The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-06-14
|SlCKENlNG SCENES.
Horrors Increasing as the Work of
Recovery Progresses at
JOhnstown.

ing until q thousand funerals wcrc coursing
their green sides There were no hearses.
few mOurners aud a. little solemntty ~
formality. Tie minority of the collins were
of rough pine. Silently the professions moved
and silently they unl0nded In the lap OF
mo;her earth. No minister Of God was there
to pronounce u last blessing 10 tho clods
rattlcd down, except few faithful priests
who had followed some inan.Ied Representa-
tivcs Of their faith to the gruve All day
long the .oIpses were being hurried below
ground. The unidentified bodtes were
grouped on high hill west Of tbs doomed
city, where one eptaph suited for all. and that
the word Unknown" There arc hundreds
OF these graves already, and each day will
increase the proportion. The possibility os
identification dim.nshcs every hour. Fires
arc raging over the mangled grsYes OF hun
dreds, aud the partial cremation 0f many
bodies is inevitable. Others are becoming 70
blackened in their contuct with the debris
or through qualification that o grinning
skeleton would show IS much resemblance
to the persons in life ON they almost every
stroke OF the pick in some portions Of the
city to-day resulted III the discovery Of an
other victim. Wherever one turns the mel
anchOiy view OF coffin Ia met Every train
into Johnstown was laden with them, the bet
ter ones being accompanied by friends of the
lead. Men could be seen staggering over
the ruins with shining mahogany cnskets OH
their shoulders Several stumbled and fell
into the abcunding pits. Tie hollow houses
Of the dead went bounding over the stones
like drums in funeral ma-ch The coffin
famine appears 10 be nllcviated
THE ENoRMITY OF THE DEVASTATION
Wrought by the Concmaugh flood is bccom-
Ing more and more apparent with every ef-
Tort OF the lab0lerS to resolve order out OF
chaos Over one hundred lnen have been
ali day engaged in an effort to clear q mar
row passage from the death bridge upward
through the sea Of debris that blocks the
Concmaugh for nearly huff ~ mile Every In
Genuty known 10 man las been rcsorted to
ly This crew. The giant power of dynamite
was brought into rsquisltion. and at frc-
qucnt intervals the rour of explosions re-
vcrbcratcd through the valley, and sticks,
stones and logs would fly high in the air
When one reflects that fu lv twenty-five
acres are to be cleared In this
way, the task ahead seems IN
interminuble one. But there Is no roya
road, and if the hundreds or thousands of
be recovered for Christian burial the labo. s
OF to-day must be con.lnL cd with increased
visor IT. is only in Difference to the un,e:.
SonIng mandate of grief that the Herculeau
labor Of clearing the rver by IL ems Of
DYNAMITE AND DERRICK
is prrs:strd III. There is no hone In the
caimcc minds that this task can be pursued
to the end The progress of TO-DAY is hardly
discernable, and ere two more days have
elapsed here is little doubt the emunations
of putiid bodies will have Lecome so irigh;
full rs To drive the hardiest workman from
the scene. Until that time arrives
however. there is no hope tEat this grief
striken populace will abandon the CHERISHED
hope of again gazing upon the forms o. the
loved once whose lives went ou' i'll the tire
and flood of the Conclnaugh The work OF:
clearing mp the wreck and recovering the
bodies is now hc.ng conduc cd most
Systematically. Over six thousand men ale
at work in the various portions of the
valley, and each little gang of twenty men
Is directed by u foreman who is under orders
from the general headquarters. As the rub :
Dish iS gone over, md the bodies and scat
tered articles Of va'ue recovered, the debris
is piled up in one high mass anf the torch
applied In this way the valley is assuming
a less devastated condition.
LONG DEATH LIST.
Conservative men are of the opinion that
the nEmber of people destroyed will reach
from 1000 to 10000 This view OF it is
based on many fragments of evidence OBJ
tanned from over one bundled citizens, bc-
ing careful to select q. Intelligent men
and women as could be found They
were chosen from us many occupations
as possible and from US many social classes
They were osked to estimate the pcicentH"e
of loss to tho total population, to tell how
many people of their acquaintance have
Disappeared. and how the gathering of RESI-
dents on the streets nnd in public places
compare with the sume in former times
Their statements of fact and estimates were
proved us far as possible, and the pendulum
of calculation seems to be beating time
when it swings from 10000 to l5.OOO. IL
must be RENE nbered that very ia:gc pro-
lortion of this loss is made up of children
Being lighter and smaller thcv nave been
swept into out of the way rcce.s"s
ani are almost inaccessible, and they
are more easi!y carried away. The
diifs OF opinion among intelligent men,
physicians engineers and railroad men. is
that from !. 1000 to l 800 OF the Lodes will
u
taken from he debris in front Of the Gatho-
lie church in Johmstown borough About
forty of tn. bodies were those of women.
They were Immediately removed to the
mOrguc for Identification Eve bodies we're
taken out of the wreckage near D!bcrt's
bank on Main street this morning Miss
Clara Barton of Washington, d. G.. the orig
initor of what is known rs the led Cross
corps, known all over the world, arrived
here this morning aud will ut once assume
charge OF all female relief corps
MANY IN WANT.
Notwithstanding the fact that nearly every
prominent city in the Cnited States is raising
fund for the relief of Conemaugh Auiercrs
the wants OF the homeless and afflicted are
far from bring all.v,ateL At the various
relief stations today crowds of appii-
can,s was continuous from morning
ul night. aud many of the needy
were forced to wait in line for
hours before their turn came and their lit. lie
portion was allotted out to them. Hundreds
Of thousands of dollars must pour into this
stricken valley II positive suffering and
privation in to be avoided. Thousands OF
people are homeless, and in these devastated
homes thousands also last their all.
Labor ami manufacturing Of nearly
every Kind liz At stands'ili in the
wiley. and weeks or months must Glapsc be-
fore the Cambria Iron works and other in
duslrfal institutions can possiniy resume and
give employment to the thousands that de
pend upon them for support Teegraphic
expressions OF commiseration a'a
borough throughout the broad land,
but substantial evidences of sympathy ar c
sadly wanting 1t is not possible that while
people rcRd, wonder and pity every man
expects his nc!ghbor to give. or thinks that
ere his donation would arrive in the valley
nc:ual necessity would he at IN end. The
mayor OF Johnstown to-day received by
c1blc copy CT resolutions adopted at
pubic meeting to-day III Par.s, Fiancc
The warm -hcnrtcd Parisians express their
Gecp sympathy with tho homeless and al
flicted Ot the COncmausn valley. aId state
!ha. subscriptions have been opened in vari-
ous quarters Of the republic for the relief OF
their American nrighLuis.
IDENTIFIED BODIES
Two hundred bodies we're recovered from
inc ruins to-day. Some were identified. bat
the great majority were not This number
Included NIL the mcrgucs. the nnc
at the Pennsylvania railroad station,
the Fourth ward school, Cambria City,
Morreiville. Krrnville and the prcshy-
able state CT affairs exists. The lirst floor
has been washed out completely. aud
the second. while submerged. WAS badly
damaged, but not ruined. The walls, floors
and news were drenchcd, ana III" mud hes
collected on the matting and carpc.S an inch
dep Walking s attended with much
difficulty aud tho undertaken ami assistants
with arms barred, side about the slippery
surface at n tremendous rate. The ciianc.l
is II led with collins. strips of muslin, boards
and nil undertaking. occesnOics. Lynn"
across the tops of the pnws are
dozen pm. boxes. each containing u
victim oi the foot Printed cards are lacked