"We don't refer to Noah's Flood, but we mean the recent 'Old High' the Delaware has been on," reported G.D. Ingersoll, editor of the Feb. 12, 1881, Valley Falls New Era.
He continued, "The usually quiet and unostentatious stream has been on a regular 'old bender' and has attracted considerable attention. She began to raise last Friday evening and kept swelling her dimensions till Tuesday when she was at her highest. Water was two feet deep on Piazzek's mill floor and within three feet of the highest raise the oldest settler can remember.
"All Sunday night men were busily engaged carrying flour and grain out of the mill and luckily enough, the miller lost no grain. The ice had now broken up and great blocks as large as a house were rushing down the mighty current towards the Kansas River.
"Much anxiety was now manifested concerning the safety of the bridges and mills on account of the floating ice. Monday morning a large cake struck the northwest corner of the Piazzek Mill and broke one of the large corner posts. A large gorge had formed below the mill, and the way to clear it was a conundrum.
"Mr. Hayward, the miller, solved it by putting eight charges of powder into half gallon jugs with well varnished fuses attached to them. The 'little brown jugs' were then sunk under ice, the fuse lighted, and the work was accomplished.
"Tuesday evening a mass of ice struck the trestle under the east end of the Kansas Central (RR) bridge and tore it away. The water is now falling and the mill men are repairing the mill."
The February weather scenario was not ended. in the Feb. 19, 1881, issue of the New Era, the editor reported, "The storm has been immense. A whole week we've been cut off from the rest of the world. Snow blockades all around. A whole week without mail. No wonder everyone has the blues. The biggest snow storm the oldest inhabitant remembers. Drifts as large as a house in front of every man's door. Terrible in the extreme, but the Rubicon is crossed."
The museum will be open at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19.
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