Rensselaer Republican, Volume 28, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1896 — FEAR A GREAT FLOOD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FEAR A GREAT FLOOD

DANGER AT CHIPPEWA FALLS, WISCONSIN. z Water Held Back by the -Enormous Ice Gorge Threatens to Inundate the Whole Valley—Fitzsimmons Loses the Fisht on a Foul. Chippewa Falls’ Disaster. A calamity distressing' in its results and in some respects unique is that which has befajjfen the people of Chippewa Falls, Wis.,'Xv6ere an ice gorge forming in the river has damped up the water, causing it to overflow and flood the surrounding territory. The extent qf the disaster and the formidable nature of the elemental forces causing it may be conceived from the fact that within a very short time the river has risen to a height of twenty-four feet. There is danger.of its changing its course and 'flowing into the town. As it is;’ the little place is flooded, buildings on certain streets being submerged to. |he second story. Theiuhabitants are ’getting away apd carrying as much of tljeir property with them as possible. Not only Chippewa Falls, but several adjacent towns, ■’must suffer unless the gorge is broken within a very short time. Immense quantities of dynamite have been exploded!’ with a view to breaking the gorge. It is reported that nearly 9,000 people are homeless, and-the intense cold makes their situation worse. At the time ibis is.'written the watpf is still rising, with little hope of breaking the gorge. The Chippewa River is twen-ty-eight feet above low-water mark. All places of business on Spring, River and Lower Bridge streets are vacated. One rumor tq_ the effect that the river would cut out a passageway for itself through the high banks north of the Wisconsin Central Railroad bridge gave rise to great apprehension. The river’s course is seriously obstructed by the gorge, that has reached' within a short distance of the dam and the turning 4if the course of the stream upon the city seems l so plausible that every one is panic-stricken.

The river presents a terrible appearance. The ice gorge is forty feet high, and backing water on the city at the rate of a foot- an hour. Poor people are suffering terribly.from the cold. The Wisconsin Central depot and tracks are under water. All business is done over the Northwestern line. . The city is iri eomplete darkness, as gas and electric light service are shut off by the water. The Chicago,Milwaukee and Bt. Paul has suspended its service through the Chippewa Valley, being unable to get a train through the flooded territory’. Logs and limbs of trees are strewn many feet high on the track. On low grades the water rises many feet above the ties, and high enough to extinguish the engine fires. An engine and coach that went out to the low lands below Durand came back

with two score of women and children on board who were driven 'from > their homes by the water and were found nearly" dead from exposure and cold. The engineer said he could not finish the trip on account of the rising water. It looks at this writinggis though the entire city will be inundated. A great number of visitors are at the scene of the ice gorge. To realize the great danger it is only necessary to visit the banks of the Chippewa. It is a dou-ble-headed danger that is threatened. What means relief to, Chippewa Falls will luring devastation to Eau Claire, Durand and other points below. The ice jam will likely remain intact, perhaps for months, and only natural causes can break it. The condition of affairs was considered at a, business men’s meeting in Eau Claire, but it was felt that no hbmau agency could relieve the situation.

DISTRICT THREATENED BY FLOODS.