Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-06-04
The Great Disaster.

II .out Of the abundance Of the heart the
mouth s9oaketh" tho great disaster which has
overtaken the people ia aud near Johnstorn'
Pa. win be the subject OF many an editorial this
morning.
What were the circumsiances9 II would seem
that nobody now living can be held Responsible
for the Pennsylvania disaster The dam wnose
brcakine caused eli the loss and suffering and
death was constructed hfty years ago. IL origi-
naIly furnished a supply Of water for the Penn
syivania canal. Colonel CHARLEs Elicit recon-
snended many years ago that tho James River
and Kanavha canal nt its summit level should
be supplied with water In Ike Mariner
When the pond or artificial lake was no longer
needed for tho purpose for which n had been
made. the canal having been abandoned, the
lake was bought by a number OF wealthy gentle
men In Pittsburgh who wore Incorporated under
The name OF the "south Fork Fishing and Hunt
ing Cluhn The lake was conver,si into pre-
serve known as Conemaugh lake. 1t was four
miles long ana emo mile wide. more or less Our
kilograms Of Saturday said that the dam was an
unusually strong one, and had been regularly
inspected by the engineers OF the Pennsylvania
Railroad Compsny-to learn, we suppose. whe-
Iher 1t threatened the Pennsylvania railroad
with such disaster IS has just fallen upon it.
held moro water than any ether such reservoir
in the United States 1t Was 200 to so feet above
the level Of Johnstown. wesuppose that no en-
rineor would have pronounced the dam unsafe
II may interest sCme persons 70 know that
CHARLES RsADE, IN ono o. his novels, repre-
sents disaster of this sort as having hapPened
IN England.
We do not know certainly the extent Of the
ia Huf We
history Of the world records one equal to it
In shereld, Eng, March IL, 1884, the reservoir
broke down and flooded Sheffield and tho coun-
try round. About $50 lives we're LOST
Haydens Dictionary Of Dates mentions many
terrible disasters which are said TO have happen
ed a thousand or more years ago. We do not
know how much reliance Is 70 DO placed in these
statements We give some Of later dates. In
1888 the Severn overhowed its banks for ten days
aud carried away men. women. and children in
their beds. In 1880 general inundaton caused
BY the failure cf the dikes In Holland Is said 10
have drowned 10000 persoos. In ono at Gaia
lonia In 1917 5000 persons persisted. In l1l1
part OF Zealand was over1Owed, and 1900 persons
drowned. In Navarro in l7S7. 1900 persons lest
their lives by torrents from the mountains Ia
Iorca, In Spain. in 1872 reservoir broke
its banks. and 1000 persons we're killed
BY the overflow Of tho Danube in 1919 a Turkish
corps OF 1900 men met instant death. In Silesis,
same year, 1000 persons persisted; and also In
Same year IN Poland 1900 lives were supposed 20
have been lost In 1873 inundation at Dantzic. by
which 4,O00 houses we're destroyed and numerous
lives lost In 1899 in tho Moray floods many lives
were lost At Vienna IN 1890 the dwellings OF
10000 people we're under water. In 1888, In Can
ton, China, 1000 houses swept away and about
1000 persons persisted.
Whenever and wherever these calamities hap
pen, human nature shows at Its best IL Is not
for us TO say what Richmond ought 10 do under
the circumstances OF to-day.