Omaha daily bee., 1889-06-16
The DAY AT JoHNsrowN.
Too Much Dynamite Used at the
Stone Bridge.

Stone Bridge
JoHNsTowS, Pa, June 15 AThe sunshine
has succeeded the morning showers and this
is the first bright day Johnstown has seen
for a week. The Conemaugh is swollen and
the high water Is an advantage, as it carries
away great portion OF the impurities lodged
along the river banks. But two bodies were
recovered up TO noon.
Major Phillips dynamiters have had
Johnstown in a state OF nervous terror all
day, and this evening General Manager Full
ton, of the Cambria iron company, dictated
forcible protest to Governor Beaver stating
the mills and Offices of the company were
being ruined; that Adiutant General Hast
ings had paid no attention to two requests for
its dlscontinuance, and that the state
would be held responsible for any
further damage done. Before the mes
sage was sent, however, Adjutant- General
Hastings had issued an order to Major Phil
lips to discontinue the blasting. Major Phil
lips has been engaged since Wednesday in
blowing out the wreckage In TIE channel of
the Conemaugh above the Pennsylvania
railroad stone bridge. He was anxious to
have passage for the water by this even
| ing, and TO that end put in five hundred
pound blast of dynamite at noon. The blast
| was placed under the buildings, one
| of which was lying upon the other and both
of them covered with logs. The explosion
| was terrific. The next blast not being
| placed so deep, was q 400 FOUNDER This one
| and the strongest houses in the city trembled
| like leaves. All the glass was blown out of
the windows of Odd Fellows hall. In the
same neighborhood the rear wall of half
the Baltimore 81 Ohio tracks. block
ing them. The chimneys ratified
down all about and dishes were broken in
houses in Kernvlle, half u mile away.
| Aclya ahpt, fl,n nsn
I'VE have used only 1000 pounds of dyna-
| mite too day. The charges will not be so
heavy hereafter. had no idea we were do
ing any damage. So far as l know no per-
| sons were injured"
Adiutant-General Hastings, to-day, re-
ceived letter from Vice President Morton,
| saying that on his return to his country
home he found that his little girls, from
| eight to fourteen years of age, had been
hard at work since the terrible disaster at
Johnstown in making articles of clothing
for the poor homeless children who have
survived the flood that he forwarded
today 1s1 La articles tha Of wearing apparel
| purchased with their own money, with some
| OF their dresses, and that his children will
| feel greatly obliged if you will cause the
clothing to be distributed among the little
| sufferers by the recent calamity, for whom
they feel the deepest sympathy.
The opening of the wedge line raft above
| the stone bridge, to-day, was an engineering
| feat. For ten days several hundred men
| had been at work upon the heterogeneous
mass, but only about sixty feet of channel
had been cleared when, on Wednesday,
Major Phillips, of Lewiston, and force of
dynamiters were put at work. Six acres of
solidly packed wreckage, wedged between the
| river banks by a hydraulic force that cannot be
| estimated have in three days melted away.
| Large frame houses, hundreds of logs and
| monster trees were tangled up and bound
together with wire and iron bars brought
down with the food. The scene this after
| noon, when the great mass moved down the
| river, was remarkable one. The crowds
| that lined the shores and stood on the now
famous stone bridge raised shout that was
| heard the length and breadth of the valley.
The west bank of the Conemaugh is again
| furnace of fire tonight The wreckage
torn up by dynamite today, was piled up
and the torch applied and the whole valley is
| illuminated.
Measles are very prevalent among the
children, and the Bedford street hospital
has two cases of pneumonia. Bronchitis
and diarrhoea are very general among the
| workmen. The Is no sickness of conSe-
quence among the militia.
From the most reliable reports obtainable
the number of bodies recovered so far is
1888. Fourteen bodies were taken out to-
day. -
DIR. Free, of the state board of health, IN
spected the river towns as Jar down as Sang
Hollow to-day. The worst discov-
cry made was a large number OF
dead horses and cows floating
in the river. The dynamite explosions have
brought the carcasses to the surface. They
are in a bad state of decomposition.
Eight carloads of lumber arrived to-day
Rough sheds are already being erected il
the heart of the city to be used as stores.