Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1889-06-07
THE AWFUL DELUGB.
JohnstOwn and Other PsnnsyI-
vania Villages Swept
Away.
! Ten to Fifteen Thousand People
Gone to Eternity
Press Dispatches.

1II5bUhess i As . uL6 IA uIBtAS-
ter unparalleled in the history of the
country is the bursting of the great
reservoir Cd Conemaugh Greek, which
flooded the little city of Johnstown,
and swept away thousands Of people
to their death, and millions Of dollars
of property to destruction.
At2 o'clock this morning the re-
ports of the loss of life are appalling,
and the distress of the survivors some
thing terrible. The latest estimates
show that the loss Of life will be be-
tween 10000 and $4,000 persons. Vii
lagos and towns have been swept
away and whole families drowned.
The bodies of thousands will never
be identified
The most peculiar phase of the &C
cident was the refusal of the people
to believe in the danger that threat
ened them, and when the trouble
came death came with it and met no
obstacle. Johnstown and the sur
rounding villages are as completely
effaced as If they had never existed,
and few of their inhabitants live to
tell their names. The most horrible
of all the horrible scenes was the
burning of nearly 700 helpless ones
while piteously holding to the wreck
age above the Johnstown bridge for
safety.
JOhnstown is situated in Cambria
county, Pennsylvania, about fifty
miles a little south of due east of
Pittsburg. The town is built at the
confluence of Conemaugh and Stony
creeks, over the former of which is
the massive COnemaugh viaduct some
miles up the stream towards Cresson.
Johnstown is the seat of the great
Cambria iron works, owned by An
drew Carnegie & Co., and has about
10000 inhabitants.
The calamity was as singular as it
was fatal It is now very evident
that more lives were lost because of
foolish increduality than from ig-
norance of the danger. For more
than a year there have been fears of
an accident of Just such a character.
The foundations of the dam were con
sidered to be shazy early last spring,
and many leakages were reported
from time to time, according to peO-
pie who live at Johnstown and other
towns on the line of the river. Ample
time was given to the Johnstown
folks by the officials and other gen
tlemen of standing and reputation.
In dozens, yes, hundreds Of cases
this warning was utterly disregarded,
and those who needed it early in the
day were looked upon as towards,
and many jeers were uttered.
A special to the ST. Joseph Mo-
Herald sums up the results of the
awful accident as follows:
JoHNsTowN, PA, June "A nearer
view only discloses new horrors OF
the disaster. The first party of res
cuers, with newspaper men and tele-
/
town this morning, and the whole day
has passed in realizing what has only
been family described. JOhnstOWn
is wrecked. Few houses that remain
in the little city are habitable. Bodies
of men, women and children are
found in every conceivable position IN
the wreckage. House upon house
was visited, where whole families were
drowned at home together In the
telegraph Office the manager and all
the operators were drowned in their
places. Some of the bodies are bruis-
ed and mangled by the tossing of the
stream. Thousands will find graves
/. and their names will never be dis
covered, because those who claimed
kindred with them met the same fate
The remOrseless waters made no dis
tinctiOn on account of race. color Oh
condition, but all went to their long
rest together, with friends and rela-
tives around them and no power tC
avert the calamity.
Out of 1,500 people at WOOdville
only six have escaped to tell where the
town was. At Cambridge City anC
COnemaugh Borough, people anC
houses have disappeared together
Even the Wreckage is so slight as t.
scarcely mark the site of the town
p In a lesser degree the same thing MAJ
be said of South Fork, Mineral Point
Franklin. and other towns In tn,
vicinity. All have been included il
the devastation.
The work of rescuing the bodies i
l progressing rapidly, but the lack o
means of Identification leaves th0us
S ands of people in doubt as to whethe
1 they have lost near and dear ones by
: the flooding. of the district