Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1889-06-06


JOHNSTOwN, Pa, June SIT SO hap
pened that at the time of the flood there
was civil engineer present in charge of
the construction of a sewer and water
works on the club grounds. This gen
tleman, Mr. John e. Parke. Jr., saw the
catastrophe from first to last. Here is
his account of it as taken from his own
lips:
'0n Thursday night the dam was in
perfect condition. and the water was not
within seven feet of the top. At that
stage the lake is nearly three miles long.
1t rained very hard Thursday night | am
told, for | slept too sOundly myself to
hear it, but when l got up Friday morn
ing l could see there was flood, for the
water was over the drive in front of the
clubhouse, and the level of the water in
the lake had risen until it was only four
feet below the top of the dam. rode up
to the head of the lake and saw the woods
were boiling full of water. South Fork
and Muddy Run, which emptied into the
lake, were fetching down trees, logs, cut
timber, and stuff from a Saw-mill that
was up in the woods in that direction.
| This was about 7:30 o'clock. When | re-
turned Col Unger. the President of club,
hired twenty-five Italians and number
of farmers joined in to work on the dam.
Altogether thirty men were at work. A
plOw was run along the top of the dam
and earth was thrown in the face of the
dam to strengthen it. At the same time
| a channel was dug on the west end of the
dam to make Sluice-way there. There
was about three feet of shale rock
through which it was impossible to get
into without blasting. When we got the
channel opened the water soon secured
down to the bed rock, and stream
twenty feet wide and three deep rushed
out on that end of the dam while the wier
was letting an enormous quantity on the
other end. Notwithstanding these out
lets the water kept rising at the rate of
about ten inches an hour.
"By II 80, had madeup my mind that
it was impossible to save the dam and
getting on my horse | gallOped down the
road to South Fork to warn the people of
their danger. The telegraph tower is
mile from town. and sent two men there
to have messages sent to JOhnstOwn and
other points below. / heard that the
lady operator tainted when she had sent
off the news and had to be carried off.
The people at South Fork had ample
time to get to high grounds and they
we're able to move their furniture too.
In fact only one person was drowned at
South Fork and he while attempting to
| fish something from the flood as it rolled
by. 1t was Just twelve o'clock when the
telegraph messages were sent out, so that
| the people at JOhstOwn had over three
hours warning.
GAS rode back to the dam | expected
almost every moment to meet the lake
coming down on me, but the dam was
still intact, although the water had
reached the top. At about | o'clock l
walked over the dam; at that time the
wafer was three inches deep on it and
was gradually eating away the earth on
the outer face. AS the stream rolled
down the outer face it kept wearing
down the embankment and | saw 1t was
merely a question of time. ! then went
nm to the clubhouse and got dinner, and
when returned | saw that a good deal
more of the outer edge OF the dam had
crumbled away. The dam did not give
way. At a rough guess should say that
there were sixty million tons OF water IN
that lake and the pressure OF thal mass oI
water was increased by floods from TWO
streams pouring into it, put the ean
would have stood it could the leVel oi iI the
lake have been kept below tile Top vi tne
dam. But the friction of the water pour
ing over the dam gradually wore II away
from the outer face until the Top Decdlie
so thin that it gave way.
"The break took place at o'clock. 1t
was about ten feet wide at first and shall
low, but now that the flood had made a
gap, it grew wider with increasing rapid
ity, and the lake went roaring down the
valley. That three miles OF water was
drained out in fOrty-fve minutes. The
downfall of those millions of tons was
simply irresistible Stones from the dam
and powders in the river bed were car
ried for miles. Trees went down like YOU
might cut mullen stalk with a swish of
your cane, 1t was terrible sight to see
that avalanche of water 90 down that
valley already choked with floods. Col.
Unger was completely prOStrated by it and
was laid up at the clubhouse sick from
his experiences"
Pittsburg COmmercialGaZette, Tuesday,
About 1000 bodies have now been re-
covered, and Gen. Hastings estimates the
total number of dead will reach 1000.
The survivors are furnished with food
and tolerabe shelter, but there is such
urgent need for additional supplies of |
various sorts that the National Govern |
ment has been appealed to. There is a !
good deal of Indignation at JohnstOwn |
over sensational reports Oflynchings sent |
out by unscrupulouS correspondents. 1t |
is a civilized community that has been |
oVertaken by this disaster, and the citi- |
Zens maintain their law abiding habits.
AN EYE-wITNEsS' STORY.
William Henry Smith, General Manager of the |
Associated Press, who was passenger on one of |
the trains caught in the flood, furnishes graphic
account of its work, from which we quote below !
Mr.. Smith is an experienced and conservative man.
His statement will be found deeply interesting:
At JOhnstOwn there was a long wait, as before |
stated. The lower stories OF many houses were |
submerged by tile SlackWater, and the inhabitants
were looking out of the second story windows
Horses were standing up to their knees in water in |
the streets: a side track of the railroad had bpen
washed out: loaded ears were on the bridge to keen
it steady, and the huge poles of the Western Union
Telegraph Company, carrying fifteen wires, sway
sections of the train ran to COnemaugh, about two
miles this side of JOhnstOwn, and Law there about |
three hours, when they were moved on to the high
est ground and placed side by side. The mail train
was placed i'll the rear of the first section and |
freight train was run on to side track the bank
of the COnemaugh. The report was that a bridge
had been washed out, carrying away one track
and that the other track was unsafe. There was |
rumor also that the reservoir at South Fork, some
time ago feeder of the Pennsylvania Canal but |
atterly the property of a Club at Pittsburgh and |
used for hunting and fishing, was unsafe and might
break. This made most of the passengers uneasy,
and they kept pretty good lookout for infOrma-
tiOn The porterS of the Pullman ears remained
at their posts and cOmfOrted the passengers with
the assurance that the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany always took care of its patrons. few gen
tlemen and some ladies and children quietly seat
ed themselves, apparently cOntented. One gentle
man, who was i'll, had his berth made up and re- |
tired, although advised not to do So Soon the cry
came that the water in the reservoir had broken
down the barrier and was sweeping down the val
ley. Instantly there was panic and rush for the
mountain side. Children were carried, and women
assisted by few who kept cool heads 1t was a
race for life. There was seen the black head of the
flood, now the monster destruction whose crest was
raised high in the air, and with this in view even
the weak found wings for their feet. No words
can adequately describe the terror that filled every
breast, or the awful power manifested by the flood
The rOund-houSe had stalls for twenty-fhree loco
motives. There were eighteen or twenty of these
standing there at this time There was AN ominous