Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-06-06

OF the dead nearly sixty have been
identified. Among them are James Nc
MILAN, superintendent of the Cambria
Iron Com pany store, his wife and four
children and daughter-in-lsw; John Lin
ton, leoding lawyer, mis- wife and five
children; Mrs. Thomas Cirlen and two
children; John Nolan and seven of his
family; DR.. George Wagner, his wife and
three children; Frank P. Bowman, wife
and two children, Mrs. Richard Worth
ihgt ton and seven children; Pearson
Fisher, wife and six children.
What a journey has been that of the
last half hour. Swollen, awful corpses
lay here and there on piles of cross tiers
or on the river banks am ng the tangled
greenery.
Il was about O'Clock when the first
passenger train since Friday came TO the
New Florence depot with its load of
Gag er passengers. Here and there, men
were staring out of the windows wi n red
eyes and among hem were tough looking
Hungarians and Italians who had lost
friends near Ninevah, while women were
weeping on all sides
PITIFUL STORY.
Two of the passengers on the train
were man and wife from JohnstowD. He
was quiet and dignified, and more or less
self possessed. She was anx. Gus and
tried hard TO control her feelings. From
every new conner and possible source of
information she sought news. sour is
big new brick house." said she, with
brave effort, but with loving brown eyes
moist and red, trembling, Its three
story house, and I don't think there is
any trouble, do your" she said to me, and
without waiting for my answer she CON
tinued with a sob: "There are four
children in the house and their curse
and-and-I guess father and mother
will GO over to the house, don't your"
In a few moments all those in the car
knew the story Of the pair, and many
plying glance was cast at them. Their
house was one of the frat to go. Just
before reaching Sang Hollow end of the
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad,
is the SIS. O." signal tower, and the men
in it told the stOries of what they saw.
They were so piteous that they were hard
to listen to.
would DRAW TEARS FROM STONES"
Here are some of the odds and ends of
the happenings they told me of: A
beautiful girl came down on the roof Of
a building which was swung in near the
tower. She screamed to the operators to
save her, and one brave fellow walked
as far out into the river as he could and
shouted to her to guide herself into shore
with bit of plank. She twas a plucky
girl and stood upon her frail support in
evident obedience to the command of the
operator. She made two or three bold
strokes and stopped it for an instant,
Then it swerved and went out from under
her. She tried to swim ashore, but in a
few seconds she was lost in the whirling
water. Something hit her for she lay
quietly on her back with face pallid and
expressionless. Men and women in doz
ems, in pairs and sIngly, children, boys,
big and little, and wee babies were there
in the awful water.
DROWNING, GAsPINa, STRUGGLING,
and fighting desperately for life. Two
men on tiny raft shot into the swiftest
part of the current. They crouched,
stolidly looking at the shores while be
tween them, crossed in white and kneel-
ing with her face turned heavenward, was
girl or years old. When she came
opposite the tower she turned her face
to the operators. She was SO close to
that they could see big tears on her
cheeks and her pallor was
as death. The helpless men on shore
shouted to her to keep up her courage,
and she resumed her devout attitude and
disappeared eunder the trees of pro-
jscting point short distance below. "We
could not see her come out again." said
the operator, "apd that was all of it.''
"Do you see that fringe of trees?" said
the operator, pointing to the place where
the little girl had gone out of sight.
swell, We saw scores of children swept in
there. I believe that when the time
comes they will find almost
HUNDRET BODIES OF CHILDREN,
in there among the bushes. Just above
New Florence is the little town of Nine
yah. 1t was here that ] found the first
charnel house, 100 dead were there, the
greater proportion of whom were wo-
men. Here it was that the awful work of
the freshet could be realized. What had
been fertile farms look like worn out
brick yards. Greet trees had been
twisted and torn like weeds and broken
household goods and hundreds of houses
line the shore for miles. Thieves, those
who steal from the dead and unfortunates
are at work robbing trunks, boxes,
articles of furniture and there is nothing
worth taking left except lumber. Every
now and then the CHASTITY outlines of a
corpse could be seen in the water being
swept down the stream. Two miles from
"S. O." tower ia IS. x" tower of the
Pennsylvania railroad company and here
it is that the greatest railroad in the
world ends suddenly in the river. For
more than a thousand feet the entire
track is wiped out, rails, ties and even
ballast. The north track is entirely Washel
away. This is the nearest telegraphic
point to Johnston and the delay in get
ting off Jews dispatches has been fairly
maddeniDg. The associated press was
the first in the field end was ready with
thousands OF words of specials, but no
wires could be had.
BUILDINGS FLOATED AWAY.
DUBGIL, Pa, June 1.-The heaviest
floods in the history of Dubois occurred
Thursday night and yesterday. Rain be-
gan falling at IL p. M, and came down
in torrents without iptermission until
yesterday noon. The low lying parts of
First ward were entirely submerged.
Small out buildings were lifted from
foundations, and in many cases foated
away. Great excitement prevailed in the
vicinity of Pentz Run which separates
the First and Second wards of the city.
At one tine the buildings which face
this stream were in danger of having