Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-06-03
VALLEY OF THE DEAD. Two Thousand Bodies Taken Out 0
 the Conemaugh River. MANY THOUSANDS MISSING. Fully 5000 People, and Perhaps
 More, Per shed. A BABE OF THE FLOOD. Thieves Caught at Their Work
 Among the Dead. JUSTICE METED OUT
A BABE OF THE FLOOD.
JUSTICE METED OUT

JUSTICE METED OUT Many Catholics Among tas BodIes Lon
 by the Flosd ot N'nevah, .rhe City
 of the Dsad,-Three Hundred und
 Fifteen Bodies Lying in Indiana
 County, With Only Two Houses and
 Ten Inhabitants in the Vicinity.
 James stevens, Who Was Away
 From His Home Bn Johnssown nt
 the Time of the Calamity, Tells How
 the Conemaugh Was N,srow ed by
 Mans Greed-Starvntion Adds to tn.
 Horror.
 JoHNsTowN, Pa, Juno 3.-A scene o horror such as probably was never seer by human eye met the gaze of the party of newspaper men-the first to reach tho devastated city-when they clamberee down the mountain side of what was once Johnstown.
 The site of the city is still submerged the viaduct below with its acres of debris forming dam which holds the waters in. Human bodies seem to be everywhere Practically nothing remains of Johns town.
 Every building in the city has either been carried away by the raging waters or so damaged as to ruin 1t completely Whole streets are swept clear of every trace of habitation. Down at the via duct the debris Is heaped up nearly 1O( feet high.
 Here and there human body can be seen, while arms and limbs, rigid 1T death, stick out everywhere. The ac, counts published of the awful calamity, far from being exaggerated, have not ap. preciated the terrible reality of this greatest tragedy of the age.
 After the first party of explorers came many others. bringing skiffs. ropes, lad ders and other articles for the work O rescue. It was not long before the labol of gathering in the bodies of the victims was begun.
 A temporary morgue was established wires were strung down the mountain side, and short time before noon yes. terday the devastated district was again In communication with the outside world.
 From the best information obtainable at this hour 1t would seem that the total number of lost will not fall below 5000, and 1t may go over 1000. To add to the terrible catastrophe 1t Is feared that many of those who escaped to the noun tains have perished from starvation and hunger. Those who ran to the hillsides on approach of the water are no doubt pressed for food.
 They had to camp In the bushes, and the women and children suffered from hardship, besides being half crazed with anxiety over the fate of friends and rela- lives.
 The water is now receeding slowly. When the viaduct Is cleared of the debris which chokes the arches the real state of affairs can be ascertained.
 The eastern end of Main street, through which the waters tore most madly and destructively, and in, which they left their legacy of wrecked houses, fallen trees and dead bodies in a greater degree than in any other portion of the city, has been cleared and the remains of over fifty taken out of the portion cleared. All over the town the searchers have been equally successful. As soon as o body is found 1t Is placed on litter and sent to the morgue, where it Is washed and placed on board for several hours to await identification.
 The whole corps of Western Union telegraph operators was lost last Friday evening. Among them were Mrs. Ogle manager, who for twenty-five years act ed as receiver of Associated Press reports here, and her daughter Minnie, also a well-known operator; also Misses Cor man and Watkins and three messenger boys who were unable to escape from the building
 It Is thought by many that fully 2,OOC persons were burned to death in the debris at the bridge. The Cambria Iron Works company announces that they will rebuild their plant at once. The work of burying the dead is proceeding rapidly, and necessarily with scant ceremony, as decomposition has set in in most cases
 The total number of bodies recovered in the Conemaugh Valley thus faf is nbout 2,000. Only one-quarter of these have been identified, and 1t is doubtful Il half of those recovered will ever be rec. ognized.
 Ono of the most touching scenes oi the day of horror was the finding of the body of a little babe in the water neal Sang Hollow. It was a child of the flood, it having been born in the water Near by was floating the body of It's mother.
 There were no dry eyes among the party of rescuers that tenderly laid the bodies on Q rough Hitter to carry then away to the already overcrowded morgue
 The massive accumulation of debris extending from 300 to 1,0OO feet along