Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-03-03

the river the pilgrim simply walking out the
CAPT. Ross Of the Manchester strolled out from
the Marshall Hall wharf and climbed aboard the
Washington on her last trip mp. -
Pending action by Congress on the APP
preparation for cracking the ice the
Commissioners applied to Secretary Tracy
of the Navy for use Of the tug Triton. On
January % the Secretary sent to the
Commissioners the following letter, which
he had received from the commandant OF
the Washington navy yard:
The Triton is strongly built for 4 vessel of her
kind. but she is not strong enough to break the
ice which exists in the river. Tne ice Is now
nine inches thick where the water Is twenty
feet deep and perhaps thicker where the water
is shoaler. II an attempt is made to break the
ice the breaking should commence at the mouth
of the river or at clear water. when the ebb tide
may carry the broken ice away. II the ice IS
first broken in the harbor the tidal current VIII
missoners will delay the attempt until the ice
is light enough for small vessels like the Triton
that in this case the Commissioners make them
selves responsible for any serious injury to the
boat in addition TO supplying the fuel.
Secretary Tracy concurred in the
opinions of the commandant of the
navy yard. Meantime the public inter-
est in the ice situation continued keen,
and The Star published an interview
with Potomac river veteran. who
said: This is the severest spell of
weather we have had since 1856-57.
when the ice was thick enough to walk
on safely from MARYLAND to Virginia at
the mouth of the Potomac" Frequently
in the news of that period it was print
ed that a man could skate from Wash
ington to the bay. There was deal of
public discussion; as to the need of a
fireboat and an. ice-breaking boat to
replace the little police boat Joe Black
burn, and the result of that discussion
was the Firefighter. the present big
,harbor boat The situation can be I'M
derstood by reading the following.
x.-hi he uyho rf
notes of that time:
Talk of a new harbor steamer for Washington
is revivinS. This topic blossoms every time there
lice boat. Joe Blackburn. is joke. She cannot
fill her boiler without killing her steam. and She
has to undergo repairs every time member Of
in service. Winter water freights in this port
are high because tcoastwise captains and ship
iceboat would remedy this. Another reason why
the river people want boat Is because the docks
and shipping would be protected against fire.
When steamer catches fire at the docks now
there is no salvation for her. She is cut loose
to save surrounding property and towed into the
stream beyond the reach Of the land engines
This was. the case with the W. W. C6rcoran and
the ferry steamer.
There were many plans proposed for
breaking the ice. One man wrote the
following to The Star:
1t has occurred to me in reading the prospect
corporations and others interested might nnd it
to their advantage to ask of scientists whether
electricity. since 1t decomposes water might
not be employed to dissolve the ice and so
clear 1t out as cheaply and more rapidly than
by iceboats. or whether cheap chemicals in
large quantities might not do the work The
danger seems imminent and relief slow in the
way hitherto proposed.
w. X Stevens. superintendent of the
bathing beach. submitted to the Com
missioners a design for an ice-breaker
Supt. Callahan. of the Norfolk and
Washington line offered to break a