The Washington times., 1918-02-14
HIGH WATER
MARK IS NOT
YET REACHED,
SAYS REPORT
Jcontinued from First PaseJ

JcOntinued from FIrst Paee)
areasInE menace. There are many
Soeal jams up the river.
At HarperE Ferry the river is still
Rising steadily a tenth OF q foot an
hour. At noon today It had reached
. height of 15.7 feet, and ice is run
ring. The rise during the early
h6Fning hours was rapid. Eighteen
fSat 10 the flood stage.
with the water level at HRrpers
Ferry going up steadily, Washington
danger is increasing hour by hour.
FouT Feet the Flood Stage.
Official readings by the weather
= Bureau show that the Potomac is four
: feet in the flood stage at AQueduct
bridge. The reading there at noon
was Ills feet above low tide, and
rising rapidly. In 1889 the river
o. reached a height OF but 1875 feet above
mean low tide. The mark today Is
= the highest recorded since 1853. In
1Sle the reading reached IA and in
1913, 9 feet.
Spectators on the Aqueduct Bridge
were given scare at 12:45, when an
fee Jam above the Three Sisters 5rolSe
with . tremendous boom, and came
racing down against the bridge piers.
:, They ned for both shores. The break
brought a two-foot crest of water
with 1t, but # quickly passed, leaving
!, the bridge safe.
TIE barge containing the pile
driver. valued at $1,000, II floating
down the Potomac.
% Water Rises to Street.
The waters in the flooded section
:, of h street, extending from Jefferson
y street to Thirtieth street, rose q foot
a. the gorge came down.
When this gorge above the bridge
broke, Capt. J. T. Fallmans in charge
of the engineering work OF Key
: bridge, ordered his men off a concrete
mixer and dredge. The ice broke the
dredge from its mooringB and II is
now being held in a wedge Of ice 200
1set from its mooTing point.
The property In the section now
AoodSd 10 believed subject only to
water damage, with the exception of
the equipment abutting the water,
which 10 being carried away as the
ice jams down toward Easby'H Point
Warned by the danger since early
: morning, most of the material OF q
pershable character has been re-
moved to places OF safety, but auto
mobiles, roEboAts, ice wagons. and
other vehicles have been pressed into
service, fording this artifeiai lake.
which now is about two feet deep
and covers the car tracks OF the Bal.
I Iimore and Ohio railroad.
Damage from the ice and water Is
increasing hourly along the entire
river front, and will probably reach
total OF several hundred thousand dol
lars.
Many Houses SnasAed.
Camps and shaclzs along both shores
of the upper Potomac and many
houses on the lowlands above George
town have been smashed in or car
ried away In the ice.
> Huge foes are pIling into the boat |
houses at the Aaueduct bridge, wreck ]
ing them Hundreds OF small craft /
were removed from the danger zone, !
but many hundreds of others have
been lost. crushed in the ice or car
ried away.
Though the river 10 rising and ice !
foes increasing, there Is no imme-
diate danger to the three bridges |
connecting the Capital with Virginia, |
according TO army engineers. All OF /
them are under police and military !
guard. however, and will be cleared |
At the hrst sign OF danger
Water Over PIsrn.
The water Is above the piers at the |
highway bridge, reaching to the cap
stones on the two south piers. This
win throw the moving lee against the !
thin steel supports. II it jams there. |
Colonel Ridley, superintendent OF !
public buildings and grounds. stated /
today II will bring a dangerous sltua- |
ton.