The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-05-24

PeOple HhtuThlly INDUSTRIOUS rs to be
rendered dependent entirely on public
bounty for any length of time. If
they can have teams and plows at once,
they can still raise corn crop an d some
vegetables"
went down to the temporary supply
depot on the main street and found
there Tom Cosby, of the quartermaster's
department, up to his eyes In business,
distributing military clothing to the
sufferers. The pantaloons were all
infantry " No. 1's''--the smallest size
and on slx-footers, of whom there were
many, presented the bare and desolate
appearance of George Washngton's
knee-breeches, minus the stockings, on
exhibition at the National capital. One
German, with an aldermanic corpora
ton, cried out "Dot bants no Wit one
of mien legsl"
Cosby, however was equal to the stu
alton. Here, :" said he to the corpulent
Teuton. Take two pairs, and put one
on each leg"
This satisfied the applicant, and he
retired rejoicing.
Many of the poor people were nearly
naked some had not even change of
underclothing, and all felt rather dirty
and miserable.
The ladies' relief committee received
by the steamers Niobrara and Beck,
from Sioux City and Omaha, several
bales of female apparel, which they soon
found ample use for. If possible, the
women and children more nearly an.
preached a state of nudity than the
men.
The relief committee, including Sec
retary Hand, Governor Edmunds and
Mr.. Hudson, who was the first to relieve
the unfortunate town of Vermilion, are
unanimous in praise of Quartermaster
Wheeler, who acted with the prompt
benevolence which becomes a brave
soldier and true gentleman. He has
been relieved of duty at this point, much
to the regret of the entire community,
whose respect and confidence he has
worthily won.
Although the more prominent flood
marks are disappearing under the sun
of early summer, enough remains to
show the stranger the terrible nature of
the late visitation. Piled on the levee,
near the railroad tracks, are cakes of ice
OF gigantic thickness, some of them
hundreds of tons, and strongly resem-
bling in color and formation the ''pedri-
gal, or cooled and broken lava, that
disfigures the neighborhood of the Mex
ican volcanoes. One can easily conjec-
ture how the river, having, to use the
expression of Secretary Hand, "broken
up wrong end first in Montana" found
1t impossible to burst this formidable
obstacle when 1t extended clean across
the bar and compelled the water to
obliterate Green Island and other low
land settlements.
In the vicinity of this icy pedrigal
may be seen sight without parallel,
believe, in river history. Close togeth-
er, lifted high and dry by ice and water
and set down at several rods distance
from the river, are the steamboats, Black
AAi'oi ANciho GUN anu DuJCe, all OIL
them badly SCARED and shaken, and
now undergoing repairs in this extra
ordinary species of dry-dock. 1t will
take considerable time and trouble to
replace them in the channel. This will
be done ultimately on the house-moving
principle so familiar with Chicogoans.
Near by lie the rent and ruined rem
nants of the unfortunate boat Western
torn limb from limb, as it were, by the
fury of the storm and flood. Her decks
have been carried away. Her boilers
and smoke stacks strew the beach for an
incredible distance, and what is left of
her hull is buried in sand that also
covers the railroad tracks to a depth of
many feet.
Vermillion has had the Pompeii of
the food. The business part of that
thriving town of nearly l, 200 people has
floated down to the Gulf of Mexico.
Merchants are beggared, farmers are
ruined, and the prospect is really appall-
ing. Still the people are cheerful, and
are camping on the bluffs above their
desolated valley. To add to their mis-
fortune the cutaway, caused by the
gorge, has removed the site of the settle
ment three miles inland, and it is not
likely that the channel will ever be
re-established on the old line.