Evening journal., 1889-09-10
DR.. BeALE ON JoHNsTowN.
A Thrilling Recital of His Personal EK-
perience In the Disaster.

perience IN I ne Dls0stcrs
West Presbyterian Church was flBed
to its doors last evening, by audience
who listened with rapt attention to a
recital of personal experiences in the
Johnstown disaster by the Rev.
David ]. Beale, D. D. DR. Beale is pas
tor of the Johnstown Presbyterian
Church. He is we'll known in Delaware,
having been pastor of the Presbyterian
Church at st. Georges for a term of
years.
DR.. Lafayette Marks, pastor of Han
over Presbyterian Church, presided.
and the meeting was opened by
hymn, and the offering OF
Marks introduced Dr. Beale in few
words, and the man who has done more
probably than anyone else in cheering
and giving heart and succor to the sur
vivors of the catastrophe, started out and
gave a graphic, thrilling and eloquent
account Of the food and its horrors, that
held the audience for an hour and a
half. The address was full Of pathos, re-
plete with thrilling or touching incidents
of the food or its aftermath, and brought
tears to the eyes. of many of the audience.
Doctor Beale has vein of humor and
relieved the strain on the audience by
relating laughable and humorous incl
dents.
DR.. Beale is man Of fine physical de-
velopment and kindly presence. He has
a small head and smooth shaven face.
His hair is gray, but his smile is bright
and his face young.
He first described the city as it was be-
fore the food, it's situation and its i'm
mense iron industries Then he told how
the rain fell on the night of Decorate
Day and the day following, coming down
in deluge until the water in the
rivers overlooked its banks and
stood two feet deep in the main street in
the highest part of the city. There
were three elements, said the doctor,
chat 20 to make freshets in the Coma
maugh river dangerous. The Pennsyl
vania railroad did wrong thing to take
away an iron bridge and put up stone
arch not large enough to carry away
surplus of water. The Cambria
Iron Company, by encroaching on the
river narrowed its banks to an extreme
limit, but no lives would have been lost
had it not been for the lake OF
the mountain side. beautiful
lake that looked as if natural
The waste ways were stopped
rains rose and the water ran over tn,
breast dam, taking away eight feet o.
earth, then the rock was carried away
and it burst 1t came with a cres
ninety feet deep. and three miles o
water pushing behind it, and what coulC
withstand itf'
81 want to deny the reports in the
papers that we were warned. Do Vol
think we would have stayed If we ha,
been? Do you think the Pennsylvania
railroad would have left two vestibul
trains in danger if they had. expected it
when two miles back there was safety
II was impossible for a modern Pau
Revere to 60 down the street. The waite
was so deep we could not have heard tn
clatter of his horses hoofs. There was NJ
road to ride down tho valley. | know tn
reporter who wrote it up. He is a goo,
fellow. He told me he was well paid 70
it too, and asked me not to say mucl
about it,
After the address DR.. Marks suggested
a collection to assist Dr. Beale in replac
lug his library. This amounted to tn
muni6cent sum Of $67. But that did no
deter the doctor from dismissing tn
audience with his benediction.