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.