VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS.iJND., JUNE 8,1889.
NO. 23
MOST DESTRUCTIVE DISASTER OF THE
CENTURY.
Possibly 5,000 Lives Lost.   $25,000,-
000 of Property Destroyed.
Heavy reins prevailed throughout Pennsylvania for several days, and caused the
streams in every direction to overflow.
Two and a ball miles northeast ot Johnstown is an old reservoir, formerly known
as Conemaugh Like. It is 300 feet above
the level ot Johnstown. The unusual In-
pouring of water caused the dam by whioh
the water was controlled to give way and
a flood swept down the Conemaugh Valley. Johnstown is practically obliterated,
and Conemaugh, Bolivar, Florence and
other towns in the valley suffered heavily.
The reservoir above the town broke at
5 o'clock Friday evening, May 31, and an
immense volume of water rushed down
to the city, carrying with It death and destruction. . Honses,with their occupants
were swept away and hundreds of people
drowned.
' The course of the torrent from the
broken dam at the foot of the lake to
Johnstown Is almost 18 miles, and with
the exception of a lone point the water
passed throngh a narrow V-shaped valley,
Four miles below the dam lay the town of
South Fork, where the south fork empties
into the Conemaugh river. The town contained about 2,000 inhabitants. It is said
that four-fifths of it has been swept away.
Four miles further down on the Conemaugh river whioh runs parallel with the
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad,
was the town of Mineral Point. It had
800 inhabitants, 90 per cent of the houses
being on a flat close to. the river. Six
miles farther down was the town of Conemaugh, and here alone was there a topographical possibility of the spreading of.the
flood and the breaking of its force. It
contained 2,500 inhabitant, and must be
almost wholly devastated.
Woodville, with 2,000 people lay a mile
below Conemaugh, in the flat, and one
mile farther down were Johnstown
and its duster of sister towns—Cambria,
City and Conemaughborough—with a to-
tal population of 30,000. On made ground
and stretchirg along right at the river
varge, were the immens3 iron works bf
the Cambria Iron and Steel Company.
Besides this there are many other large
industrial establishments.
W. N. Hays, Supervisor ol the station of
the Pennsylvania Kaiiroad, covered by
the flood, telegraphed at 10 o'clock Satnrday morning to Superintendent Pitcarin
as follows:
"The destruction Is terrible. The damp
at Johnstown is gone between the bridge
and tower. West of Johnstown at some
points the tracks are entirely carried
away and the road bed gone. The river
for three quarters of a mile above the
bridge is filled-with buildings and driftwood 40 feet high, and Is on fire, burning
furiously, and is entirely beyond our control. I cannot estimate the amount of
damage. I walked over to-night from
Johnstown to Lang Hollow, fonr miles.
Johnstown Is literally wiped out."
The list of dead will not fall below 8,000,
and may reach 15,000 persons.
Report has it that only 70 buildings are
left standing in Johnstown. According
to a late message bodies are being hauled
out at Sang Hollow by the wagon load, as
they are drifting down. Conduotor Bell
says the horror of the place ls beyond description.
. It is now known that two passenger
trains, two sections of the day express on
the Pennsylvania railroad, have been
thrown into the maddened torrent, and
the passengers drowned. These tialns
■Were held at Johnstown from Friday at U
a. m., and were lying on a Biding between
the Johnstown and Conemaugh  stations.
The plain in which bnt yesterday sat
Johnstown, sits in the mountains like a
jewel in a queen's diadem. The great
Oautier Steel-works sat In this plain, and
the city below it, the railroad tracks bounding it at the base of the mountains on the
north. Here the trains were standing
when the tide of water, like a cataract,
came down on them with suoh resistless
force that the heavy trains, locomotives,
Pullmans and all were overturned and
swept down the torrent, and were lodged
against the great stone viaduct along with
forty-one locomotives from the Johnstown
round house, the heavy machinery and
ponderous frame work of the Gautier mill,
the accumulated debris of more than a
thousand houses, furniture, bridges, lumber, drift and human beings. The low
arches of the stone viaduot choked up Immediately, and the water backed back over
the entire level of the valley upon which
the city stood, to the depth of what, from
the. water-works, indicate about thirty
eight feet. In the great sea thus formed
hundreds, perhaps thousands of people,
were struggling for life.
The scene to.day, Jane 2nd, is one of the
most harrowing possible for the lmaglna
tion of man to conceive. The accumulated
drift gorged up at the viaduot to a height
of forty feet, and then took fire from the
upsetting of stoves or lamps. As the
.flames crackled and roared among the dry
tinder of the floating houses, human bodies
were seen pinioned between the house
roofs, locomotives, iron beams, freight,
passenger, Pnllman and baggage cars, the
greedy flames licking with haste their
diet of human flesh. The scene was horrible beyond description. From infancy,
a few days old, to the wasted figure of age,
people were burned before the eyes of the
beholders, and no rescue from such a fate
was possible. Strong men turned away
with agonized expressions, and women
screamed at the horror of the scene. The
dead have been computed at not less than
8,000, and the number may exceed that
estimate. This seems Incredible, but until
the waters will have abated and the work
of removing the dead from this tremendous mass is completed, it will be impossible to tell how many lives have been
lost.
The stone viaduot is 40 feet high from
the river bed at low water, and over this
the water rushed in a resistless flood. On
this, on the west side, is the Bessemer
and rail mills of the Cambria Iron Company. Although warned to flee to the
hill sides, many of the men, resting in a
fancied security, loitered about the mills
and were engulfed ln an^instant. Their
bodies are strewn along the Conemaugh,
Klakimlnita and Allegheny rivers, and
are being caught as far down the Ohio
river as Rochester.
There is no possibility of telling jnst
who has been lost, as thousands are miss
ing. The survivors, many of whom tell
of the most thrilling escapes from collections of debris, honse roofs, car doors and
planks, seek the banks, and gaz9 with
stupor, born of paralyzatlon of their mental faculties from the fright and horror
they have been subjected to. The number of people who are' visible from the banks are so
few in oontrast with the papulation of
the various little boroughs whioh constitute the city, that the question, "Where
are the people?" is asked on all sides.
The Impression is gaining that the disclosures yet to come, where the gorge collected, and which ii now burning over an
area of several acres, is yet more ghastly.
The awf alness of the soene defies language to depict, as It does Imagination to
conceive of. Without seeing the havoc
created, no idea can be given even of the
area ot the desolation or the extent of the
damage. Millions cannot repair the damage, and the desolation covers miles of
territory.
Notwithstanding the dire distress of
their fellow cltizans, the "Hans" were
caught purloining garments and searching the pockets of the victims of the awful
tragedy. All food supply having been destroyed, and all places of shelter having
been rendered insecure, hundreds took
refuge on the slopes which surround the
city. The scenes of these camps were pathetic ■ Little children clustered around
their elders, crying for food and shivering with the cold mountain air. For 16
hours the little city was cut ofl from the
world, and the tragedies of that awful
night can never be told.
Food, clothing and money is needed by
the inhabitants of the stricken city. They
need shelter, also. The citizens of Pitts
burg and Allegheny have started a relief
fund, which Is growing rapidly, but the
sum needed Is more than any one com'
munity can give.
Just as the shadows began to fall upon
the earth Saturday evening, a party of 13
Hungarians were noted stealthily picking
their way along 'the banks of the Conemaugh, toward Stout's Sang Hollow. Suspicious of their purpose several farmers
armed themselves and started in pursuit.
Soon their most horrible p fears were realized. The Hungarians were out for plun
der. Lying upon the shore, they'came
upon the dead and mangled body of a wo
man, npon whose person there were a
number of trinkets of jewelry and two
diamond rings. In their eagerness to secure the plunder the Hungarians got Into
a squabble, during which oue of their
number severed the fioger upon which
were the rings and started on a run with
his fearful prize. The revolting nature of
the deed so wrought upon the pursuing
farmers, who by this time were close at
hand, that tbey gave immediate chase.
Some of the Hungarians showed fight, but
being outnumbered were compelled to
flee for their lives. Nine of the brutes es
caped, but four were literally driven into
the surging river and to their death. The
inhuman monster whose attracious act
has been described was among the number
ot the involuntary suicides.
On Sunday morning at Sang Hollow
three men were detected stealing the jewels from the bodies of the dead wives and
daughters of men who have been robbed
of all they hold dear on earth. When Informed of it, five burly men, with looks
of terrible determination written on their
faces, were soon on their way to the scene
of plunder, one with a coil of rope over
his shoulder and another with a revolver
in his hand. In 20 minutes they had
overtaken two of their victims, who were
then in the act of cutting pieces from the
ears, ahd fingers from the hands of the
bodies of two dead women. With revolver leveled at the scoundrels, the leader of
the posse shouted: "Throw up your
hands or I'll blow yonr heads ofl."
With blanched faces and trembling
forms they obeyed the order and begged
for meroy. They were searched, and as
their pockets were emptied of their ghastly
finds the indignation of the crowd intensified, and when the bloody finger of an
infant, encircled with two tiny gold rings,
was found among the plunder in tha leader's pocket, a cry went up, "Lynch them,
lynch them."
Without a moment's delay ropes were
thrown around their necks and they were
dangling to the limbs of a tree.
The various railroad tracks are| being
rapidly repaired, and malls are getting
through by means of couriers across the
mountains. A pony express line has
been established..  ■
<5*tw*al ^ems.
The Texas Spring Palace which opened
on May 29, continues till Jane 20.
The human race Is Increasing 30,003,000
yearly.
Colorado is said to have 1,000 women
stock growers.
Chili has decided to put a stop to Chinese immigration.
There are said to be 9,000 woman doctors
ln the United States.
Twelve thousnad men are still on a strike
at Saarand, Germany.
A severe earthquake was felt at El Paso,
Tex., Friday afternoon.
The present permanent population of
Oklahoma Is about 20,000.
A dog tax of France gives the State an
annualrevenue of about $1,500,000.
PIttsbrg White Caps have written threatening letters to Edward Murphy, the
temperance advocate.
Two bundles of letters were found in
some old paper sold at the Columbus.Ohlo,
postoffise to a junk dealer.
Twelve boys rendered insane by exces-
sive cigarette smoking, have been admitted into the Napa(Cjl.) hopi.al.
The Connecticut House ha? passed—65 to
59—bill giving women the right to vote on
the question of the sale of intoxicating liquors.
One hundred men have been thrown
out of employment by the burning of the
Farm Implement manufactory at Apple-
ton, Wis.
It ls estimated that the annual money value of thefraltoonsamedinQreatBritlan is
?50,000,000, of which about? 15,000,000 worth
is Imported.
Along the shore line of Paget Saund
there ls one vast unbroken forest of enormous trees containing 500,030,000 feet of
lumber according to the Tiaiberman.
Hundreds of miners are flocking into the
Yukon di .trict, and trouble oyer the boundary line between Alaska and the British
possessions is becoming a serious matter.
As the question now stands the miners
can defy the laws of either country.
A meeting of the shippers and farmers
of a number of countries in Missouri was
held at Jeflerson City on the 30 th for the
purpose of organizing a State association
for batter protection in railroad freight
rates and other things In which they are
interested.
The Lancaster mills, manufacturers of
Lancaster and Normandie ginghams, employ" 2,000 operatives in the production of
its specialties. This is the largest mill
confining its sole'product ion to gingham in
the world, the annual production reaching
nearly 30,000,000 yards.
The United Presbyterian General Assembly In session atSpringfield,0 .adoptad
the following:
Resolved,That any form of license t r taxation cf the traffic, is unscriptarl in principle and contrary to good governmemt.and
ought to be discouraged by every Chrstian,
philanthropist and patriot.
At Coburg, Ontario, June 2d, what appeared to be a large body of water
passed over the town in a northwesterly
direction and burst when about two miles
distant. In a few minutes small creeks
became rivers and all bridges and dams
between where the burst occurred and
Laka Ontario were carried away, and the
railway embankment was destroyed.
Many houses were Inundated, and the inmates had to be rescued in boats. In the
town all the cellars ln the business portion
were flooded. Many crops Inthe fields
have been swept away. The loss is estimated at f 500,000.