Telegram-herald., 1889-06-04
THAT AWFUL FLOOD.
It's Victims WIN Number Not Less
Than 10000.
4 yERITlBLE VALLEY OF DEATH.
Heart Ike ding Scenes Witnessed by the
sufyisors-IuudTedsC Caught in n Pile
of burning Debris and Slowly
Toasted Alive.
n-rTovs LOST.

MILLIONS LOST
JoHSsrOwS, Pa, June 3-The water has
subsidized 70 great extent and the streets
III tho main part Of town aIe tree from
water. The falling water has laid bare
the terrible work Of the Hood, and the full
extent of the disaster is only being ascer-
tanned now. The streetss .one sickening
foul smelling mass Of wood and chris
and the work OF searching for bodies las
only fairly begun. The latest esti-
mates put the loss OF life ut from
1000 TO l2,0c0. Ii is impossible 10
get any account OF those lost Every
one is so thoroughly tired out and over
come by the weight Of the disaster as To
be utterly unable 10 give any accurate de
tails OF figures The work of identifying
the dead goes on very slowly and com
paratively few SO far have been identified
The morning opened up dark and dreary
Great drops OF rain fell occasionally and
another storm seemed imminent Every
one feels thankful, though, that the
weather still remains cool and that the
gradual putrefaction of the hundreds OF
bodies that still line the streams and
lie hidden under the miles OF drift
wood and debris is not unduly has
tened. The peculiar odor OF decaying hu
man flesh is plainly perceptible TO the
senses as one ascends the bank Of Stony
creek Tor half mile along the smolderiDg
ruins OF the wreck and the most skeptic.l
now conceive the worst. and realize that
hundreds, aye, perhaps thousands, of bod
les lie Charred and blackened beneath this
great funeral pyre.
The magnitude of the catastrophe can
not now be approximately stated The de-
i'm il
plete Us TO prevent access To the desolate
and heartbToken survivors, and the prop
erty loss is incalculable Watchers
line the banks of the rivers recov-
ering bodies Villages below Johnstown
have become charnal houses, all points an
nouncing numbers of dead left by the re-
ceding flood Several trains on the Penn
sylvania railroad were overtaken by the
rising waters and some passengers, stran-
gers To the locality, lost their lives in
the excitement which prevailed Ia Johns
town and neighborfng places whole fami-
lies were swept away together. The scene
OF utter desolatiOn, the deeds OF heroism
and the lamentations oil those unable 10
learn tidings Of loved ones make a pathetic
story. bat it is marred by the deplorable
fact that the ghouls who escaped the food
robbed the dead bodies of yaluables
Some cOrpses were taken from the
river near Pittsburgh and others at long
distances from the point where the disaster
occurred
Movements for the relief of survivors.
who are in need OF all comforts of life.
have been made promptly by Federal, State
and municipal authorities and by in
diyiduals
THE HOLOCAUST
DERRY, Pa, June 3-Of all the fearful
occurrences the most terrible was the fire
in which Supervisor Hays, of the Pennsyl-
vania road, estimated that from 900 to
300 beings were burned To death over
800 frame houses were jammed together in
a heap forty feet high against the
massive yiaduct OF the Pennsylvania
road at JOhnstOwn. All the houses
were destroyed and the majority Of the in
mates were crushed 10 death before the
terrific IRE began Men, women and chil-
dren. with their limbs pinioned between
the timbers. their nfeblood slowly ebbiEg
away. begged for relief One woman
asked a man on the banks 10 cut
her legs of A man was caught by
the arm aud he asked for a knife
10 sever the member Others were all
smashed and squeezed to death beneath
the grinding timbers and surging waters
Some were pressed deep into the water.
and the food soon ended their misery.
But when the fire broke out in the mass OF
tfmbers nobody escaped Saturday after
noon men succeeded ia reaching the ruins.
but were powerless 10 aid No sp-
plIances were at hand - DO proper work,
and the people who are WeGged in among
The ruins OF their houses against the i'm
mense stone bridge. facing death by food.
bv fre hv hunger and by exposure. are. in
al human probability. beyond hope Bos
laanv Of them are in this awful plight may
never he fully known
JoHxsrowx. Pa June 3 The Ere In tbs
drift above the bridge il under control and
&c being rapfdIv snotheTed by the Pitts
burah Greuen IN charge II the work
Alort O'Clock IA a. crowd q Battery
Z bows discovered family Of Eve people
H. the smoking aud burned ruins above the
trfd-e Thev took cut fstheT. mother
end fhree children a. terribly furue1 and
mutilsted The little girl had one ARA
torn OF
7RsrNs vlsHED tvkT
PrrAnvIPHIa. June 8 -Inforusti1n ~ss
received saturday uisht Al the ofics - tae
Fenusv ivsuia railroad q frightt1i as
aster = two of the through trains FROM
rltssbnrcb. which have been supposed -
r. safe a. Couernauga Assistant snFeTin-
tendeat Ir51ap telegraphs from blslrssl-is
junction that ~ 6sY stprsss, sss'-f bound
FROM Chicago 81 View York, SIC tas ra-l
train f-om Prtsburgh t0una eaft Fsrs
rut On ths tack tracks "a - ysra 81
Coneu s1Fh whea tks Eosss1 ecfei-
uor q sc -1stn tracks made g spTareztlT
unsafe to proceed farther VA - eaa-
-.nsef rise ef tte wster rssds t1si- 8s1Te1
rrrarsrt t1s fffThtenet passerrr-s fea
f-u ths two srsins - - hfs rear ~
wrv in tseir v1d .reiterest t7rsr
-e-asslres into - raging orsat sc
rsre fFo7nsd It "a suFroeeE --sf sboai
seven { p~rsens lost ther =
tss ws7 Wses s1F.r.atsr.1 7rurglg
rserHs6 Conerangh h4 80 srsiy
r-hsref -cgs Der tas rtr1ssalrs passsn-
rs ~ -1e sl 80 frs trer1 COZ.