New-York tribune., 1874-05-19
SEARCHING FOR THE DEAD.

w ''N'ANN ~ 'AN 10 S'''''''N'
SEARCHING FOR THE DEAD.
ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIvE PERSONS MISSING
ONE MILLION DOLLARS THE LIMIT OF DEsTRUC-
TON or PROPERTY-TiIE SEARCH NEARLY AT AN
END.
IBY TELEGRAPH TO THE tribune
NORTHAMPTON Mass, May 1s-The number Of
lives lost by the Mill River disaster can now be fixed
with practical certainty at l45 and the value of the
property destroyed at S1,OOO0O0. Sixty persons are
known to have been lost who were residents of Will
liamsburg four OF Sknnersvllle, 30 of Haydenville
aud 81 from Leeds. All other known inhabitants Of
these villages accounted for. leaving only per-
haps casual traveller or stranger whose disappear
ance may he discovered days hence and whose
name may swell this awful death-rOll. Estimates
differ TO the value of the property destroyed but
II can scarcely go below the figure stated OF this
total. 100000 is the share of the mills and
milLowners; $4,000 of the towns, for that
sum must be expended TO replace roads and
bridges; Sl50OOO of the operatives, farmers. and
other individuals. 1t should be borne in mind that
all losses are absolute. Insurance against fire does
not repair the damages of food and practically
nothing will be saved from the vast quantities OF
valuable machinery costly stores. and manufac-
fured products.
All DAY long this ghastly wound in one Of the
fairest valleys of Massachusetts has been explored
and probed by searchers, looking for the bodies OF
the lost and loved.
All day the exhumatOn and interment has been
going on. The labors Of large force will be re-
CURED for weeks to search thoroughly the debns
covering the meadows. So intimately, however.
were the villagers known to each other that it viii
not be necessary prosecute the search for bodies
much longer, nearly all the missing being already
accounted for.
Tt. ,r,fc hang ca1a in IC
day and two bodies which were found after there
were no more TO be had were laid under a tattered
tovorlet in an open express wagon. and so driven
through the streets Of Williamsburg Eighteen
persons are missing from two houses which stood
side bv side at Leeds.
THIEVES AND HARpIEs or TIE GROUND.
cold drizzling ram has been falling but N spite
of tons and the deep mud hundreds of vehicles and
thousands Of spectators have visited and traversed
the scene Of devastation. This afternoon the Canal
Railroad resumed its trains to Williamsburg, and
did much to relieve the pressing demand for trans
portatiou In the wake of the disaster come
the harpies, and the teams and streets this
afternoon were infested with gangs of the thieves
loafers and hard characters coming from the lower
manufacturing villages and from cities as far away
~ Boston and New-York. Before noon a force Of
special police was summoned and promptly sent
from Springfield and later in the day the local
peny of militia was called ont, well the Pea
body Guards, of the Springfield companies.
These measures of self-protectOn were taken
promptly and further steps will be taken to morrow
should circumstances require.
PROGRESS OF THE SEARCH.
Several bodies were found on the Florence
meadows and taken TO the carpenter-shOp IN
Florence, among them that of Mary Woodard
daughter of r. b. Woodard. formerly Of NOrthamp-
L,,s,. ,r,ol 20 Lord
visiting in Leeds. The body of little child one
year old. also brought to the carpenter-shop
this morning. The bodies Of two women
were found in the debris on Guiglers
meadow at Leeds. which were subsequently
ascertained TO be those Of Mrs. Roberts
Of Williamsburg, and Mrs. Edward Harmon, the
former being identified by rings on her fingers The
supply of coffins having been exhausted the bodies
were laid in an express wagon side by side, and con-
oealed from view by an old coveret, on which the
rain fell pitiessly. Mrs. Roberts's right arm re-
manned stiff and stark, extending upward, and the
team moved away to take the bodies to Williams
burg. the coverlet fell from the arm and revealed
TO the bystanders CHASTITY hand protrudine from
the rear Of the wagon. and pointed. like the very
finger of death, down the desolated valley. Within
the next hour, the body Of her husband, Engineer
Roberts was discovered not far from the spot where
she was found. Among the other bodies found were
those of Mrs. Psset of Haydenvilie, Mrs Robert
Fitzgerald of Leeds, Eli Bryant of Haydenville
and formerly of Chesterfield; Jerry Dundon, al
orphan boy, 9syears old. aud one of the family
Of Dr. johnson of Williamsburg. The bodies Vi
two little children brought TO the Dead-houst
IN Haydenyille at 3 o'clock this afternoon. Eleven
bodies have been found to-day. Ii has been re-
ported that several bodies have been found in the
Connecticut River at Holyoke and NewHaven, but
/
70 ascertain. Some think that some may
hoat out into the Sound and that
a. many as 20 bodies will not be recovered.
ihe oouies that have been found thus far gen.
sra''y buried beneath heaps of rubbish, which have
oeeh o'efhalIed by gangs of workmen 1t viii be
several days before all these places can be exam
med Some bodies have been found buried several
iest 10 The sand and gravel. At the relief meetings
- The Town Hall tonight S575 WAS subscrihed in