229 



ice has gone off with a west or southwest wind and has been piled up on the east 

 or northeast shores. 



In the spring of 1895, the ice went off' the lake in an unusually short time. 

 The lake had remained completely frozen over until March 24. During this day 

 the ice began to melt along the shores. On the morning of March 25, the ice had 

 melted to a distance of 20 feet from shore. At noon the ice had receded 400 feet 

 from shore. A heavy west wind was blowing all day, and the cracking of the ice 

 could be heard. At 3 p. m. the noise caused by the crushing of the ice became 

 very loud and could be heard for a quarter of a mile. The ice was broken into 

 huge cakes. The wind now began to lift the ice and drive it eastward. At 4 p. M. 

 all the ice was piled along the east shore. The height to which the ice is piled 

 depends on the character of the shore and the strength of the wind. The piles 

 are not so high along a low marshy shore as along an inclined or abrupt shore. 

 Occasionally a great sheet of ice is pushed up a smooth inclined surface 6 or 7 

 feet without breaking the ice to any great extent. An instance of this kind was 

 observed by Mr. Dolan on the northeast shore of Syracuse Lake last March. No 

 ice formed on the lake after March 25. 



Ice cracks are very numerous from the time the ice forms entirely across the 

 lake and has attained sufficient stability. They form before the ice has reached 

 the tliickness of one inch. When the first cracks formed in December the ice was 

 so thin that it sagged slightly along the crack. The water came through the 

 crack and spread over the surface of the ice suflficiently to melt the small amount 

 of snow covering the ice, to a distance of 5 or 6 feet on each side of the crack. 



The explanation of ice cracks as quoted from Gilbert by Eussell in his 

 "Lakes of North America" is so applicable to the case in hand that I reproduce 

 the quotation here : 



"The ice on the surface of a lake expands while forming, so as to crowd its 

 edge against the shore. A further lowering of the temperature produces contrac- 

 tion, and this ordinarily results in the opening of vertical fissures. These admit 

 the water from below, and, by the freezing of that water, are filled, so that when 

 expansion follows a subsequent rise of temperature the ice can not assume its 

 original position. It conse(|uently increases its total area, and exerts a second 

 thrust upon the sliore. When the shore is abrupt, the ice itself yields, either by 

 crushing at the margin or by the formation of anticlinals (upward folds) else- 

 where; but if the shore is gently shelving, the margin of the ice is forced up the 

 acclivity and carries with it any boulders or other loose material about which it 

 may have frozen. A second lowering of temperature does not withdraw the pro- 

 truded ice margin, but initiates other cracks and leads to a repetition of the 



