SAINT PATRICK'S DAY, 1875
A DAY THAT WILL NEVER BE FOR-
GOTTEN IN PORT JERVIS.
Ushered In The Great Ice Flood, Which
Wrecked and Inundated Many Homes.
Carried off Bridges and Left Mountains
of Ice In its Track Along the River.
The sun shines brightly on Port Jervis
today , the anniversary of the birth of St.
Patrick, and the "wearing of the green"
is in evidence in many homes where the
good old saint is held in reverence. The
scenes through which Port Jervis and her
sister village of Matamoras have just
passed and tho fears of impending danger
serve to recall the scenes which were witnessed
in this village twenty-nine years
ago on March 17th, 1875 when the breaking
loose of the rivers from their icy fetters
caused terrible devastation all along
the Delaware and great destruction of
property in this village.
In the front windows of THE GAZETTE
are displayed a number of the scenes witnessed
in the ice flood of 1875, in which
are shown the blowing up of the gorge
with nitroglycerine, the carrying off of
bridges, houses wrecked and ruined
families fleeing to the high ground, and
other incidents connected with that event.
The flood had its beginning the day before
St. Patrick's at Deposit, 90 miles up
the river.
The torrents of ice and water traveled
only five miles an hour, but every mile
of its progress was watched and telegraphed
to Port Jervis. The telegraph office
and river banks were crowded all
through the night. From Port Jervis,
extending up the river, was a solid mass
of ice four miles, piled high with blocks
of ice.
Everybody was astir on the morning of
St. Patrick's Day. At 1 o'clock the police
were sent through the town from house
to house, warning everybody that the
flood was but 20 miles above, and that its
speed was accelerated every minute. Fifteen
minutes later the streets were filled
with hurrying, frightened throngs of men,
women and children. In the meantime
an engine was despatched to the railroad
bridge, four miles above here, and there
the men awaited the coming of the tide.
Gradually the ice in the river began to rise
and within an hour had reached the
spans that supported the structure. Still
there were no violent indications of danger,
but suddenly the bridge trembled
and moved visibly to one side. The engineer
jerked back the bar and the engine
moved off the bridge. Three minutes
later the bridge was borne down the
river with the flood which had become a
raging torrent of tumbling ice blocks.
Under a full head of steam the engine
reached this village in time to issue a
final warning.
As the locomotive came into Port Jervis
some half a dozen other locomotives sent
forth a shrill scream that defies description.
In less than fifteen minutes
two thousand persons were on the streets,
soon wagon alter wagon came rattling
down the flats, and such a tumbling out
of furniture was never before seen in Port
Jervis. Men were seen loaded with goods
and women and children running, all
seeking places of safety. The hillsides
were lined with spectators, while the continual
shrieking of locomotives and the
ringing of bells added to the confusion
and sent terror into the hearts of many.
Near 7 o'clock a great blast was made
of 50 pounds of nitroglycerine. This had
been previously placed under the ice at
the strongest point of the dam to await
the critical moment when the rise of
water would make the weakening of the
structure advantageous. This had the effect
of weakening the mass. It threw
large fragments 500 feet into the air and
destroyed the real point of resistance. At
half-past eight o'clock the flood was at its
height. The Barrett bridge withstood
the terrible battering of the ice until the
railroad bridge from above was borne
down against it when its stays snapped like
pipe stems and it passed off in company
with, the other; then the dam gave way
and a shout of satisfaction rent the air,
further danger having passed.
A New York paper commenting on the
flood and the use of explosives to break
up the gorge said, "Had the resolution to
try the effect of blasting been resorted to
a week earlier than it was it is quite
probable that Port Jervis would have escaped
the calamity."
Reported in The Evening Gazette on March 17th, 1904
 Circa 1909 Source: Missouri History Museum | ||
In 1876, The Tri-States Union
on
March 17, 1876 stated:
- St. Patrick's day this year will have a
double celebration, as it
(the 17th of
March) is not only the anniversary of the
birth of Ireland's
patron saint, but also of the evacuation of Boston by the British.
