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FLOOD NEWS.
The Dispatch will continue to publish
All the details of the Johnstown Disaster,
which is furnished by a large staff of com
petent correspondents located'at the scene.
PORTY-POHRTH YEAR
i ,
A DAM OF CLAY
That Many Had Said,
1 Again and Again,
f Would Surely
LET LOOSE SOME DAY.
Some Sensational Testimony
Brought Out at the
Inquests.
TOASTHE FOURTH BREAK
4 The Survivors Seeking Forget-
fulness by Taking
an Interest
IN REBUILDING THE CITY.
The Fear General That the
, list of Victims of the
Disaster '
"WILL BE AT LEAST 15,000.
Waste Places the Principal Feature of the
Landscape Many Bodies Found in Ex
cellent Preservation An Immense List
of the Dead Yet to Be Revealed Some
Wore Pitiful Sights Dozen of Infants
That Were Seen Floating Down the
Hirer In Cradles Railroad Facilities
Dally Improving Much Bard Wort
Ahead for Tbonsands of Men Three
Hnndred Bodies Focnd Yesterday air.
Fllnn's Plan for Thoroughly Cleanintr Up
the Debris In the Shortest Possible
, Time.
rraoM a staff coeeesfoxdext.1
JohnstoWit, June fi. Fires light up the
'waste places round about Johnstown, and
'waste places are the most prominent feat-
tires
is of the landscape. Some of the streets
ta ItSAH tinAifAMJI YTfl O lorwfl TIOH! ftf
,ymain street has been cleared. .Much, how-
evSr, remains to be done on it, "and in the
parts remaining uncovered by debris it is
expected many bodies will be recovered.
Many of the bodies recovered to-day were
in very bad condition and had to be buried
st once. Others, on the contrary, are in a
remarkable state of good preservation.
Three taken out of the debris at the Cam
bria "Worts were as firm as marble. They
were Mrs. Downs and her widowed and un
married daughters.
: One ofthe Pitiful Sights
was the discovery of a woman in a pile of
drift on the banks of the Conemaugh, not
iiar from General Hastings' headquarters,
clasping her three, children in her arms,
(which had to be broken to take them from
-Jher for preparation for interment. Another
mother with three children in her arms was
&1eo found.
These illustrations recall a story that is told
of a mother who sat on a roof on Saturday
morning after the flood, with her nine chil
dren gathered around about her. The father
had been swept away before their eyes. De
voted as only a mother can be, she refused
to leave her place until every one of the
children was in safety. The sorro w of their
.bereavements now begins to weaken strong
Jxnen who have been
Trying to Forget Their Griefs
in their efforts to restore the town. Cyrus
Elder with difficulty restrained his sobs as
he to-day pointed out to The Dispatch
correspondent the yonng man, Mr. Ludlam,
of If ew York, who had saved to him the
two remaining members of his family, and
nobly struggled to save the others. Yet in
the same breath he told that the lower Cam
bria works would be started much sooner
than' had been anticipated, and that the
upper works would be rebuilt There was
a ring of pride in his voice as Le said: ''The
Cambria Company does not intend to go out
of business."
t The 12 children that were found to-day in
Jthe debris of the Opera house, the BO that
v jfseTe found near the Presbyterian Church,
e the 20 that were found in the mount-
tun of drift in front of the general offices of
the Cambria works, and the 300 that were
V-found in all to-day, give promise
'.-. Of an Immense List of the Dead
xithatwill only be revealed in its entirety.
when the list of the survivors is made up.
- "There," said one man to-day, as he stood
at the base of a little mountain of debris, "is
the window I climbed in at and pulled my
family out after me. Two of my children I
lost. They were killed before my eyes by
4 falling beams, but I saved their bodies."
He pointed to a second-story window, on
s which marks of muddy feet could yet be
seen. . '
Look yonder," said J. K. Potts, formerly
aTmi
4sJExc
amember of the Pittsburg and Oil City Oil
.Exchanges. "There where that second
stream flows is where our garden was." He
(Cam J fC pa itrtav vnamTian er nio fattttl 1m 4
been dashed about in the current and had
finally
Ancaorea ior ine nun
and the greater part of the next day. One
sister-was lost During the rough voyage
their roof fell in on thfem, but it was carried
down and away during) the surging and toss
ing. "1 saw," said a lscy who lives on the
kill opposite the Cwiria works, "defeat
As-
i j
v.-
of poor little children floating down in
their cradles. One poor woman managed to
get on the roof of the open-hearth mill, and
walked back ana forward until, getting near
the upper end, she was caught in the sud
den rush of buildings that carried away the
end of the mill, and disappeared. It was
an awful sight to see buildings leaping
over the bridge with human beings, and to
hear the cries of the poor people in the fire."
These stories grow more pathetic day by
day. The railroads are daily improving
their facilities. The Baltimore and Ohio is
taking all the business offered, "but," said
Vice President King to-day, "we give pref
erence to the relief trains." The Pennsyl
vania Eailroad is now able to reach its
freight depot, but there is much hard work
yet ahead of everyone. Simpson.
FEAR OFTHE DAM.
Many People Foand Who Always Thought
the Reservoir Was Unsafe Ira-
portant Testimony Before
the Coroner.
rrKOH A STAFF COBBLSFOKDE2IT.1
Johnstown, June B. The Westmore
land county jury, under Coroner Hammer,
of Greensburg, visited the South Fork dam
and took testimony." The jury passed
through here to-night, on the way bacK to
Nineveh. On the jury were: E. E. Wible,
H. M. Guy, A. Ii. Bethune, W. H. Work,
,B. B. Boyes and Justice McCarthy. The
Coroner and his men gleaned the following
facts:
The length of the dam is 85 feet, 95 feet
high and 17 feet wide at the top. The dam
is made up of clay and stone, lined on the
inside by two feet of loose stone, except at
the bottom. There is buttressed stone work
lining from the bottom, ten feet high and
the full length of the dam.
The Coroner stated that he only found one
man in South Fork or along the road who
spoke in favor of the dam. Some of the men
said that it did not take them long to dis
cover that
The Man Was Interested,
He furnished the people at the reservoir
with provisions, and they supposed he did
not want to say anything to injure his
business.
The jury was anxious to see Colonel TJh
ger, but the latter was gone. The Huns
working there said the Colonel had left soon
after the accident occurred. He is the
President of the South Fork Club. The
Huns had not been paid, and they were
looking for the Colonel. The jury wouldn't
express any opinions, as they should not,
but they were perfectly willing to give all
the information possible.
Dr. Hammer, who is a very bright young
man, said he was very much displeased
when he saw in one of the Pittsburg papers
that the jury had rendered a decision, and
assessed the damages, giving the amount of
money. No decision has been rendered,
and none probably will be for a few days,
so the Coroner said. They have held in
inquests over 212 bodies at Nineveh, and
the doctor stated they were still finding
corpses at that place.
Some o'f the Testimony.
Among the men sworn was JTrank M.
Buchanan, of Johnstown. His testimony is
as follows: "The dam broke once, before.
The people in Johnstown and through the
Conemaugh Valley have always been afraid.
The damwas repaired, but was pronounced
unsafe byngineers. The reservoir burst1
Sheriff Steinman pronounced the dam un
safe, and called a consultation of the Cam
bria Iron Company. He heard by telephone
the dam had burst"
C. B. Moore, who lives at Johnstown, was
called and testified: "The flood came at I
o'clock. The water came from the direction
of the reservoir. The bursting of the dam
was the cause of the flood. The Pennsylva
nia Eailroad did not tell me to refuse to
testify against them. The people have
always been afraid. Posters were put out
warning persons of the approaching dis
aster." David Home testified: "The dam has
been condemned from six to eight years.
The breast was raised five years ago. Stone
were dumped in loose."
Had Broken Three Times Before.
Henry Moore lives at South Fork. His
testimony was this: "I have known of the
dam for 30 years. It has broken three
times already. They used hay and straw to
stop the leaks. People were always afraid
when the gate was raised. The country was
notified three times of the unsafe condition
of the dam. I do not know what engineers
examined it from time to time."
L. D. Stull said: "From the foundation
stones to the eaves of the roof over the flood
gate was 90 feet The water came to within
10 feet of the roof, making it 80 feet deep,
and afterward the dam was made higher."
Frank Lawn testified: "Colonel Unger
told me to repair the dam whenever the
dam overflowed on the top. He told me
to make a ditch five feet wide and three
feet deep. The dam broke at 2 o'clock in
the afternoon on Friday, The width of the
top of the dam was 20 feet by 152 feet long.
I have been here for two months. Worked
on Friday abont four hours and had 20 men.
Colonel Unger sent Mr. Park to South
Fork, to telegraph to Johnstown and notify
all the town that
The Dam Was In Danger of Banting.
It rained hard on'Thursday. It was heavy
and steady, but there was no cloud-burst:
Unger came here whenever it rained heavy.
The coroner and bis men said that the peo
ple at South Fork always were afraid of the
dam. It was rumored here that an iron bar
that held the gate had rusted off, but this
was not true.
Dr. Hammer stated that the water broke
through the clay sides and tore down the
mountain side. Isbael.
A GE0UP OF 600 SDFFEEEES.
People at Woodvale Threatened With a
Fever, and Needing Tents.
tFSOX A STAFF COEBESPOKDENT.J
Johnstown, June 5. Burgess Evans,of
Woodvale, is afraid a fever will break: out
among the COO people at that place. They
have been living on bread and pork since
Friday, and unless this fare is changed
very soon an epidemic is certain to break
out The people are also bound together in
close quarters. The Burgess has ordered
the houses to be scrubbed from top to bot
tom. What the people need is tents. There are
a number in the city;. but they have not yet
reached this place. The borough has been
cut off from the city until to-day. It is to
be hoped kind friends will relieve these
poor people at-once. They are suffering un
told miseries.
Dr. Hummed with a party of 17 physi
cians, arrived from Philadelphia this morn
ing, with a full supply of hospital supplies,
stretchers, surgical instruments, etc. He
states that 17 cars of provisions and cloth
ing are following iheas, and will soon be
here.
Israel.
w m
MUCH T0JE DONE.
Work lor 10.O88 Men for at Least 30
Days Contractor William Flinn and
Other Experts See tfao
Great DIBculty Ahead.
rFSOK A STAFF COBBXSrOVDXKT.l
Johnstown, June 5. "There is steady,
haid work here for 10,000 men for 30 days,"
was the verdict of William Flinn to-day,
and Mr. Flinn is considered a man of con
siderable judgment, and one who knows a
great deal about the amount of time
and labor required to do a given
work. He was standing, at the
time, near the village of tents in which his
men and those oi Captain Jones are en
camped, within sight of gangs of men who
were hard at work digging deposits of sand
and mnd from streets, chopping huge trees
into such lengths that they might readily
be hauled away from the burning debris and
horses.
"There are 3,000 men on the par roll
here, and as many volunteers," said Mr.
Flinn. "The volunteers will ere long get
tired. Perhaps some of them will go to
morrow. Some have already gone, b
others have taken their place. This wort'
keep up long It does not take a great
while for a pick and shovel and manual
labor to cool enthusiasm.
Mr. Fllnn's Flan for the Fatnre.
"My plan is for each of the manufactur
ing institutions of Pittsburg and vicinity to
send 50 to 100 or 150 men here for a week
or so, in rotation, in order to keep the num
ber at work up to 5,000 men. They should
have with them their own foremen and time
keepers. They can afterward adjust this
matter with the Pittsburg Chamber of
Commerce. That is the only way this
work can be done. It must be
done by men on pay. Ton can't keep
volunteers at work, and you may make this
just as strong as you like. The men sent
here should have tents and a complete camp
eqnipment We need more tents now, as
we have only accommodations here for 3,500
men. We have 200 horses at work, but
when the debris is well cleared away we can
usetaore. There iff no use trying to hire
more men on the streets of Pittsburg. You
could not find 1,000 men there out of work.
I have 1,000 men-here and have left my
work bare in Pittsburg. There is
Plenty of Work to be Done,
and volunteers can't be kept track of. Ton
can make all this just as strong as you
please. I want the people at home to under
stand it They don't comprehend the situa
tion here. No one can without seeing it"
A gentleman standing by, said: "There
should be entirely new material here. These
men who had their homes here can't dig
in the ruins. The Cambria works
have done nobly in letting so many of their
men remain at work on the debris. They
had to put them on their own works if they
desired to prevent damage to them. It is
true that vou can't make volunteers work
like paid men. They take their own
time."
"Dictator" Scott said to-day: "We are
organizing a Labor Bureau, and will ap
point a general superintendent to control -I
the work and the distribution of the men.
We propose to pay the men in money each
Saturday for work done up to the preceding
Wednesday. Snarsos.
YICHlTSItfTHBBOBOZJGHS. -
Those Who Perished and the Bodies That
Have Been Identified.
rrSOU A STAFF COSBESPONDZST.
Johnstown, June 5. Seventeen people
are missing from Franklin borough, opposite
Conemaugh and nine in East Conemaugh,
This makes 26 bodies lost from this neigh
borhood. Mineral Point -contributed 19
corpses as its quota. The people of South
Fork were nearly all saved. They were ac
quainted with the treacherous condition of
the reservoir and sought places of safety.
When the water started from the lake a boy
on horseback was on the spot He rushed
back to the town in six minutes, a distance
ofnearlyamile and a half, and two min
utes afterward the first wave swept the
town.
Mineral Point is practically annihilated,
only three houses remaining out of 50 in the
little mountain town.
The Councils in Conemaugh met last
night and agreed to push the work of clear
ing away the debris, whether the State pays
for it or not The dead of Conemaugh and
Franklin boroughs, up to date, are:
MR. ATKINSON, an old man.
MRS. GUS. McHUGH and three children.
MRS. COY and two children.
MRS. JOHN BURK.
DR WILSON and wife.
DAUGHTER of Tueo. Devlin.
AT.ttV CANARD'S baby.
ABSALOM BOYER.
MRS LEACH and daughter.
PETER ROBERTS.
The passengers rescued from the trains
were taken to Ebensburg. Fortunately, at
Woodvale, after the flood was over, a train
of flour and pork was left there. The hungry
people broke into the cars and captured the
plunder. A carload of whisky was found,
and in about 40 seconds the Austrians were
delirious with joy and wild with intoxica
tion, but Burgess Evans ended their happi
ness by smashing in the barrels and spilling
the stuff on the ground. ,
Mrs. Kate Sample and Mrs. Pollie Mc
Kean are still missing from Conemaugh.
Forty houses were washed away from this
town, and the freight and passenger depots
were the first to be carried off and smashed
to pieces. On the Indiana side, about three
miles below Johnstown, the body of a young
woman is lying. Her age is about 22, and
she wore a ring marked : "W. H. T. to A.
M. L., January 1, 1881." At Conemaugh
it was learned later that Maggie Roberts,
Mrs. John Keeper and child, and Mrs.
Stephen Roblin and child were drowned.
The bodies have been recovered and identi
fied. Mrs. HcGhough and Mr. John Burk
hart and wife, who were supposed to be lost,
are all right The two latter were taken out
of the water below the Gautier works.
Iseaei..
0NLI 17,000 ACC0DNTBD FOE.
Tiro Hundred Bodies Recovered During the
Fifth Day's Work.
frEOlk A STAFF COBlUrSPOXDINT.
Johnstown, June a The registers show
that 17,000 people have been accounted for.
Three bodies were nneartbed at the corner of
Main and Clinton streets to-day, and it is esti
mated that 200 bodies were recovered daring
the day, and the sand is full of them. Forty
additional bodies wero pnt in the Fourth ward
school to-night. Their .names were:
CHRIS FITZHARRIS.
JOHN FTTZHARRTi
MARGARET FITZHARRIS.
ELIZABETH REES.
SALL1E FITZHARRIS.
ELIZA JONES.
JAMES BARRETT.
FRANK O'lJONNELL.
KATE FITZHARRIS.
KATEMcGUIRE.
MISS LIZZIE BROWN.
TWO UNKNOWN.
AXJTTLEG1RL.
Cmtinued on 8Mh Ifye..-
t ' s
PITTSBURG, THDRSDAT, JUNE 6, 1889.
A DEATH RAFT
It Drifts Down From
Johnstown Toward
Pittsburg,
PAST MANY BODIESs
Crazed Women Dig in
Remnant of Their
Late Home
'the
AND JUDGE POTTS TALKS
tFEOJI A STAFF CORKZSFOXnXXT.l I
v Conemaugh Eivee,
On Boabd the Baft "Dispatch,
June 6.
Fifteen miles by raft and on foot alorig
the banks of the raging Conemaugh, and in
the refugee trains between Johnstown and
Pittsburg!
Such was the trip, fraught with great
danger but prolific of results, which the
writer has just completed. All along the
line events of thrilling interest, mingled
with those of heartrending sadness, tran
spired, demonstrating more than ever the
magnitude of the horrible holocaust of last
Black Friday.
Just as the day was dawning I left the
desolate city of Johnstown and, wending my
way along the shore of the winding Cone
maugh to Sheridan, I succeeded in per
suading a number of brave and stout-hearted
men, who had constructed a craft , and were
about to start on an extended search for the
lost who are known to be strewn all along
this fated stream, to take me with them.
The river is still very high, and while the
current is not remarkably swift, the still
floating debris made the expedition one of
hazardous peril.
How the Bodies Were Found.
Between the starting point and Nineveh
several bodies were recoyered. They were
mostly found imbedded in the sand close to
the shore, which had to be hugged for safety
all the way. Indeed the greater part of the
trip was made on foot, the raft being towed
along from the water's edge by the tireless
rescuers.
Just above Sang Hollow the party stopped
to assist a little knot of men who were en
gaged in searching amid the ruins of a hut
which lay wedged between a mass of trees
on the higher ground. A man's
'fcflt find janliaflwi Ti iIt4 -Smf
but there was no trace of the human being
to whom they once belonged. Perhaps he
is alive; perhaps his remains are among the
hundreds of unidentified dead, and perhaps
he sleeps beneath the waters between here
and the gulf! "Who can tell?
Literal Death Id the Harness.
A little farther down we came across two
horses and a wagon lying in the middle of
the river. The dumb animals had lit
erally died in the harness. Of their
driver nothing is known. At this
point an old wooden rocker was fished out
of the water and taken on shore. Here three
women were working in the ruins of what
had once been their happy home. When
one of them spied the chair it brought back
to her a wealth of memory and for the first
time probably since the flood occurred she
gave way to a flood of tears; tears as wel
come as the sunshine from heaven, for they
opened up her whole soul and pent-up grief
within to flow freely out and away.
"Where in the name of God," she sobbed,
"didyoa get that chair? It was mine no,
I don't want it-;keep it and find for me, if
you can, my album; in it are the faces of
my dead husband and little girli"
It Was Affecting.
When the rough men who have worked"
days in this valley of death turned away
from this scene there was not a dry eye in
the crowd. One touch of nature and the
thought of little ones at home welded them
in heart and sympathy to this Niobe of
modern times.
At Sang Hollow we came up with-a train
load of refugees en route to Pittsburg. As
I entered the car I was struck by two things.
The first was an old man, whose silvered
locks betokened his fourscore years, and the
second was a little clump of children, three
in number, who play on a seat in the upper
end of the coach. The white-haired patri
arch was Judge James Potts, aged
80, one of the oldest and best
known residents of Johnstown, who
escaped the flood's ravages in a most
remarkable manner. Beside him was his
daughter, while opposite' sat his son. There
was one missing to complete the family
party Jennie the youngest daughter, who
went down with the tide and whose remains
have not yet been found. The thrilling yet
pathetic story of the
Escape of the Old Judge
is best told in his own language. Said he:
"You ask me how I was saved? I answer.
God alone knows. With my little family I
lived on Walnut street, next door to the
residence of President McMillian, of the
Cambria Iron Company. When the waters
surrounded us, we made our way to tho third
floor and huddled together in one room,
determined if die we must to perish together.
Higher and higher rose the flood, while
our house even an anon was almost knocked
from its foundation by the ever increasing
mountain of debris floating along. At last
the bridge at Woodvale which had given
away a short time before struck the house
and split it asunder, as a knife might have
split a piece of paper. The force of the
shock carried us out upon the debris and we
floated around upon it lor hours, finally
landing near the bridge. When we looked
about for Jennie (here the old man. gave
way and sobbed bitterly) she was nowhere
to be seen. She had obeyed the Master's
summons." ,
Judge Potts -and his family have gone to
friends at Delmont, upper Westmoreland
connty.
What a Costrast!
TheAfe
'little glrk
.in ffn ii n n (a oaasca
RfUNS 19 HV9TV
4-
were the children of Austin Loanti, plas
terer, living back of Water street They
were as happy as happy, could be and cut
up in childish fashion all the way down.
Their good spirits were easily accounted for
when it was learned that 'father, mother,
children and all had a miraculous escape,
when it looked as if all would be lost The
entire family floated about for hours on the
roof of a house, finally Janding high upon
the hillside.
Elmer G. Speck, traveling salesman for
H. E. Childs & Co., of Pittsburg, was at
the Merchants Hotel when the flood oc
curred, having left the Hurlburt House but
a few hours before. He said: "With a
number of others I got from the hotel to the
hill in a wagon. The sightrom our emi
nence was" one that I shall never forget that
I can never fully describe. The whole
world appeared to be topsey turvey and at
the mercy of an angry and destroying
demon of the elements. People were float
ing abont on house tops, in wagons, and
hundreds were clinging to tree trunks, logs
and furniture of every imaginable descrip
tion. Drifting and Resetted.
"My sister, Miss Nina, together with my
step-brother and his wife, whom she was
visiting, drifted with the tide, on the roof
of a house, a distance of two blocks, where
they were rescued.
"With a number of others, I built a raft,
and in a short time had pulled eleven per
sons from the very jaws of death."
Continuing, Mr. Speck related how Mr.
Bosensteel and family, Curtis Williams,
hisWife and children; Louis Williams and
familyand a number of other folks from
Woodvale had all come doivn upon
their housetops. Mr. Curtis Williams and
his family picked their way from (house to
house, finally being pulled in the 'Catholic
Church window by ropes. William Hench
man, with his wife and two children,
reached the stone bridge in safety. Here
one of the babies was swept away. Through
the arches the others were swept with the
current When they came out on the other
side the remaining child was missing, while
below Mrs. Henchman disappeared, leaving
her husband the sole survivor of a family of
four.
Seven Oat of Sixteen.
"Did your folks all escape alive?" I asked
of George W. Hamilton, late Assistant Su
perintendent of the Cambria Iron Company,
whom.I met on the road near New Flor
ence. "Oh, no," was his reply. "Out of a fam
ily of sixteen seven are lost My brother,
his wife, two children, my sister, her hus
band and one child, all are gone. That tells
the tale. I escaped with my wife by jump
ing from a second story window onto the
moving debris. We landed back of the
Morrell Institute safe and sound."
William Gafihey, of Broad street, Johns
town, told me in a few broken words that he
lost his wife, two children, his mother and
sister, and that Bose Keenan, his wife's sis
ter, is the only survivor of a family of 16.
These are but a few of the hundreds of in
cidents that may.be picked up all the way
from South Fork to Pittsburg.
Connelly.
PLENTY OF THIEVES,
xh9 Koscala .Have Now TmeiTbelrAt.
I 1 .il- 2 tz Li, -D -tt 1
tenuonto Stealing Pro visions r-A
Numherof Arrests Made Rollo
Hunters Are Numerous.
IrnOM A STAFF C0BBXSF0XD2NT.1
Johnstown, June 5. To what extent
the robberies are still going on in Johns
town can't be comprehended by people who
have not been here and gone through the
daily experiences which come under the ob
servation of the people here. It's not al
ways the Huns, the Italians, or even the
poor man who has lost everything he ever
owned, and who seeks to enrich himself
again by stealing from the ruins and the
debris.
This afternoon Aid-de-Camp A. B. Gamp
bell, of General Hastings' staff, was notified
that three men in Parkstown,on a hill above
the Pennsylvania Railroad depot,bad lots of
provisions in their cellars which they had
stolen from the freight cars coming in from
Pittsburg. Campbell immediately called
out a posse of police and went up to Parfis
town. He was armed with a search war
rant from General Hastings, and the first
house he entered was 'occupied by Fred
Niesbaugh.
Laying in a Supply.
Here the searchers found 30 sacks of flour,
2 barrels of flour and 14 hams. The next
house was that of John Williams', where' 10
hams and 1 barrel of flour were found. In the
third honse, in which C. Rockhill lives, 51
sacks of flour, 5 barrels of flour and 17 hams
were hauled from the cellar. Adjutant
Campbel ordered his men to take possession
of everything and take it to the committee
of the Woodville Relief Corps.
Campbell did not arrest the three men,
but when he returned to General Hastings
the commander gave him at once orders to
go back on the hill, arrest the men and lock
them up in a baggage car. The information
had been made by Israel Eisenbeis, who
made the following statement about the
arrest:
"I am a friend of these men and X lost
everything I had in the world. I have a
family consisting of my wife and ten chil
dren, and we are all destitute. These men
told me to help them emptying the cars of
the flour sacks and I did so because the men
promised to share everything with me.
They are well-to-do and have not lost any
thing, because the water never reached up
to the hilL Well, when we had the stuff
safe away, they told me to go to the Relief
Committee, where I might get all I wanted
to eat I did not consider such treatment
'quite fair, and that's why I made the infor
mation against them.''
A Number of Hen Under Arrest.
Sheriff Stineman stated this evening that
he has 2hnen under arrest now whom he will
keep locked up till an opportunity presents
itself to have them conveniently sent to
Ebensburg.
"The trifling matters which come to my
notice about people picking up some small
article from the ruins I do not take any no
tice of, because-1 am sure that Johnstown
people don't commit any robberies. The
men or women who were caught in the act
of taking such things do it simply to pre
serve a relic of this calamitous event, that's
all. But there have Deen more serious rob
beries committed, and I am going to hold
all foreigners who have been caught steal
ing." Lieutenant Leggett and one of his guards
arrested 12 Huns on the hill above Kern
ville this afternoon who had been seen
among the debris. The Lieutenant made
the fellows empty their pockets, and he
found several gold watches and other jewel
ry in their possession. They were given to
understand that they had better get out of
the olty, with'ia'half an boar or they would
be.
KEUNSMH6.
'IMA '.
MMnM
I I sflfsLtt JLsl JLaL aF MsJaJL JLsl. hbw INjA&g
4 fHB
Guided by True, Tende
Hearts Busily En
gaged in
ATTENDING THE SICK.
Doctors and Nurses laboring
Conscientiously and With
out Pay,
WORK OF THE RED CROSS
fFSOlC A STAFF COBKESPONDIKT.
Johnstown, June 5. Your correspond
ent was a patient at the Bedford Street Hos
pital to-day. On account of the gymnastical
practice obtained by riding on the hand
rails of passenger coaches on the Pennsyl
vania Bailroadand holding on to the roofs
of the cars by his toe and finger nails, which
was absolutely necessary because of the
crowded condition of the cars, he received
a cinder in one of his eyes. Last night he
lay down on the front parlor floor of the
Hotel Bnck Kiln, and took cold in the
afflicted organ. The latter became very
swollen, and it was with difficulty that he
couldsee.
'For the purpose of ascertaining how the
patients in the improvised hospitals were
being treated, the correspondent made his
way to the general institution This is the
hospital where the trained corps cf nurses
belonging to the Bed Cross Belief Society, of
Altoona, have done such great work.
A Band of Willing Workers.
These young men came here voluntarily
to do nurse duty, but found they could be
of better advantage in carrying the wounded
to the hospital and from the latter to the
trains, when they are shipped lo Pittsburg.
The corps have 'scoured the country for
t miles around, and brought in the wounded
to the hospital, where they could be treated
properly. They have traveled all over the
mountains where it was thought any in
jured persons were lying. In a number of
cases they carried wounded men eight, nine
and ten miles, on a stretcher, when the roads
were impassable by teams. Soon as the in
jured sick are attended to in the hospital
they are taken to the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad station and sent to either the
Mercy or the Homeopathic Hospitals in
Pittsburg.
What the Hospital Is Like.
The hospital is in an old rink on the Bed
ford pike, which has been transformed into
an inviting retreat Upon entering the
door the visitor finds himself in asmall ante
jToomttJ onesfde of which is attached th e gen
eral consulting room. On the Other aide,
opposite the hall, is the apothecary's de
partment, where the prescriptions are filled
as carefully as they would be at a first-class
druggist's.
In the rear of the medicine department
and the general consultation room are the
wards. There are two of them, one for
males and the other for females. A long,
high, heavy curtain divides the wards, an '
insures as much privacy as the most modest
person would wish. Along the walls in
both wards are ranged the regulation hos
pital beds, with plenty of clean and com
fortable bed clothing.
Constantly Coming nod Going.
At noon to-day there were 16 patients in
the hospital. Fourteen of them were shipped
to Pittsburg in the afternoon, and 15 were
shipped the day" previous. New patients
are being brought in each day by the mem
bers of the Bed Cross Society, almost as
soon as others are shipped to the city hos
pitals. Young Dr. McCann, of Pittsburg,
is in charge of the hospital. He was as
sisted to-day by the following corps of emi
nent physicians: Drs. Grimes, Stewart,
Patterson, Markel, Carrie, W. D. Green,
Black, Burlingame, Watt, Foster, Statler,
Sheridan, A. J. Smith, Shober, Noble,
Miller, Forbes, Packard, Hewson and Arn
holt -
The names of the heroes who scour the
country looking for the injured and sick are:
Chief, F. V. Bobbins; Frederick Schurer,
Charles Milton, C. W. Billin, W. S.
Sherer, Joseph A. Given, W. N. Graven,
Henry Anderson, James Major, Ed Taylor,
T. K. Downing, Thomas L. Hopkins, G. M.
Ellsworth.Harry Schwartz, Harry Ickes, H.
M. Brockem, H. A. Mauer, Grant Fink,
Vincent Hudson and W. C. -Westfall.
As Well Treated as If Paid for It.
The correspondent thought he would be
subjected to rough usage, as the physicians
in attendance were doing the work volun
tarily and had no vision of big bills for
treating patienU gently. Dr. Noble looked
at the injured eye, handled the patient as
gently as he would a week's old babe, and
after turning the eyelid inside out, ex
tracted the cinder without causing the least
pain.
Patients in the hospital said they couldn't
be better treated if they were paying the
physicians for their attendance. The
trained nurses of the Bed Cross Society
carefully looked after the wants of the sick
and injured, and saw that they got every
thing that they wished. People who have
an abhorrence of going into these hospitals
need have no fear that they will not be
well treated. McSwioan.
W0ESE THAN BATTLE FIELDS.
Exceptionally Affecting Scenes That Knock
an Old Soldier Out.
tTROM A STAFF COBBXSFONDXJ-iT.l
Johnstown, June 5. Yesterday morn
ing, while Superintendent Miller's men
were raising a car at Woodvale, the body of
a little baby was found under it. There
were two shawls lying near by, and Mr.
Miller thinks the mother is not far away.
Her body has not been recovered. A young
girl oi about 11 was found under the car
also. Her leg was smashed and twisted
around her neck.
"The people are dazed," said Superintend
ent Miller to me. "It makes me feel
sad to hear them talking' abont their
friends, without apparently showing any
emotion."
"I imvc been on many a bloody battle
field,' remarked one man, "and laughed at
every one of them; but I can't smile here.
This scene i-coo ghastlyl The sight of dead
mea, wo-aea and ehUdrea teaehea the stout
est hearts.'' , Issasl. -
A-i
4w
A WASTE0F SAND.
The Pretty Conemaugh Taller Trans
formed Into a Desert of Dirt
tfisBiw7rii!5-4,Drl" 1BO "amago
r "v
w0 IJYi r "r'T'
iv- rjimfefMiii-
-yj JOt7-vsl
pxtfcrz&T
iINT.l -
' yvt
Conemaugh
ValleyK-ibtrtus
wide waste of
sand and debris. Noth-ulie is to be seen
anywhere, except a few wrecks now and
then that break the awful monotony of-the
scene. The trees and bushes are leveled
down and pointing down the stream, whither
the flood pursued its tragic course. There
is scarcely any water now in the treacherous
lake. Men are there scooping the pretty
game fish out by cartloads. A lake trout
was found yesterday 22 inches long a re
markable length for this variety offish.
I have listened to a number of descrip
tions of the flood, but I think I got the best
one yesterday from Foreman Kelly, of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, who saw the rush
of waters from the hillside. The first wave
looked like a great mountain tearing down
the valley. The center of the stream was
fully 15 feet higher than the outer edges.
The waters were lull of debris, and occa
sionally the stuff would catch, and the boil
ing, seething mass, suddenly checked, would
throw up spray as black as night, 40 feet
high.
Dam After Dam Was Formed.
Just below Conemaugh, at the bend, the
water received its first check. An immense
dam was formed in a few minutes, and the
water spread out and rushed back, covering
-the whole valley and boiling up as if the
very fires of hades were beneath it Sud
denly the pressure of houses and water be
hind become so terrific that the obstruction
was torn away, and with added impetus a
wild rush was made for Johnstown. -Another
such dam was formed at the bridge,
sending the water with a roar up Stony
creek as far out as the cemetery. Then the
bank of the railroad bridge broke, and the
water, bearing on its agitated surface its
heavy load of human freight, dashed
through the fissure and started down through
Morrell ville.
Where Johnson & Co.'s big mill stood, in
which 600 men were employed, there is
nothing but a plain of sand. The machinery
even can't be seen. The company will com-
L mence to rebuild at once. A number of
machinists were at work to-day, locating the
works, and examining what is left of the
property. There is a pile of debris 30 feet
high where the Gautier steel mill used to be.
This plant was'flcated away entirely. The
rubbish is ground a&d twisted into all kinds
of shapes. These.millJyalso will be rebuilt
Superintendent Bohn, ofthe Cambria blast
furnace, expects to have the furnaces in
operation in ten days, they bing little
damaged. The floor of the Cambria Iron
Company's immense plant is V
Covered With Rubbish and Driftwood
But this can be easily removed. The end
ofthe works is almost annihilated, and thett
estimate their loss at $100,000 or more. It'.
is the intention of the com-pany to resume
operations as soon as possible.
The sand in the Conemaugh Valley is full
of wheels, engines and wrecked cars. The
impression is strong this sand is full of bod
ies and the only way they can be recovered
is to systematically begin at one end of the'
valley-aad-work-through it.
The woods are full of photographers tak-
Ling pictures and distributing their cards.
This may be business and a show of enter
prise, but with so many people suffering it
looks decidedly out of place.
The Johnstown Chemical Works are still
standing. This is the only building on that
side of the river for a few miles. It is re
markable how the trees carried down from
the mountain side are cnt and scored. You
can't find a speck of bark on any of them.
There is a woods a few miles from the lake,
and the water uprooted the trees and pushed
them down the declivity as if they were
pieces of tinder. The grinding mass rubbing
against the stones reduced the size of many
trunks from the friction alone. Heavy
roots were torn off and broken like splinters.
The surface of the cinder piles in the Cone
maugh Talley stood the test, bat wherever
a break occurred the interior was under
mined and washed out. The valley is full
of treacherous places,liable to cave in under
the lightest pressure. Isbael.
THE GREATMYSTERY.
People Wonder How So Many Managed tef
Escape A Run For XJfe Aa Um
brella Failed to Serve as a Buoy.
1FB0M A STAFF COBSESFONDKNT.!
Johnstown, June 5. William Davis,
the assistant agent at Conemaugh, had to
run for his life when the flood came. He
says the water was full of slabs and boards,
and these were being ground together and
bobbing up and down in the water. From
the time the water struck the roundhouse
until the town was swept away and the val
ley filled with a sea of water only five min
utes elapsed. Three passenger trains were
in the yard, and the latest estimate is that
60 people from the trains were lost The
water picked up one car out of the center of
the train and carried it away. The two men
got on the roof, and as the car rolled over
and over they kept moving with it When
the car reached the bend below the town it
struck with a crash, and the two men were
knocked into the water and drowned.
An Umbrella for a Boor.
Another man was seen by Foreman Kelly
jumping from house to house with an um
brella over his head. He was probably us
ing this to buoy himself up, but he didn't
go far. The umbrella was soon Been down
on the crest of the waves, and the poor fel
low was lost. Mr. Kelly also states that
the force of the wind ahead of the water was
terrific. It was strong enough to move
heuses, and more than one was blown from
its foundation before the water struck it and
demolished it with a single mighty blow.
Mr. Smith, of Woodvale, had a sad ex
perience, and he is almost distracted. In
trying to get out of his house with his babe
in his arms, a joist fell and smashed the
child's skull. A few minutes later his wife
was washed away.
The Greatest Mystery.
The mystery to everybody who sees the
destruction wrought by the waters is how.
did so many people escape. You talk to
men who got out alive, and they can't tell
how it was done. In some instances the
water carried them to the hillside and they
were landed. A passenger from the day ex
press was carrying a cripple from the train
to a place of shelter. The water overtook
them, when he dropped the poor fellow and
made fa? the hill. The cripple was carried
away and drowned.. A lady grabbed the
man's coat, but she lost her grip, and in an
instant was hit by a log and killed.
Foreaan Kelly thinks that set sore than
five people were lost in the taking at Coae
maagh'i.bat Jtfrs. Schick, of Beading, who
was oa the train, says that ese ear was car
ried off. with 12 passengers or mere iait
teAXL.
g.ine
9
THEOHLY GIRL tLOVERLOOK'
Is the title of the First and Only American
Novel written by Wilkie Collins, and pub
lished COMPLETE in next Sunday's Dispatch.
THREE CENTS
Eighteen Sick and
Wounded Survivors
Reach the City.
MORE ABE TO COME.
TheWoman's Committee Con
tinues the Work of
Relieving Distress.
JOHNSTOWN'S BUSINESS,
A Complete List of the Per
sons, Firms and Corpor-.
ations There.
HOW THE BIG DAM BURST.
Interviews With Members of
the Sonth Fork Fish-
lfior
Club.
"0
SOME STHBH6 SCMES.
The Contributions of Cash and Goods Cob
. tlnne to Poor in to the Treasurer aadtho
Belief Committees Somo Big Gifts Ke
celved Yesterday IncIdentsattheCham
ber of Commerce Booms and at Old City
Hall The Descriptive Stories of theSar
vivors Still Being Told to Willing Ears
Rev. Father Tahney's Graphic Story An
Incident la Which Thousands WW be)
Deeply Interested.
The chief interest in the city yesterday
ofer the flood calamity was in reference to
the Arrival of refugees from the devastated,
district. It was thought a large
number pf persons would arxivs
as every preparation had been .made fo
theiLiawDtion and care. ht-tlw
mmmm
Wl B9VWVsssssssfs
iT3oEw
tion was not fulfilled, -ffhepe
stown,do not care to leavWn anygreatnum.
ber?, even though they mayf be entirely des
titute, save for the aid giveb bytherelie
committees. ' -
Injured Wero Expected. " v'
There were several rumors that trains
would come in bearing wounded and sick
persons from Johnstown, but there wero
so i many failures of the trains to J
arrive, that it was finally concluded
none would come. The ambulances of the
WestPenn, Mercy and Homeopathic hos
pitals waited at the Union and Baltimore
and Ohio depots for hours, and at last wera '
taken back to-the stables. i t
A train did finally get in, however, bear
ing 18 persons' who were in need of atten
tion in hospitals. 'They come in over the
Baltimore and Ohio Eailroad, arriving;
about 1 o'clock.
The Train Arrives.
Fully 200 persons waited at the depot
from 9 o'clock, at which time the train was
first scheduled to arrive, until it at last
came.
It bore 18 survivors altogether, 8 of whosa
were children. Seven of the 18, all of thesa
adults, were injured.
The ambulances of the hospitals and of ,'jfo
the Department of Public Safety which had
gone back to the stables, had been ordered
out again in time, and were waiting
to go into service, with several physicians
and attendants were in waiting, and thai
sick and wounded were tenderly removed,
from the cars to the ambulance and taken to
the different hospitals at once. The names;
ofthe injured are as follows;
Mrs. O. B. Slick and Mrs. Wheeler, takes te
Mercy Hospital.
Mrs. Jatonay. Mercy Hospital.
Mrs. Walker, taken to the West Penn Hos
pital. Mr. W. B. Cooper, taken to the Homeopathic
HcpitaL
Mrs. Julia Brady, broken ribs, taken to Mercy
Hospital.
Mrs. Geo. Miller, taken to Mercy Hospital.
The seven chifdren were removed to the
Home for the Friendless in Allegheny.
The Women's Work.
The work commenced Tuesday by the Ladles
Belief Committee, whose headquarters are in
the Second Presbyterian Church, was resumed
yesterday, with even better results than had
been expected. Over 100 homeless, friendless
needy snSerers have been taken in charge and
have been fed, and furnished shelter. This la
what has been needed most imperatively, ever
since the flood of our last Black Friday wiped'
out the pretty, industrious monntaln city. Tha
work of. the Women's Committee has been most
heroic; Within a lew hours they had formed
themselves into a mammoth organization, and
had all things completed for the reception of,
the refugees. No one who is not thoroughly
familiar with the business manner in which the
ladles have gone to work can conceive theleasC
Idea oi the magnitude of the undertaking. Tfc
self Imposed tasks that these ladies have takes
upon themselves, for "sweet charity's sake" ia i
simply enormous.
A Complete Record.
A complete record of all who are cared for
is noted down. A list is kept of all Inquiries
for Johnstown residents, and as each batch oC
refugees arrive, they are closely questioned as
to their kn owledge of persons who are lost and
saved. Io this way the anxiety of many peefila
looking for friends or relatives has bees re
lieved. In the lecture room about 2S ladies are hard
at work sewing garments of alt kinds and fit
ting tbem to suit the sufferers.
A train loau ox suuerera was expecwa af
rive during the afternoon and everything M .
in readiness to piva them a hearty welessss,
bat as the roads aro considerably blocks. i!
the train did not arrive until late last ntafct. ,
Doubtless the hardest worked womasJsC tin
entire bodf U Mrs. Dr. Easton, of the
Bareaa of Infsnmtlea. (
She has become familiarly kaowa. Early la
the afternoon Mrs. Eastoa takes her place at a
table la the vestibule, over which Is ajtigst
deisattB the place as the Bureau of Iftf ansa
tkm, aau v drts katftiVc4a:itsW
4
J
m