The Delta independent., 1889-06-04
The Mighty Reservoir Which Cost
such Great Destruction.

dozens, and people can he seen cllng1nK to the
roofs.
At Camptown, village of several hundred
inhabitants, the houses are almost entirely
covered, and great many dwellings at
Blairsville are submerged.
Scarcely building in the vicinity Of Sang
Hollow can be seen.
The bridges at BOLIVIA and Minerva, it is re-
ported, have given way, and that ut suitsburg
it is feared will be carried away.
Al = point near New Florence IS persons
have been seen floating down the river on
drif.wood.
One report comes that but two rosfs of
houses in Johnstown can be seen.
The Covetown and New Florence bridges
have been washed away and all buildings
along the conemaugh between New Florence
and Johnstown have been carried away.
The railway towers have been abandoned
by the operators.
Superintendent Pitcairn promptly took
charge of the railroad and of the work and
began the double duty Of clearing the tracks
and sending all aid to those In danger. His
prompt work, no doubt. saved many lives.
NATURE OF THE CALAMITY.
In order to understand the nature Of this
calamity it is necessary to describe the loea-
ton of the reservoir ct Johnstown. The
reservoir lies about 1s miles northeast of
Johnstown, and 10 the site OF an old reservoir
which was one OF the feeders of the Pennsyl-
vania canal. This sheet of water was former.
ly known as Conemaugh lake. It's from 200
to 800 feet above the level Of Johnstown, be-
ing in the mountains. 1t ID about thres and
half miles long aud from mile TO mile
and quarter in width and in some places II
than any other reservoir, natural or artificial,
in the United States; the lake has been quad.
rupled in size by artificial means and was
held in check by dam 700 to !. 900 feet wide.
It il 90 feet in thickness at the base and the
height is ITO feet. The top has breadth Of
over 20 feet.
VAIN PREcAurroN.
Recognizing the menace which the lake
presented to the region below, the South Fork
Club, which owned the reservoir, had the dam
inpected once . month by Pennsylvania rail-
road engineers and their Investigation showed
that nothing less than some oonvulsion of ma
ture would tear the barrier away and loosen
the weapon Of death.
The steady rains of the past 4s hours in
creased the volume of water In all small
mountain streams, which were already swell.
ed by lesser rains earlier in the week. From
the information obtained at this time it is
evident that something in the nature of
cloudburst must have been the elimination
of the struggle Of water against the embank-
mant.
The difficulty Of obtaining definite infor..
nation has added tremendously to the excite.
meHt and the apprehension of people who had
relatives aud friends at the scene of the dis.
aster.
THE TOWNS IN DANGER.
The course of the torrent from the broken
dam at the foot of the lake to Johnstown is
almost Is miles and with the exception Of
one point the water passed through o narrow
v shaped valley. Four miles below the dam
lay the town of south Fork, where the South
Fork itself enipties into Conemaugh River.
The town contained about 1900 Inhabitants.
II has not been heard from, but II is said that
four.fiftlis Of 1t has been swept away.
Four miles further down on the Conemaugh
river. which runs partly PARALLEL with the
main line Of Pennsylvania Railroad. was the
town Of Mineral Point. It had 800 inhabit-
ants, 90 per cent. Of the houses being on fat
and close to the river. Itseems impossible at
this time to hopethat any Of them have sscap.
ed.
Six miles further down was the town Of
Conemaugh, and here alone there was . top.
ogrsphical possibility Of the nood breaking it,
force. II contained $500 Inhabitants, aud
must be wholly devasted.
Woodvale, with 1900 people, lay mile
bslow Concmaugh in . fat, aud one mile
further down was Johnstowa and IL cluster
Of sister towns.
On made ground and stretched along the
right 1t the rivers verge were the immense
ironworks of the Csmbris Iron and Stesl
Company, who have e5,000,Oo0 Invested In
their plant. Besides this there are a,asy other
large industrial establishments On the banks
ofths river. How badly they ars dasuassd
eannot sow be estimsted.
Prrmsuso. Pa. June Lila tAis city "
day there wss but ess topic u ssavsssatios