Evening star., 1938-01-27
WIND SHIFT SAVES
SPAN AT NIAGARA
New "TWist" Detected in
Bridge, HoWever-CoId
Wave Widens.
~ the Associated Press,

Upper Michigan with snow and spread
suonormal temperatures as far South
as Central Florida.
(Fair and continued cold weather
was forecast for Washington today,
with the mercury expected to get
down to about Is degrees tonight.
The minimum temperature this
morning was 10 degrees)
Nine deaths were attributed to win
Ter storms and floods.
A shift in the wind relieved the
pressure of an ice jam against Honey
moon Bridge" at Niagara Falls and
saved the 1,200-foot steel span from
immediate destruction.
Engineers, however. detected a slight
new twist" in the spidery steelwork of
the bridge today after the arch had
held its position rigidly for nearly "a
hours against record ice jam.
Observers said a groaning spread
through the steelwork A slight move
ment appeared in the intertwined
girders and then the sounds and mo-
ton suddenly ceased.
One of the already bent and twisted
supporting members of the American
shore pier gave little" engineers
reported, as the pressure of the piled
up ice was relieved.
A crew Of workmen was building q
timber supporting crib around the pier
when the shift occurred only few feet
away.
Michigan highway crews cut
through snowdrifts ranging up to a
depth Of 80 feet in the northern part
OF the State. Workers rescued hun
dreds OF motorists. Mine operations
ceased and some schools were closed.
Below Zero Temperatures.
Temperatures dropped below the
zero mark at many points in the Mid
west yesterday. Bemidji, Mimi, re-
~ ported 20 below.
Fair, cold weather and recession of
headwaters localized winter floods of
Arkansas. Weather observers forecast
the Ouachita River would rise to a
crest of AZ feet, modern record, at
Camden. Ark, Friday.
In Mississippi. where 2l-deeree
weather was felt at Jackson, Commits
sioner of Agriculture j. C. Holton said
there perhaps was some Slight DAM
age to early vegetables Louisiana
agriculturists said they believed fruit
IN that State might have suffered
some.
16 at Batesville, Ark,
The mercury dropped to Is degrees
at Batesvllle, Ark, and to 20 at Little
Rock during the night. There was
Light frost at New Orleans and as far
down the Florida Peninsula as Tampa
Wytheville, in Virginia's mountains,
had a low temperature of degrees
above zero, while Mount Mitchell, in
Western North Carolina, highest peak
east of the Rockies, reported below.
Atlanta, Ga. awoke under blanket
OF frost, with 16-degree weather.
Seven hundred and fifty miles to the
north, New York City reported a low
of only II degrees. New York State
temperatures generally were 10 to Is
degrees above zero, with the coldest,
II below, at Whiteface Mountain.
Power and telephone lines were
washed out by flooded Rock River in
Whiteside County, ILL., Cold weather
was expected to relieve flood condi-
tions on two rivers in Maine.
Storms buffeted shipping on the
Great Lakes and at sea.
Two fishing tugs. the Bonnie and
Tlro t,,J Sva ov1a
Voix Harbor.
Her propeller damaged, the British
3reighter PencarroW was taken in tow
late yesterday by the tug Foundation
Franklin of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in
heavy seas about 60 miles off the Nova
Scotia coast
The 260-foot oil barge Nulube, lost
from its tug in rough water about so
miles east southeast of the Mississippi
River Passes, was found drifting in the
Gulf by the freighter West Chatala.
The freighter summoned Coast Guards
men
Flurries Of snow were reported in
Ocala and Brooksville, Fla, about =
third Of the way down an the penin-
sula.
Mercury PIunges in Virginia.
virginians shivered last night as the
mercury dropped to new lows for the
season in some sections of the State.
F. N. Hubbard, chief Of the Weather
Bureau in Richmond, said the temper
ature probably would reach 18 degrees
above zero, although skies would be
clear generally. Light snow furries
were predicted for the extreme west
portion of the State today.
Mr.. Hibbard said the cold wave
probably would continue for two or
three days.
Marked by slight sag and some
twisted girders, Niagara's bridge stood
victor in 24-hour battle with the
worst ice jam in the gorge in 80 years.
Maids Of Mist Damaged.
Less fortunate, but still not damaged
beyond repair were the twin steam
Boats. the Maids of the Mist, which
have carried thousands Of tourists up
the river to the Falls. The rising ice
knocked them off their winter dry
docks and against the walls of the
gorge.
Not far from the Maid of the Mist
landing. engineers dug into the ice
cluttered interior of the Ontario
Hydroelectric Commissions million-
dollar generating station.
Until the ice pack rose yesterday
shis station hummed with the tune
OF powerful generators sending elec-
tricity out into Lower Ontario. To-
day. however, grinding ice cakes held
possession Of the silent plant. A. s.
Robertson, district superintendent of
the commission, said it might be
closed for a month.
No one ventured far out on the
spidery Honeymoon Bridge" today.
From the shore engineers kept a del
3cate transit lens trained on the
steelwork. They reported that no
movement had been observed since
shortly after noon Yesterday