New-York tribune., 1874-05-25

had such magnificent offices such an out-oi 'no
way place, where no one could ever see 'hoi.'
replied that he had an excellent oppoI'ul,'.
of seeing them himself; spending tho s'.a'U,
| portion Of his time there. he liked 10 n''o
things pleasant around him. Inc ,ouAa '.'os,
| and all being constructed OF b1ck' ia 'i1 .I,at
substantial manner, it would nave - found
within such walls all the vaiiey nhe"' A.. eooa
| sofo,,, h,t ave. witnesses say that wheh t"o "' y.
! ..-,.1, .,,o,, they tottered for moment anu ~
| us - fen cr1,mbling and crushed; no" 'no
| -, ecker looks for brick to carry away al
,ost in vain. Well found this same 30 nay
aon y on the ground in his business blouse ac.'oy
superintendng the clearing away the ruppi'" ""u
other preparations for rebuilding, 700 ouSy 0''"
20 foure mn his loss, and receiving laborers VINO
came TO 90 to work much more heartily than nc uiu
men who came only to express sympathy anu hnu
out how much he is still WORTH In the lmpro'isou
Office, bearing little resemblance to the FORMER
ones. was his partner Gere, debating circulars to
the trade and letters to customers telling them tnt
the firm still had enough goods on hand to supply
orders and no interruption of business would occur
And when left the scene Skinner was reeng the
silk off a tangled bobbin that some one had found
down at Leeds and brought him-tO twist into rope
for the contractors who built that dam, hOpe-and
manufacturer James was securing the plains some
ten miles below his mills picking up all OF his own
wool and as much of any one ese's as he could ma
lying loose or In bales, while Spellman came down
to the cars with me to prove by the Fourth Article
of the Bylaws of the Williamsburg Rescr-
voir Company that he was in no vie
responsible for the loss of life and property
laid to his charge which hopo he was not, and
do not see that he was But Spellman is fortunate
too comparatively. True, he has lost button fac
tory and good many buttons, and he is blamed in
many quarters for not paying closer attention to
work of which he says his superntcndency ceased in
May. 1872, but mob was organized to hang him and
did not succeed in its purpose; 50 even he has ser-
ous cause to congratulate himself.
Talk of this valley and these men being "wiped
outw You could not wipe out the industry and
business energy which had abiding place here with
a dozen such foods brains survive even capital
This valley will rattle again with clang of mill
wheels and the click of shuttles 1t is not charity
these men want just now. but help. Help to clear
up the rubbish that half buries them, rebuild their
manufactures, that this same Mil River that over
rode them may be again chained down to its proper
and peaceful work of turning wheels help to feed
and clothe operatives for whom there is neither
food nor raiment the valley, until a new field
| for their producing power can be found Brought
! to their knees moment by this sudden blOw-which
would permanently floor hearts less stout-these
men only want to be helped to their feet now; let
this be done for them and they themselves will take
care of the rest. Their money when they had it
was held with no niqgard hand much of it came
! here to New York, and from New-York much of it
should now 90 back to them. So far see the names
of no hotol keepers on the subscription lists Have
| those who absorb so much money from men like
those who now lose heavily, none to spare when
such calamties cOne7
1t must be remembered that this Mill River disas-
ter is not the sensation of dav; it in its full
Interpretation suffering for months, struggling for
years. And more than spirit of sympathy, spasn
of subscription, is needed The Lord loves a cheer
full givcr and he who gives quickly gives twice;
if on the heels of his first giving he gives again. by
the progressive ratio which follows he gives eight
times.
OF the cause of the disaster will say but word.
Il has already been more than touched in The IRIB-
UNE, but l wish to describe the work it shows
itself to an unprofessional visitor. The wall" in
stead of being set i'll trench, you doubtless have
supposed that all such dam walls are, and as they
certainly should be, was simply planted in earth
from which the surface soil had been skinned to a
trifing Depth and on which it slid as ilatiron
might Oh creased skid. Had as many gone to see
it while building have gone to its ruins, it
would never have been suffered to be built ii was
only kept from falling over of its own weight, while
in course of erection, by the embankments of earth
that were piled up against it. The masonry
wall"-what remains of It, at least-looks not
unlike the fences of loose cobble-stone which
| you see piled up in sections of country
| where decent stones are scarce, except that
the interstices filed with sand say sand, for
| dug a lot of the stuff out of the heart of the
wal" and brought away handkerchief full of it,
which any one can examine who chooses. As for
cement" there is not trace of that nor of lime i'll
it; such as it is it is just good enough to stuff down
the throats of the contractors who did the work. and
good for nothing else, and if any mild and judicial
body of men wish to stuff these contractors in the
way that suggest. shall be proud to lend hand
to the work as well as a handkerchief full Of mate
rial. JOHN PAUL
AN ANXIOUS NIGHT PASSED AT WILLIAMS
BURG BY JOHN PAUL.