The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-06-08
THE WORK TO BE DONE.
increasing Necessity of Getting Rid Of th
Sic,xening Piles of Dehris

THE WORK TO BE DONE.
Increasing Necessity of Getting Rid of the
siclsening Piles of Debris.
JoHNsTowN, Pa, June Eight thou
sand men have been at work here to-day
cleaning out the debris. but truth compels
the statement that the undertaking has not
yet been fairly started. Fires are burning
up and down the valley of the COnemaugh
as far as the eye can reach. The air is
thick with smoke, and yet to people famil-
lar with the situation the efforts Of this
army of earnest toilers is hardly apprecia-
bic. VIM. Flynn, mounted on O weary
looking steed, is riding up and down the
city directing the foremen in their labors.
and his executive ability is telling its own
story. Something like system has been
established. but the most careful estimates
are to the effect that it Will take 10000 men
for weeks to clear out the heaps of ruins
piled up for miles between the hills up and
down the course of the river.
There is belief with many people that
newspaper reporters live chiefly in world
OF fiction. Could every person who reads
these lines see the frightful sights that
have confronted the members of the press
here during the last week they would all
unite in declaring that only small portion
of the story had been told. Human fancy
cannot conceive the horrors of the situa-
tion. This report is being written from the
second story of building worth possibly
SIS, which commands a view Of the mount
ainous wreck at the point bridge. The
stencil that is waited through the doorless
and windowless structure by every passing
breeze is sickening. An hour ago the writer
completed tour of the mighty wreck in
this vicinity, in company with Arthur
Kirk, the millionaire oil man, who is looking
after the work of opening up the river
channel chiefly by the use of dynamite.
Dozens of human beings and animals were
20 be seen on the surface, charred and
blackened by the fire, and in such state
of decomposition that the strongest man
could no more than glance at them. Mr..
Kirk, who is a man of Iron nerve and q
stranger to fear.n declared that he was sick
at heart and anxious to quit the awful
scenes. In fact, while he was talking with
mittee came to him and said that Director
Scott begged him to stay and carry on the
work. He will stay to the limit, but his
task is an awful one. Eighty-six men from
Altoona, under orders of the sanitary Off
cials, are scattering disinfectants over
the area Of wreckage that the railroad
bridge stopped. Mr.. Kirk declares that
thousands of bodies Will yet be found in
this territory alone.
The great trouble thus far experienced
at the bridge has been caused by the mass
of telegraph wires that reach across the
various spans through which the water has
passed. Line repairmen are badly needed
10 help in removing the wires, and Mr..
IL &l,of fl.xvo ho
will hustle the debris through by the acre.
The Western Union telegraph officials have
been asked to send experienced men here
20 help in the work. The problem of the
Pennsylvania railroad bridge. Unless it is
soon got rid of the stencil will be over
psvering that no human being can with
stand it.
Only the hardest could stand to enter
the morgue to-day, so overwhelming is the
dreadful stencil. The undertakers. even.
after hurriedly performing their task of
washing body and preparing it for burial;
retreat to the yard to await the arrival of
shall be inferred only when it be.
comes impossible to longer preserve
them from absolute putrefaction. There
is no iron-clad rule. In some instances it is
necessary to inter some putrid body within
few hours, while others can safely
be preserved several days. Every possible
opportunity is afforded for identification.
Four bodies were taken from the ruins
at the Cambria Clubhouse and the COM
pany's store this morning. The first body
was that of a girl about seventeen years
of age. She was found in the pantry, and
it ia supposed that she was one Of the serv-
ants in the house. She was terribly
bruised, and her face was crushed into q
jelly. A boy about seyen years of age was
taken from the same place.
Two men and a woman were taken from
in front of store on Main street. The re-
mains were all bruised and in terrible
condition. They had to be embalmed and
buried Immediately. and it was impossible
to have anyone identify them.
Editor Joseph Swank, of the Johnstown
Daily Tribune, a representative citizen,
takes very hopeful view of the situation.
"Johnstown will be rebuilt" he said
to-day, land on the same spot it
grew on before. It is useless to
attempt an estimate of Johnstown's loss.
but l would approximate. it at S15, 100000
in the city proper, and S25, 100000 when
the suburbs are included. As for the
Cambria Iron Company, / have the
personal assurance of Vice-president
Powell Stackhouse. who came from Phila-
delphia yesterday, that the company will
repair and rebuild on the old site. Their
loss will not exceed 100000. The state
ment that the banks are all insolvent. or
likely to be so, is a foolish error. There is
one National Bank, one savings bank and
possibly the private institution of John
Diebert g. Son, which will open up as soon
as they can get their affairs Strengthened
up little"