River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-06-06
UNPARALLELED.
Johnstown's Calamity the Worst
Known in American History.
THE DEATH.WAVE'S LIST OF VICTIMS
Its Number Estimated at from 5000 to
I2,OOO-Johnstown and Its Neighbour
ing villages Annihilated-Seeneso of
Horror. -Relict Measures.
THE GREAT DISASTER.

1 Ids JutAc uouednelb VI
lives have been lost in TIE floods around
this city
Johnstown. a .ty of 5000 inhabitants,
has been practically wiped out of existence,
and between 5000 and 1900 lives have
been lost
The town of Conemaugh is submerged
The Pennsylvania railroad is submerged
for distance of thirty miles
Reports from Tyrone, in Central Pennsyl-
vania, are that the town is submerged.
Clearteld, in the north central section, is
flooded
Dubois is reporte destroyed
Parkersburg, w. Va, reports great dam
ages and some lives lost
Cambria City, lying half-mile outside of
Johnstown. was also inundated
A dam at the foot of a mountain lake
eight miles long and three miles wide
about eighteen miles up the valley of the
South Fork of the Conemaugh river broke
at O'Clock Friday afternoon, Just as it was
struck by a waterspout and the whole
tremendous volume of water swept in a
resistless avalanche down the mountain
side, making its own channel until it
reached the South Fork of the Conemaugl,
swelling it to the proportions of Niagara
I rapids.
The flood swept to the Conemaugh like a
tidal wave over twenty feet in height. and
onward TO Johnstown six or eight miles be-
low Gathering force as it tore along the
wider channel it quickly swept every
thing before it Houses, factories and
bridges were overwhelmed in the twink
ling of an eye, and with their human occu-
pants were carried in Il vast chaos down the
| raging torrent
THE DEADLY DAN.
In order TO understand the nature Of this
| calamity il is necessary to describe the re-
spective locations of the reservoir and
| Johnstown. The reservoir lies about
eighteen mi es northeast of Johnstown,
and is the site of the old reservoir which
was one of the feeders of the Pennsyl-
vania canal 1t is the property of a num-
Der of wealthy gentlemen in Pittsburgh,
who formed themselves into an association,
the title of which is the South Fork Fishing
| Club This sheet of water was former
| ~ known as Conemaugh lake. 1t is
from 200 to 800 feet above the level
of Johnstown, being in the mountains Il
is about three miles and q half long and
from a mile to mile and a quarter in
width, and in some places it is 100 feet in
depth 1t holds more water than
any other reservoir, natural or arti-
fetal, in the United States The lake
has been quadrupled in size by artificial
I luGans anu WAS HSlu III CltCh ny u ddul fbo
| TO / 900 feet wide IL is 80 feet in thickness
at the base and the height is 10 feet The
top has breadth of over % feet.
Recognizing the menace which the lake
had to the region below the South Fork
club had the dam inspected once a
month by the Pennsylvania railroad
engineer, and the investigation showed
that nothing less than some con-
vulsion of nature would tear the
barrier away and loosen the weapon
of death. The steady rains of the
last forty eight hours increased the
volume of water in all the small mount
ain streams, which were already swelled
by the lesser rains earlier in the week.
From the best information obtained at this
time it is evident that something in the
nature o. a cloud burst must have been the
elimination of the struggle of tie water
against the embankment
OTHER TOWNS DESTROYED.
Four miles below the dam lay the town
I of South Fork. where the South Fork itself
empties into the Conemaugh river. The
town contained about 1000 inhabitants.
1t has not been heard from, but it is said
that four fifths of it has been swept away.
Four miles farther down on the Cone
maugh river. which runs parallel with the
main line of the Pennsylvania railroad was
habitants 90 per cent of the houses being
/ on a fiat and close to the river 1t seems
I impossible at this time to hope that any of
! them have escaped
Six miles further down was the town of
Conemaugh, and here alone was there a
Typographical possibility, the spreading of
the flood and the breaking of its force. 1t
contained {, 800 inhabitants and must be al
most wholly devastated
Woodvale, with 1900 people, lays a mile
below Conemaugh in the fiat, and one
mile further down were Johnstown and
I its cluster of sister towns - Cambria
City and Conemaugh borough with
a total population of $1,000. On the
made ground and stretched along right at
| the river verge were the immense iron
works of the Cambria Iron and Steel Com
pany, which has 81 O00. 600 invested in the
| plant Besides this there many other
1 large industrial establishments on the bank
| of the river.
At Coketown, a village of several hun
/ bred inhabitants, the houses are almost
entirely covered and great many dwell
/ fIrgs at Blairsville are submerged.
Scarcely a dwelling in the vicinity of
/ Sang Hollow can be seen. The bridges at
/ Bolivar and Nineva, it is reported, have
1 given away and that at Salisbury, it is
1 feared, will be carried away
IL is estimated that 1900 citizens of
| Johnstown and its immediate vicinity per-
/ ished The towns of South Fork, Mineral
/ Point Conemaugh, Woodvale, Cambria City
and other places, having from 1000
/ to 1900 inhabitants, were completely
/ devastated. and hundreds of their citizens
/ carried down by the torrent to be tossed
/ lifeless upon the banks and partly buried in
| debris Such fearful destruction as was
occasioned within thirty miles from
! the dam to the town of New
/ Florence has never before been
| recorded The stone bridge of the Penn
sylvania Railroad Company just below
JOhnstown withstOod the tremendous flood
| and against its piers was thrown a
mass of wreckage, 20 which per-
| haps 1000 human beings were cling1ng
! tenaciously for life. Portions of house
4 after house were added to this drift
/ which became an immense dam. Even
! bridges, freight cars and locomotives were
/ lodged there. Then to the horror of the
| flood was added that of fire, which was
\ communicated to the debris from a stove,
and many who had hoped for succor from
| the waters were burned to death
The magnitude of the catastrophe can
| not now be approximately stated The de-
vastation in the entire region is so COM
| plete as to prevent access to the desolate
and heartbroken survivors, and the prop
erty loss is incalculable. Watchers
line the banks of the rivers recov-
ering bodies Villages below JohnstOwn
have become charnal houses. all points an
nouncing numbers of dead left by the re-
ceding flood Several trains on the Penn
| sylvania railroad were overtaken by the
rising waters and some passengers, stran-
gers to the locality, lost their lives in
the excitement which prevailed In Johns
town and neighboring places whole fami-
lies were swept away together. The scene
of utter desolation the deeds of heroism
and the lamentations of those unable to
learn tidings of loved ones make pathetic
I story. but it is married by the deplorable
fact that the ghouls who escaped the flood
robbed the dead bodies of valuables
Home corpses were taken from the
river near Pittsburgh and others at long
distances from the point where the disaster
occurred
Movements for the relief of survivors,
who are in need of all comforts of life,
have been made promptly by Federal, State
and municipal authorities and by in
diviuuals
HOW THE FLOOD CAME
At 1 o'clock Friday afternoon, Just before
the wires went down east of Sang Hollow,
the operator az South Fork telegTaphed
Sang Hollow that the great South Fork dam
was about TO burst The next call over the
wire for South Fork got no answer The
wires acre down
An bour Iatar there came "A rush of water