Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-06-07

Rochester.
Re ow the mills II Cambria. sub
borough In VIII ch district reside possibly
2,OJJ people. 40 scsIUs ere are a rope
ton OF the other parts or the foo l-waste3
city. In St. Columb ia y church. u lew
structure, which hAd ioodod TO n depth Of
six feet in the auditorium, the waite had
receded and the floor was covered with a
Shiny ooze to the depth Of seven or eight
inches. On boards stretched along the
tops of the pews were thirteen bodies which
had been snatched from the stream by FIR
Thomas Dar1in and some OF his Pensioners
whom he had pressed into service.
While in the awful presence of the dead
and amid the so emn surroundings OF a
desolated fame, the representative saw
Joseph Smith man Of extraordinary size
and strength, enter. He id not "a word
but quietly went from corpse TO corpse lift
ing the sta ned and mud besmeared cover
ings of the dead. At last he came TO the
corpse Of child about nine years old, his
daughter, He looked at the swollen and
blood stained features a moment and then
with a voice of the most unUtterable agony
cried, my Maggie, my lkte Maggie" at
the same time pressing the imam mate form
TO his bosom and giving expressions To al
ternate caressing and G acu atoms OF grief.
The man took his child and ran with it TO
what had once been his home. He placed
it beside those of his wife and two other
children, all OF whom had been drowned.
IL is inpo ssible TO narrate the many pa
thetic incidents that occurred ON all sides.
AT Morrell forty-t rec bodies were laid
out waiting 10 be idedtified. Eight OF them
were children, one that of a chlld which IA
physician said had been born while the
mother was fighting for her life in the rag
ing food.
AT Nineveh, nine miles down the stream,
l0j bodies, mostly women and children,
were laid ont in Sawmill and additions
were being made by wagon Dads at a time,
which were being picked up on the mead
ows over which the great tide had swept
with the fury of demon. Many were
found with their hands yet clinging tena-
ciously TO the branches of trees and shrubs.
In one case young coupe were found
locked in each others arms, In another
case mother was found with child
clasped in each arm and held closely 10 her
bosom.
There is no pos siblity of telling just who
has been lost, as thousands are missing.
The survivors, many of whom tell of tne
most thrilling escapes from collections of
debris house roofs, car doors and planks,
seek the banks and gaze with stupor, born
of paralyzaticr of their mental faculties,
from the frig 1T and horror they have been
subjected TO.
TIE number of people who are visible
fro, the banks are So few in contrast with
the population of the various little Dor
oughs which constitute the city thatothe
question Where are the peoplei" is asked
on all sides, The impression is gaining that
the disclosures yet to come where the
gorge collected and which is now burning
over an area OF several acres, is yet more
ghastly. The awfulness of the scene de-
hes language TO depict, as 10 does the imag
ination TO conceive of. Without seeing the
havoc created no idea can be given either
of the area OF the desolaton or the extent
of the damage.
Food, clothing and money is needed by
the inhabitants Of the stricken city. They
need shelter also The citizens of Pitts
burg and Allegheny have started a relief
fund, which Is growing rapidly, but the
sum needed is more than any one com
munity en- give. Food has been forward
ed from the cities and towns along the
lines of the road.
On the Baltimore & Ohio railroad there
was much damage Also but there was no
such torrent to devastate a. that which
swept down from the South Fork reser-
voir with rap dity incredible and des
truction unparalleled in the annals of Amer
lean history.
The actual loss of life cannot possibly
be ascertained within less than week or
ten days.
The damage done the Cambria iron
works mills is incllculable and they
will have 10 spend fabulous sum
which will not be for several months.
j. @. GIL and thirty five men started in
wagon TO go up the mountain and ali were
drowned by the torrent which overlook
them Gus McHugh, an engineer on the
Pennsylvania railroad who lived in Cone
maugh was asleep when the torrent rush
ed down the valley. His wife was away
from home at the time. Her husband and
four children were drowned,
coURTED THEFT PATE.
The calamity was as singular az it was
fatal. II is now very evident that more
lives have been lost because OF foolish in
credulity than from ignorance OF the
danger. For more than year there have
been fears Of an accident OF just such a
character. The foundations of the dam
were considered TO be shaky early last spnng
and many II creasing ledkages were reported
from time 10 time, according 10 people who
live in Johnstown and other towns along the
line OF the river. Ample time was given 10
the Johnstown folks by the railroad OIL
Gals and other gentlemen Of standing and
reputation. In dozens, yes, hundreds of
cases this warning was utterly disregarded,
and those who needed il early in the day
were looked upon as towards, and many
jeers were uttered by lips that now are
cold among the rank grass beside the river.
Whether incredibly and foolhardiness
numbers its flood victims by scores or by
the hundreds, no one yet knows, ana IL Will
be many days before the writing upon
tombstones and the tracing of 1.-THE un
known dead" are ended.
There has grown up a bitter feeling
among the surviving sufferers against
those who owned the Lake and dam,
and damage suits will be plentiful by and
by,
1--WE were afraid of that lake." said
gent cman who had lived in JOhnstown for
years. ave were afraid of that lake seven
years ago. No one could see the immense
hight to which that artificial dam had been
built without fearing the tremendous
power Of water behind it. The dam must
have had sheer hight OF 100 feet, thus
forcing the wafer that high
above its natural bed and
malsAg lake at least three miles
long and a mile wide out Of what could
scarcely be called pond. ] doubt If there
is a man or woman in Johnston who, at
some time or other, had not feared and
spoken of the terrible disaster that has
now come. People wondered and asked
why the dam was not strengthened, as 1t
certainly had become weak, but nothing
was done, and by and by they talked less
about il as nothing happened, though now
and then some would snake their heads as
if conscious that the fearful day would
come some time. when their worst fears
would be transcribed by the horror Of the
actual occurrence.
1 LII. as ma - IN