The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1889-06-16
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Channel Ofthe COnemaugh Partially
Cleared of Its Great Pile of Debris.
Several Buildings Injured by the Heavy Blasts
Another Attempt to Destroy the Wreck
BY Fire-The River Again Rising.

JOHNsTowN, June 15.-Major Phillips's
dynamiters nave had Johnstown in a state
of nervous terror all day, aud this evening
General Manager John Fulton, of the CAM |
bria Iron Company, dictated a forcible pro- |
test to Governor Beaver, stating that the
mills and office of the company were being
ruined by the blasts; that Acknowledgement
Hastings had paid no attention to two re-
quests for its discontinuance, and that the
State would be held responsible for any fur
Their damage done. The message was filed in
it be put upon the wire as soon as another
blast was fired. In the meantime, Adju-
tant.general Hastings had gained COM
municatiOn with Major Phillips, and an
order to discontinue the blasting went into
effect. The message did not go to the
Governor, but General Manager Fulton
showed it to the press representative,
and said: Il do not hold Gen.
d anssinGs f Ts'p 30 Psa seisht d dfr nonse 1sts
however, to use such heavy blasts so near
valuable buildings. My superintendent re-
ports that the damp walls of the mills are
giving way under the shocks. and here In
quarter of an inch within the past three
hours. Buildings in JOhnstOwn are in too
delicate a condition to be trifled with by
dynamlters."
Major Phillips has been engaged since
Wednesday in blowing out the wreckage IN
the channel of the COnemaugh above the
stone bride. He was to have a passage for
the water by this evening. and put In a 500,
pound blast at noon. The blast was placed
ing upon the other, and both of them COW
cred with logs. The explosion was terrific,
and one log, large enough for q main mast,
was hurled 800 feet in the air. The next
This one did all the damage. The report
was awful, and the strongest houses in the
city trembled like leaves. All the glass
was blown out of the windows of Odd-fel-
a strata of unusual disturbance. In the same
neighborhoOd the rear wall of the half
wrecked Catholic Church fell upon the
Baltimore a. Ohio trao4s. Chimneys
ratified down all about, and dishes were
broken in houses in Kernville, half a mile
away.
When asked about the matter, Major Phil
lips said: I'VE haveused only 900 pOundsof
dynamite to-day. ! have ordered several
heavy hereafter. i had no idea we were do
ing any damage. So far as l know, no per-
sons were Injured" Soon after the
last blast, which opened the channel of
the river, the logs formed a gorge. A gang
of lumbermen were put to work with can't
hooks to clear the stream.
When the debris began to move John
Troses, a lumberman was standing in the
midst of it. The logs and boards began to
XOll lIOlu uuutI Hill, Uub u6 lcdDeu IIOIu
one to another until he passed under one
of the arches of the bridge and swept along
with the torrent of water. In less than a
minute, however, he very unexpectedly
pearance below the bridge. He continued
to Jump from log to log until he finally
reached the shore. His was a very narrow
escape from drowning.
The foreman of the gang working on the
raft thinks that after the loose debris. now
lodged in the channel of the bridge, is re-
moved, the men will not object so strenuous
1y as they do now to work on the sides of
the creek that has been opened. All day
long, while the men were at work at this
place, not one body was recovered, but it
is safe to say that many a human body
went up with each shot of dynamite. Some
of the workmen say that they saw pieces of
human bodies and shredded demonstrating
after several of the shots, and none who were
at work with the dynamiters will deny but
that several human bodies were blown to
pieces by this afternoons work. The open
ing up of the drift pile by cutting the chan
mel through it has served to intensity the
terrible odors which. if possible, seem to
grow worse and extend further with each
succeeding hour.
At Z o'clock this evening the fires, which
were partially ~extinguished by the heavy
rainfall, were again lighted and are now
burning furiously. The object is to burn as
much as possible of the debris. so that it
can more easily be flOated down Tomorrow.
General Hastings's orders suspending
work tomorrow eXciteS much criticism.
The citizens claim that not only the river
but every portion of the town should be
cleared out with the least possible delay.
1t is supposed that hundreds of bodies yet
remain in the cellars and unexplored piles
of w~reckage. and the longer they are per-
mitted to remain the more terrible will
grow the stencil, and the more frightfully
~decOmposed will be the bodies when they
are reached.
A GOOD avamp1a of what nav no axnecfad
to be found in nearly every sand-pile in the
streets was developed at 7:30 tonight,
when the body of a boy baby was found
right In front of the Western Union tele-
graph office, on the road which thousands
of people have been tramping over for the
past two weeks. The stencil arising from
its little body was SO great that it was with
difficulty that men were found to remove
it to the mOrgue.
At 1890 tonight all the men occupying
the laborers' camp in the center part of the
town were routed out by the water. The
Conemaugh overflowed it's banks about q
water swept into the camp knee-deep.
Along with all the other mis-
fortunes, the poor men who have
worked hard all day must now remain up
advanced as far as the guards and wanted
to 60 to Prospect Hill. but the guards would
not permit them to. The Conemaugh is
rising very rapidly, and if it so continues
until morning all approaches to the city
almost to the top of the Millvale bridge.
Aujut~ant-general Hastings Is In receipt
of the following:
ELLERsLIE, RmNECLFF-ON-HUDsoN, June 10.
Mr. Dear Generation my return to my country
home, I find that my little girls, from eight to
fourteen years of age, have been hard at work
since the terrible disaster at Johnstown, in max
ing articles of clothing for the poor. homeless
children who have survived the recent
| floods in your State. I Am forwarding to-day, by
the American Express Company, free of charge,
127 articles Of wearing apparel, as per list in
| closed. made by their own hands, or purchased
with their own money, with some of their
dresses. MY children will feel greatly obliged il
you will cause the clothing TO be distributed
among the little sufferers by the recent calamity,
for whom they feel the deepest sympathy. ! am,
dear General, very faithfully yours.
LEVI /. MORTON.
President Harrison's Contribution.
| WAsHINGTDN IN, June 15.-The contribution for