Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-06-10
READ THIS APPEAL.

No calamity Of modern times in the
civilized world has exceeded that which
has befallen the people of Pennsylvania.
The results of the disastrous floods
that have swept the valleys of the Cone
maugh end the Susguehanna are so
appalling that the human mind cannot
take in the full scope of the terrible
realities.
The corpses of our citizens form one
long trail of death from the slopes of the
Alleghenies to the valley of the Ohio.
Cities, towns and villages that were filed
with many happy homes and teeming
with busy industries have been swept
from the face of our commonwealth, and
those of their occupiers who have
escaped, only with life, are desolate and
afflicted beyond the most compassionate
power of tongue or pen to describe.
They literally sit among their ruins, and
beside their dead, broken hearted and
starving.
Shall Lancaster county, whom God
has blessed as few spots on the earth are
blessed, stop short of Il mighty effort to
assuage the bitterness of this calamity?
To look upon your homes desolate, the
sacred associations of altar and fireside
blOtted out i'm an instant of time, the
hard-earnings of Il lifetime swept away
in the twinkling ofa eye, would he sad,
indeed. But add to it the horrible
thought that the lives of those who
made existence endurable who awaited
| the return of weary steps from wearying
toll with the smile of welcome, the prat-
| tie of the dear child, the kind and sooth-
| ing voice of the true and loving wife the
manly form of the strong armed hus-
band father and brother, that the fear
ful reaper of death should have taken
these, too, in the awful catacIysm of ma
ture.
The heart almost stops its beating in
the presence of the dreadful import Of
| these facts,
We can only do little to assuage the
heavily on our commonwealth. The
law has put it out of the power of the
state to grant the aid she would willingly
bstow. Let us then do our part like
men and women to whom God has given
pitying hearts and noble impulses.
| The ten thousand corpses in the valley
of the Conemaugh are ten thousand mute
appeals rs you aud us. They have
passed beyond our helping hands to the
! tender care of Him "whose mercy en-
durcth forever" But there are little
children crying for bread there are
weak women Scantily clad, exposed to
! the pitiless elements ; there are strong
men broken hearted and in despair
! Look into the faces of your families.
Look out upon your smiling acres, to
whom the same rain brought plentiful
hurvests that to those uufortunates dealt
death and destruction, and say if it is in
| your heart, Ia refuse to share your abund-
auce with their terrible and piteous
wants.
| Lancaster county ought to give twenty
five thousand dollars to these relief
funds. And we feel that only lack of the
proper effort will prevent the increasing
of the SlO,0o0 sent by us already to that
sum. The mayor of the city of Lancas-
ter and the various National banks of
the city and county will gladly become
repositories for all contributions, but
that is not enough. In this great crisis
earnest men must rise up in every conf
munity who will set on foot organized
methods for the securing and collecting
of this money, and we recommend and
urge that the school directors of every
school district throughout the county of
Lancaster forthwith organize and solicit
subscriptions for this object. To be ef-
| fective, this work should be completed,
and report made to the mayor of Ian
caster not later than Saturday, June IL.
| Organization, and organization alone,
can sound promptly the depths OF
the charity which Lancaster county can
throw into the laps of these suffering
communities. Therefore, let all be up
and doing, for the moments are precious,
aud the necessities beyond computation.
All contributions received from every
source will be acknowledged through
the public press.
BY order OF the Lancaster City Relief
committee.
EDWARD EpoERIEY, Mayor
je5-atd