The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-06-19
Some Individual Experiences.

| Iuduy.
Some Individual Experiences.
At Bolivar the Conemaugh rose from six tc
| forty feet, the water spread in five minutes
over the whole country, and houses went
! floating down, men, women and children
clinging to the debris, shrieking wildly fol
aid. The people Of Garfield, on the opposite
side Of the river, rushed to the stone bridge
below the town with ropes, and these were
thrown over into the boiling water in an en-.
deavor to save some poor beings. But all ef-
forts were fruitless until Lad astride shin
gle roof managed to catch a dangling rope.
| Soswift was the speed Of the torrent that
! he was hurled violently against an abutment.
But he managed to retain his grip on the rope
and was hauled up on to the bridge. He was
John Hessler, and he related an awful ex-
perience. He is sixteen years old,
grandfather at Cambria City. There
were also there Theodore, Edword
and John Kintz and John Kintz, Jr., Miss
Mary Kintz, Mrs. Mary kintz Miss Treacy
Kintz, Mrs. Rica Smith, John Hirsh, four
children and the father and grandfather Of
young Hessler. All were lost in the food.
Shortly after o'clock, says young Hess
ler, there was rush and roar of waters
and we heard screaming people outside. Our
QOIQe was Oh Tue SlQ6 I'LL duu LILY ldIucI Silu
the water would not reach US. The houses
further down were being swept away,
and we all went up into the third
story. Twas scared and I jumped upon
a bed It was an ol6-fashioned bed, with
big, stout posts The water reached that
floor and kept rising till my bed was afoat.
My grandfather, my father, John Kintz and
John Hirsch climbed out of window with
Mary and Mrs. Kintz. but staid on the bed.
r. liz &c
were pushed through the ceiling. crawled
out through one of the holes made that way
and got on the roof. There saw the men
who got out of the window on trees. Mary
and Mrs. Kintz must have drowned, and
Miss Smith was also drowned. The water
kept rising and the roof began
to float down on the tide. saw grandfather
and father, caught in the tree by the water,
covered over and drowned. John Hirsh
in tree. My roof parted and then I
sailed away at awful speed. Live bodies
and corpses were all about me in the
water. would hear somebody shrek in the
water and then see him disappear. All
along people on shore tried to save US, but
they could do nothing, the water carried us
along so fast. Only a few were saved"
A man named Young, living in Johnstown,
foated down the food on bit of floor. He
held two women in his arms. At the upper
bridge, at Bolivar, a rope was thrown
and hold fast to the women, one Of whom
was his aged mother, but he was jerked away
from them. Then he bravely dropped the
rope and fell back upon the raft, again TAX
ing the women in his arms. A little
further down the fail raft foated toward
the edge of the food. Young seized the
overhanging branches of tree and had
succeeded, by Herculean efforts in placing
the women on the upper boughs, when the
heavy debris Of bridge came down on the
food, struck the tree, tore it from the ground
three.
Young's heroism filled the minds of the
distracted spectators only few moments to
give place to admiration to that Of a mother
who, floating under the bridge on the roof of
a shed with her two little ones in her arms,
shook her head sadly when rope was low
cred to her and clung more closely to her
babes: The mothers sacrifice was averted
at Cokeville, little further down, for all
three were rescued.
A little girl, Eneeling, her hands clasped in
prayer, passed down on the torrent on bit
of flooring. There was beatifc expression
on the white, frightened face as she passed on
to death little further on, where her raft
was shattered against tree.
At Lockport, about eighteen miles from
Johnstownr EEel Benson, an old man, Mrs.
Boyle, Paddy Madden and two Hungarians
were rescued. Mr.. Benson said:
II live in Cambria City. I think not less
than 1900 people were lost. In thu house
with me on Chestnut street were ten persons
besides myself, and feel sure they were all
lost. Up TO o'clock the water, which was
about seven feet deep in the streets,
remained stationary. At about four
o'clock in the afternoon the great
rush came. In fifteen minutes the water rose
fully ten feet, and in five minutes more am
sure fifty houses came floating down the
streets. There were people in every one Of
ds them and God tSdv only knows c,rs nGS @
houses were jammed together and
against the houses still standing, and
in a very few minutes they were
all battered to pieces before they had been
carried very far. The house was in was
soon smashed to pieces, and I managed to
jump on to a cellar door. In few minutes
I was pushed off into the food, and when
looked back where Cambria City
stood there was nothing but a
great lake Of water. 1t looked to me
as if every house had been raised or COW
cred over. The vast sheet Of water was full OF
floating timbers, roofs Of houses, RATS and
other articles. The scene was indescribable.
The cries Of the men, women, and children
were fearful. Ipassed Paddy Madden's wife,
my sons wife, and man clinging to the roof
of a house. I called to them and bade
them good-by. In a short time I
was caught by the water and
turned under. Every once in e while got
into whirlpool and almost lost my grip on
the cellar door. 1 saw people in the water
ahead of me. Many of them were struck by
the crashing timbers and killed outright.
They were SO badly hurt that they ien into
the water and drowned at once"