New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-02
AN UyEYAMPLED HORROR.


The food which swept through Pennsyl-
vania valley on Friday is described in the
latest dispatches as the most appalling disaster
ever caused, at least in the United States, by
the sudden release Of imprisoned waters. No
accurate statement OF the loss Of life will be
possible for many days, but when the circum-
stances are considered it is easier to believe
that the estimate Of 900 deaths Is too small
than that it is too large. No one who has not
seen a food rush through valley or looked
upon the wreck il leaves behind can form the
faintest conception of its power. The MasSa-
chusetts disaster accomplished fearful work OF
destruction, Of which the yestiges still remain,
but the dam which overhung the. Mill River
villages was nothing but q bath-tub in com
parison with the gigantic Jamestown reservoir
and the population exposed to its ravages was
not a twentieth part as large.
No agent of destruction, save only the earth
quake, is capable Of achieving in moment snch
comprehensive horrors as great body OF water
suddenly set free within a narrow channel. Inc
fiercest confiagration makes its way slowly IN
comparison, and can at least be fought with
some hope of final victory some chance OF shell
ter exists even in the path Of tornadoi but
before food ike that of Friday bastion Is
no safer than a cradle When the solid wall
Of water touched the stoutest mills at Hayden
vile they did not tremble, totter and fall
they instantaneOusly ceased TO exist In any
recognizable form, and the soil beneath them
was secured out down to the bed rock. The
force exerted in the Conemaugh Valley was in
conceivably greater than that which swept be-
tween the banks Of Mill River, and the ma
terial it had to consume was vastly more album
dant.
Ii il not safe to place implicit confidence in
the rumors which say that the JohnstOwn cam
was known to be weak. Prophets, whose in
SEPARATION comes too late, always swarm around
the scene of disaster. A source of anxiety 1t
might well have been TO all who lived beneath
it. Indeed, ii is amazing, or would be II ex-
perience had not made the fact familiar, that
people can dwell happily and trustfully with
such an avalanche suspended above their heads.
The club which controlled the reservoir and
managed il for pleasure purposes Is said to have
maintained careful system Of inspection, and
to have adopted such precautions as might sug-
gest themselves to prudent men. But the fact
remains that suddenly, and practically without
warning, the wall gave way and destruction
In it's most awful form swept down upon its NC
tins II may be proved as IL was in the case
of the Mill River dam, that original defects OF
construction were deliberately permitted TO
make the whole work a sham, or investigation
NAV show that the builders had reasonable
basis for belief that the masonry was equal to
any possible demand. The radical objection to
combining a great body Of water above pop
-. :. -, a., tfttrNH Ia IN
detect the first inroads upon the artificial bar
rier which restraints ii and where the smallest
Jet has made it's way an irresistible torrent may
follow.
But the frst concern Of those who read the
awful details Of this catastrophe is not With the
causes that produced it. II is to be hoped that
| these NAV be discovered In due time, and that
the dreadful responsibility may be put where
| it belongs. Our earliest duty is to ascertain
| and relieve so far as human effort can relieve
| the suffering which fills the devoted valley.
| Ii should not be forgotten that the material
| loss. however great, is an immediate and abso-
| lutte loss which the survivors cannot divide with
| insurance companies. 1t is apparent, even in
| the first moments Of communication with those
| scenes Of misery, that the sorrow and gloom
WHICH nave ldlICu hPOu Vh'iH "ii w HNN'o
deeper by restitution. Pennsylvania is a hch
| and generous Commonwealth, and she may pre-
] fer to take care Of her own unfortunate chill
| dren. but we cannot doubt that the universal
| sympathy Of the country will respond to the
earliest appeal for assistance. New-Iork in
particular is never backward in an emergency
| like this, and The Tribune will gladly acknowL
edge and forward any contributions that may be
| sent to this Office for the relief of the sufferers.