Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-06-10
An Appalling Disaster.

lie ana property InaG ever occurIeu
in this country, if wars be excepted,
befell the people of the Valley of the
Conemaugh, baanch of the Allegha-
nv river, in Pennsylvania, on Friday,
May 31st. The loss of life is esti-
mated to reach, at least, $4,000, and
the loss of property many millions of
dollars.
The destruction was caused by the
breaking of a dam situated up in
mountainous country on the south
branch of the Conemaugh river. The
dam was erected some years since by
Canal Company, but owned now by
party of wealthy Pennsylvanians,
mostly of Pittsburg, for the purpose
of making fishing lake. The dam
was built across the narrows of the
valley, and was eighty feet in height
by three hundred or more in length.
1t made an artificial lake of from three
to four miles in length by one to two
miles in width. The long continued
rains, which have created almost the
worst freshet ever known in the Mid
die States, had nearly filled the lake
to the brim of the dam, when it is
supposed cloud burst on the noun
tains and sent down an enormous
quantity of water, so that the morn
ing before the destruction of the dam
the water was seen to be rapidly ris-
ing. The employees of the Fishing
Association saw the peril and sent
word to the valley below to prepare
for the worst. Messages and mes
sengers were dispatched to warn the
people below of the danger impend-
ing. About mid-afternoon the water
went over the dam and began to un-
| dermine it from below. In a short
time the structure yielded, and the
whole end, 80 by 200 feet, went out
as though it had been pushed out by
the weight of the water above. The
valley was narrow in most places, land
the descent quite rapid. The black
raging mass of water with every man
ner of debris stood up in a rapidly
moving column from twenty to fifty
feet in height. and swept through a
valley thickly filled with villages and
the city of Johnstown, which contain
ed Ia, 900 inhabitants. There were
from two to three thousand people in
some of the large villages devastated.
A strange thing in connection with
the matter was the fact that the peo-
pie in the ill-fated towns below paid
little heed to the repeated alarms sent
down from above and the request to
s'FIee to the hills" 1t seems that
there had been heretofore several
false alarms and thev had not only
| become Indifferent to the danger
above, but incredulous of the report
| that the water was already on its
way. There were several villages
above Johnstown which were literally
swept away, and the whole mass of
moving water and debris filled with
live, dying and dead men, women
and children struck the city between
five and six o'clock Friday night.
Almost every building in the line of
the moving current was crushed down
or lifted up and borne on in the surg
ing tide The Pennsylvania railroad
crossed the river at this place on very
heavy stone bridge, which did not
yield to the force of the water, and
the buildings and other floating mate
rials formed big jam or dam on
which the houses and other structures
coming from above continued to pile
up until the mass rose high in the air
and set back to cover several acres
the highest estimate is fifteen acres,
the lowest six.
The people, as the water overlook
their homes, climbed from story to
story until they reached the
attic or were swept off with the house
when the water struck it. So it turned
out that there were thousands of peo-
pie in their houses that were piled to-
gether. Many were doubtless drown
ed or crushed to death by the wreck
age of the houses, but a large mum
Der were alive, when, to add to the
terrible horror of the situation, fire
broke out and ran all through tbs
buildings,a part of which stood above
the water. In the holocaust it is es
& timated that two thousand were burn
ed, so that the remains, which ar
. still being taken from the ruins, in
great many instances showed but
, skull, arm or trunk of the body. A
f soon as the water got down so as t.
: permit, and help arrived, engine
played on the burning mass, land trie'
Il to prevent the complete burning u
!. of such corpses as remained. Thi
o was the most sickening spot in th
v whole ruins.
! The following extracts will Civ
% some further idea of this great catas
# trophe
: By half past five the force of th
reservoir water had 6een spent O
: the village of Conemaugh, and th
- Pullman cars and locomotive of tt
T. second section remained unmovet
T This was because, being on the hare
to est and highest ground, the destru
;, tive current of the reservoir food ha
: passed between that and the moul
,o tain, while the current of the riv
~ did not eat it away. But the 9th
: trains had been destroyed. A so