Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-06-15

not know at what moment the structure
would melt away under the train. The
conductor kept tugging at the bell rope,
and the train shot ahead again. We
seemed to fairly leap over the yellow tor
rents, and | wondered for an instant
whether we had not left the rails. My
heart gave a bound of relief when we
dashed into the forest on the hillside op-
posite the doomed town. As we
sped along at a rate that made
me think the engineer had gone
mad, ! took one look back. The
.pOpulous valley for miles either
way was a seething, roaring caldron,
through whose boiling surface roofs Of
houses and the the standpipes of mills
protrudei. The water was fairly piled
up in a wall farther up, and ! saw the
worst had not yet come. Then | turned
my eyes away from the awful sight and
tried not to even think until Pittsburg
was reached. The water came so quickly
that escape from the low districts was
impossible. People retreated to the up
| per floors Of their residences and stores
until the water had gotten too deep to
allow their escape. When the big flood
came the houses were picked up like
~pasteboard boxes or collapsed like egg
shells. The al vance of the flood was
black with houses, logs and other debris,
SO that it struck Johnstown with the
solid force Of a battering ram. None
but eye witnesses of the flood can COM
prehend it's size and awfdlness as it came
tumbling, roaring down upon the unpro-
tected town."
EVERY HOUSE A HOSPITAL.
KERNvrLLE, Pa, June 4.-Every house
in this town is a public hospital. The
citizens who escaped with their lives and
whose houses have rot been destroyed
have thrown open their doors
and invited the sick and injured
to come in. The Kernville cemetery
presents a terrible sight. The rushing
waters washed open many of the graves.
Skeletons and partly decomposed bodies
are exposed to view in broken or rotted
caske:s.
FEARS o THEIR FRIENDS
WATERLOO, Ia, June 4.-Dr. Bickey
and j. X. Jader left Yesterday morning
for Johnstown, Pa. Mr.. Jader wen: to
hunt for his sister, Mrs. w. c. Leuber,
who was reported drowned tonight.
However, a dispatch was received telling
of her safety Mr.. Buckley goes 10
look for relatives OF his wife. A large
percentage Of the people at Orange town
ship, in this county, are from Cambria
and Somerset counties, and nearly every
person in the township has relatives at
Johnstown. Great excitement prevails
and news is eagerly awaited.
NEBRASKA PEOPLE LOST.
CLAY CENTER, Neb June ed.
Davis, sheriff of Clay county. received a
telegram from Johnstown, Pa, yester-
day notifying him that his mother and
his wife's brother and family were
among the lost. Mr.. Davis and wife
started for the scene of the great disaster
this evening.
HAD RELATIVES HER
COLUMBUS, Neb., June 4.-Dr. G.. d.
Evans, of this city, received a telegram
yesterday announcing the death Of his
sister, her three children and her husband
in the Johnstown disaster. He expects,
to receive at any moment the sad news Of
the loss Of other relations, as a number
were living there. The sympathy Of the
entire community is extended TO him.
DIVA WILL HELP.
Dies MONIES, Ia, June 3.-Governor
Larrabee has issued a proclamation call
ing on the people Of Iowa and all organi-
cations to contribute money for the relief
of the Jobnstown sufferers. Contribu-
tons should be sent to State Treasurer
Twombly who will forward the same to
Governor Beaver.