lce-Drloge OF
Niagara tempts hundreds Of people out
upon its beautiful, although dangerous,
highway. The bridge is formed by the
piling up of the ice-cakes that come
laundering over the falls. These cakes,
together with the snow and Ice and
frozen spray, soon form a solid bridge
across the river below the falls. Three
lives were actually lost on the break
ing up of the Ice this winter, and mar
row escapes occur almost every year,
for the bridge rarely gives warning of
it's collapse. The incident described
here occurred several seasons ago. 1t
was a usual winters day, and to the
crowd the bridge seemed quite as safe
as ever.
Suddenly warning cry rang out, as
the great mass Of ice was felt to trem-
BILE. A great gap appeared in the mid
die of the bridge, then more cracks;
soon cakes began to split off and go
whirling down the river. The terrified
people who, a moment before, had felt
themselves in perfect security, rushed
panic-stricken toward the shores. They
scrambled over the hillocks Of Ice, or
leaped across assures which opened
suddenly at their feet. In spite of the
difficulties, however, all but three man
aged to reach the shore; man and
woman and boy were left on the ice.
The man and the woman were has
tening to the Canadian side of the riv-
er; no one knows what had delayed
them. The ice was breaking up rapid
ly now, and the couple had hard time
keeping on solid ice. They had almost
reached the shore, when suddenly the
woman seemed to give way. For an
anxious moment she wavered on the
brink Of the water; as she started to
fall, the man sprang to her side and
bore her back. They pushed on, the
man supporting the woman. Hand in
hand, they made desperate leap on
to an ice-cake, and thence to the shore
They were safe, but only by the mar
rowest Of margins. They had hardly
sprung from the ice cake, when a great
mass of ice bore down on it and
smashed it into pieces.
The boy, meanwhile, was in an even
more precarious situation. He had
started for the American shore, become
confused, and at the last moment had
turned back to the Canadian side. His
change Of mind was costly, for the ice
was now going to pieces on all sides.
Suddenly the piece on which he was
standing broke away, was seized in
the full grip Of the current, and whirl-
ed rapidly down the river. The water
was full Of laundering, crashing cakes,
which threatened at any moment to
smash the piece on which the boy was.
With the greatest difficulty, he manag-
ed to maintain his position, and by
good luck, his foe kept free from the
rest.
On toward the bridge they swept
with ever-increasing velocity, toward
a jam which had formed by the bridge
and the projecting shore. 1t seemed In
evitable that the cake would be hurled
against that jam; already the Mortified
onlookers could see the catastrophe.
But the boy had not lost his presence
of mind. Crouching on the ice, he
waited for the shock. 1t came, with a
terrible splintering crash, but a mo-
ment before, the boy had leaped high
up on the jam. He managed to secure
a hold, and to draw himself up out of
the reach of the ice. From there will
ing hands lifted him to safety.-Youth's
Companion.