Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-06-01
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ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCHES.
Last Nights storm-Great Loss of Lif


So .m.-The rivers here are within two
feet OF being as high as in 1877 and still ris-
ing. The water in Shenandoah street ia s
to 10 feet deep. My Office is rocking and 1
am making preparations to abandon it.
Great damage to railroad here. All kinds
/, of heavy drift running"
Dispatches from Staunton. Harrisonburg
and other points represent the flood as hsv-
ing been very destructive.
BALTIMORE, June 1.-Dispatches from
Frederick, Westminster and other places in
Maryland say the rain was the greatest ex
perienced for many years. The streams are
very high and several narrow escapes from
drowning have occurred.
NEwFLoRENCE, Pa, June1 -Itis impossible
to secure definite information, but there
seems to be no doubt but that Johnstown Is
inundated and fully 1000 lives have been
lost.
At Bolivar, a man, woman and child were
seen floating down in lot of drift. The
mass of debris commenced to part and by
l
succeeded in getting his wife and little one
on floating tree Just then the tree wash.
ed under the bridge and rope was thrown
out It fell upon the mans shoulders. He
saw at q glance that he could not save his
dear ones, 80 he threw the means of safety
to one sids and gripped in hls arms
those who were with him. A moment
later and the tree struck a floating house.
persons were 10 the seething waters being
carried to their death. Another instance OF
"a mothers love Is told at Bolivar. A woman
and two children were floating down. The
mother caught rope and tried to hold it
and her babe. 1t was impossible, and with
q look of anguish she relnquisbed her hold,
her two little ones clasped In a grip that
soon proved one of death.
PIrTsBURG, Pa, Juae 1t was stated at
the Office of the Penns; lgana railroad at an
early hour this morning that the deaths
would run up into the thousands rather than
hundreds, as was at first supposed. From
stream of human beings that was swept be.
fore the angry foods was something most
pitiful to behold Men, women and children
we're carried along lrantically shrieking for
help, but their cries availed them nothing.
Rescue was impossible. Husbands were
swept past their wives and children were
borne rapidly along, going at terrible speed
to certain death before the eyes of their ter
rifed and frantic parents. It was said at
the depot that it was impossible to estimate
the number whose lives were lost in the
food. 1t will simply be matter of conjec-
ture for several days as to who was lost and
measuring two miles scross by i've miles in
length and was 20 feet deep in the deepest
place. The people of Jamestown were warn
ed of its possibility of bursting during the
morning, bat very few, If any of the nhabit
ants, took the warning seriously. Shortly
after noon the dam gave way about miles
above Jamestown, aud sweeping everything
before it burst upon the town with terrible
not an iustant's time was given to seek safe
ty. Houses were demolished, swept from
their foundations and carried in the Fl bod to
q cuivert near the town. Here mass of
all manner of debris soon lodged, and by
evening 1t had damned the water back into
the city over the tops of many ofthe still re
naming chimneys.
NEW FLORENCE, Pa, June Lone hun
dred bodies have been recovered at Nine
veh. Seventy persons are reported TO have
been turned to death In fire at Johnstown
| bridge. The ruins of houses, old buildings
and other structures swept against the new
| railroad bridge and from an overturned
stove or some such cause the upper part Of
the wreckage caught fire with the above ter
rible result. There were crowds of men,
women and children on the wreck and their
screams were soon added to the awful cho
rus of horrors. They were literally roasted
on the flood. Soon after the fire burned It.
self out others were thrown against the
mass. There were some so people In sight
when the ruins suddenly parted, broke up
and was swept under the bridge into pitch
darkness.
New FLORENCE, Pa, June wv. N
Hays has just returned from Johnstown
He says the place is annibilated. Cone
maugh Ia wrecked and Cambria City swept
away. Fully 1,2OO lives have been lost.
WASHINGTON, June 1.-The latest report from
Harpor's Ferry says the Potomac and Shenandoah
rivers are rising one foot per hour. Canal boats
and other drift are running thick. The river is
very high in Washington and is rising. The
water has reached B street and has put out the
fires in the engine house at the Washington mon
ument and stopped the elevator. The cellars on
the south side of Pennsylvania avenue are flooded.
HnLsBoRo, Va, June 1.-The flood in this
part of the county has been very destructive. The
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