Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-06-20
rFRoM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT :

created by Governor Beaver for the purpose
of handling the funds for the alienation OF
the distress of the food sufferers arrived
here this morning at o'clock in a special
train, composed of an engine and two Pull
man vestibule cars. They came, saw and
talked. That is, the Governor talked, but
his speech was short and more guarded than
the whisky in some of the officers tents.
The train came from South Fork, and by
order of Governor Beaver il was run down
to the long stone bridge, where the mass OF
debris lies burning in the river. The Gov
ernor got out of his car and was very much
interested in the work of pushing the heavy
logs and timbers out into the channel of the
river.
GOVERNOR BEAVER MUCH AMUSED.
While the Governor was watching the
men working dynamite blast was set off
for his benefit. When the time came to re-
turn to the car he did not want to leave the
spot and upon ascending the steps stated
that he would like to remain there all day
and watch the work.
The train was then ran back to the sta
tion, and under the direction of Adiutant
General Hastings horses were provided for
the party and a tour of the devastated re-
gion was made. The gentlemen then went
through the principal streets of Johnstown
borough, and, crossing the river, passed into
Kernville. Here they found the greatest
destruction. They made their way with
the horses over large piles of debris. and ex-
plored every nook in the town. Such ex-
pressions as "My goodness! How could
water do such damage?" and "Just look at
this obstructionr' could be frequently
heard from the Governor.
The Philadelphians, Messrs. Filter, Og-
den, Reeves and Huber were OF amazed.
They were
SIMPLY SPECIFIES AT TIMES,
when they saw the damage that had been
done. When they came to a spot where
two large two-story frame houses leaned
over against one another until the tops of
the gables almost touched, the sightseers
did not leave the spot for fully five minutes.
After going through the whole town the
commission returned to Johnstown, where
it met the Pittsburg delegation, Messrs
Marvin, Miller and Scott. The latter gen.
tlemen came up in company with Superin-
tendent Pitcairn, who rendered them the
use of special train.
The commission had been sent for by the
meeting, and who wanted to confer with
them. One of the Pittsburg commissioners
objected to running around after the citi-
zens and wanted to know why the latter
could not come to them. The Johustown
people did not look for this, and the MEM
bers of the commission went to dinner in
their car.
SOMETHING OF A MISUNDERSTANDING.
A message had been sent to the citizens of
the town that the Commissioners would ar
rive at 10 o'clock, and meeting was hastily
called to be held in Alma Hall at that hour.
1t was stated that the Governor and his
party would visit the meeting and confer
with the citizens the first thing upon their
arrival. This had the effect of drawing out
q large number of the best citizens of the
town who were desirous of seeing the borough
rebuilt.
The meeting was called to order by CYRUS
Elder, and James Mcmillan acted as Secre-
tary. After organizing a recess was taken
until the Governor and party should ap-
pear. This event did not occur though,
and after waiting two hours a messenger
was sent after the Commission The latter
sent word that they would be on hand with
in an hour, and after waiting awhile longer
the meeting adjourned in disgust
At o'clock the Finance Committee was
lHSlruCbeu 10 Inject Iue commission on board
their train and talk over the situation
Some of the members of the Finance Com
mittee were
A LITTLE BACKWARD.
about getting into the elegant vestibuled
Pullman cars, in which the Commissioners
travelled, but they managed to conceal
their astonishment, and climbed or board.
After the Governor and party had finished |
Il Tha 1
by the Governor The Finance Committee |
OF the town then stated what the needs of |
the people were, and offered suggestions as |
10 the disposition of the money on hand. |
They stated that the best thing to be done |
now, in view of the fact that great por- |
tion of the debris had been cleared away,
was to bring portable houses to the town,
and have them put up for immediate oc- |
cupancy.
The commission, after discussing this |
matter, unanimously agreed to authorize
the purchase of 500 houses and have them |
put together Immediately upon their ar
rival. In addition to purchasing and put |
ting the houses together, they will furnish |
them with the furniture essential to begin |
housekeeping again. This was satisfactory /
to the members of the committee, and after |
fully explaining the situation and what hau /
already been done, the local committee re-
tired.
FUTURE WORK OUTLINED.
After the committee had gone the MEM
bers OF the commission discussed the mat
ter as explained by Adjutant General Hast
1ngs. They outlined their future work, and |
authorized General Hastings to build little
stores fOr the merchants of the town, SO as
to enable them to begin business once more.
A resolution was passed authorizing the use
OF all moneys contributed and all the cash in
81 ght to be spent through the Relief Com |
mittees as the latter saw fit. S. S. Marvin, |
OF Pittsburg, and Mayor Filter, of Phila-
delphia, were appointed a Committee in
their respective cities to transact the bust
ness of the commission. All shipments of |
clothing provisions, etc., must be sent to
General Hastings.
After the meeting of the commission had
Governor Beaver spoke of his
visit about the vicinity, to your correspond
ent. He said:
A TALK FROM THE GOVERNOR.
''I had no idea that the damage was SO
great until made personal inspection of
the whole place. Upon my other visit
here, / did not see enough of the ruins, and
.hen the worst of the desolation escaped nv
observation. The situation since then has
greatly improved, and the work of giving
-elief has progressed nicely. The work of
cleaning up the streets and opening the
-ivers has been carried on more rapidly
han anyone could expect 1 thought It
aardly possible that so much could be done
n two weeks, and the place does not look
ike the same town visited ten DAYS ago.
The situation has been mastered by General
Hastings, and it is only a question of few