Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-05

and limestone, and was believed to be as en-
! during as the pyramids of Egypt. The awful
disaster would seem to confirm the allegation
| OF the use of unfit materials in the construc-
| ton.
| express known to have been lost is six.
Besides these there are two ladies miss
| ing and unaccounted for, but who may yet be
| alive. conductor who was at Conemaugh on
| that fatal day claims to have run through the
| cars and told the passengers to run to the
mountains The passengers who survive are
anxious to make the acquaintance of that con-
ductor. They certainly neither saw him nor
heard him. On Friday his intention may have
been good, but the good deed was omitted.
When the passengers reached the mountain
| side they found there two conductors in beau
| tlfui white caps. Their manner was calm and
| their clothing was unspotted. l asked one of
| them why he did not notify the passengers of
the breaking of the dam. He replied. in some
confusion, that he had not time His COM
! panlon made report to his superior which re-
! port was carried over the mountain by pas
senger that night, but there was nothing in it
10 indicate that the passengers were any OF his
concern. He reported the loss of two trains.
I'm striking contrast to the neglect of duty
| OF these conductors it is pleasant to note the
manly conduct of Others First, always first,
| mention should be made of the locomotive
engineers and firemen. whose bravery and de-
yotion were conspicuous. They never neglected
10 give such warning as they could in the face
or danger and in some cases of certain death.
brakeman riding deadhead. rendered splendid
service In rescuing women and children at the
risk OF his own life; j. S. Aber, Pullman con-
, ductor. was efficient and coo-headed; w. H.
Woodyer, cook of the car Aragon, and John 2.
waugh. porter of the parlor car Chloris. stood
manfully by G. +. Grifhths of the Norwich
hne, In the rescue of passengers. 1t was Wood
yer who stood upon the top of the car Aragon,
with axe in hand ready to cut the roof to pre-
vent the smothering of those within. We think
better of our race with such examples before
U.S.
The Sad Condition at Williamsport.
The calamity that has overtaken Williams
port is the most crushing disaster i'll its history.
At least twenty-five lives have been lost and
$7,0O0,000 of property swept away. The city is
IN darkness, the gas works and electric light
plant being flooded. Railroad communication
from the sou Ia cannot DE restored before Friday.
At Jersey Shore, Lock Haven and other
points north. even a worse condition of affairs
prevails. The whole Susquehanna valley has
been swept. The river rose rapidly Saturday
morning, and Lycoming creek, which joins it
above Williamsport, poured in flood, and
number of cottages inhabited by labOrers in
that quarter we're overwhelmed and the in
mates drowned without chance to escape.
Up river many lives were lost. At Antes creek
the wife and five children of George Young
man were swept away anu drowned: also
Lizzie Phillips, of Albany, and Maggie PfoutZ.
of Jersey Shore. His brother. William Young
man. loses his wife and two children. There
are nothing but rumors from points beyond.
Mayor Foresman said last night: Our city is
in dire need. Five millions worth of lumber
have been swept away. and the merchants will
lose two million more. We are short of pro-
visions, but there are enough to last till Friday
What we need is money to enable the poorer
citizens to rebuild"
THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE HOMELESS.
special to the Philadelphia Inquirer says:
Three thousand people in and about Will
Transport are homeless tonight, and almost
without means of subsistence. The dwelling
houses on every creek pouring into the river
have been swept away, and the people are COM
ing to this place for shelter and food. 1t is
not likely that the relief forwarded from Phila-
deiphla will reach here before Friday, and
there will be much suffering.
The business men of the place are recover
ing from the shock OF loss that at first almost
Frustrated them. Strong men wept at the de-
structlon brought by the flood. A meeting of
the prominent lumber men was held to-day,
ana after canvasslng the situation carefully
placed the loss to the lumber industry at So
OO0,OOO. All the large sufferers are wealthy and
able to stand the loss. and the failure, if any.
Will be among the lumber commission men.
The merchants are all able to meet their loss
but hope their creditors will not push them for
immediate payment.
The damage up the river is very large At
Renova not less than thirty houses have been
carried away, while the situation at Lock Haven
is deplorable. The bridges on the Beech creek
and Pine creek roads have all been washed
away. The Northern Central is badly damaged
In many places. The river for miles below the
city is lined with logs and sawed timber. At
Loyalsack creek, four miles below here. there
are millions of feet of timber crowded together
with wrecks of barns and bridges Boatmen
have made big wages pulling logs out of the
current to the shore.
AT Sunbury the salvage is so cents log and
in three days one man made Sl75 Some
river.
The feeling of generalization is SO general
here that no attempt has been made to collect
the names of the drowned. At Newbury three
children of Joseph SchultZe. an infant named
Edwards, and an unknown man were drowned.
At other places the dead, so far as known. are
Jacob Mutchler, Calvin Miller. a daughter of
W. ID. Eiterick, and Abraham Fredency and his
son."
Giving Generously to the Sufferers.
Measures for the relief of the stricken people
at Johnstown are being taken all over the
country, and contributions are being gener-
ously made on every hand. Philadelphias sub
scrlptions amount to over 300, 600; New York's
total, according to the Sun, is now S44S ia;
the Massachusetts, legislature has increased its
every prominent city the work of collecting
money, food, and clothing is going actively for
ward
How the Dam Was Built.
The New York SUMS Johnstown special SAYS
that reporter went to the dam at Lake Cone
maugh yesterday, and, examining the ma
sonry found that it consisted merely of dirt.
with light rubble facing. instead of solid ma
sonry, and the waste gates, by which its build
ers designed that its surplus in time of high
water should be run off, are said to have been
permanently closed to save the fish. As to the
dam Itself, there was no massive masonry nor
any technical exhibition of engineering skill in
designing the structure or putting it up.
There was no masonry at ALL in fact nor any
engineering worthy of the name. The dam
was simply gigantic heap of earth dumped
across the course of a mountain stream between
two low hills. 1t was faced Oh each side with a
layer of heavy, rough stone, loosely thrown to-
gether and uncemented. This pile of ear tn
was, as has been stated. about IS feet high and
80 feet thick at the base. At the summit it was
leveied off SO as to be about 20 feet wide, and
a wagon road crossed it. 1t was an ordinary
dirt road and there was no rock or masonry
beneath 1t. The width of the stream at the
bottom of the dam was about 40 feet AT the
top the dam was about 400 feet long. 1t was
built straight across the gap. and neither face
nor back was curved The slopes were about
Z hot Foo aud l,,.l