The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-11
THF VALLEY OF DEATH.
u.r MAY BE SEEN IN a TRIP
THROUGH JOHNSTOWN.

,,da VIII Not Oblirerate the Traces.
From the ST. Louis Republic.
c-,o,Go. Ill, Sept. "A trip over the
p.rn.vlvania railroad just now IS pecu-
= 80 interesting. Johnstown is, of course,
Ia i,-.,sin point of interest. Hardly does a
ln' orrve at Altoona before there is
g passengers for the rear cars. An
'.'--,,ation car is attached to the regular
s..i,g express from New YORK. The
- limited has a saloon car at its end.
-. sit upon the back platform,
mich mas a high brass railing, and are
'.onnad at the doors and windows All
,vious to see the scene of the greatest
i:sog+ar that ever happened upon this CONT
w. for more lives we're lost in the Cone
-.o,,h valley in June last than in any of
.sa bloody battles of the late war.
Tho train pulls out Of the Altoona depot
o,Iiatlv. There is no weird footing of
tba whistle Up the steep grade among the
Ia crorCes of the Alleghanies the coaches
vi drT7oIIv ascend The dark green noun
ore hs+hed in sunshine. Long clouds
efh1ack smoke trail from the stack of the
' VI locomotive The craggY peaks
are TartIv hidden under the dark hemlock
foliage. Up the hills you climb, turning
the n31uts Of startling preclplces ana SKIRT
ING ravines so deep that the rays OF the sun
narelv penetrate them. You reach the
tortbarn caulk of the great Horseshoe Bend
II &c several hundred feet lower than its
-oo1a in clear sight on the right. The huge
Uors4 shoe with its blazing coke ovens at
+ba TON and its tile lake at the frog of the
boof arouses universal interest.
I. Higher vet the train ascends, and blacker
+raiIs the smoke from the locomo i've. The
smoke wraps the peaks In Its folds, and IS
dissiuated in the atmosphere above the
curves Glow you. The gorges grow deeper.
The coaches on the regular train are see2
below the bend climbing the mountain in
vour wake. Suddenly the magnificent
scenery is shut from view by plunge into
a LONG dark tunnel From the back plat
form Won watch the light at the entrance
oroyy smaller and smaller until it is dimmed
By the smoke and finally disappears. Five
rninutes mass before the train emergeS into
daylight. A few moments later and it is
at Cresson Springs, the summit of the Ale
ghanies. It's magnificent hotel is partly
Concealed in a park of surprising beauty.
The lawns, paths and the beds of exquisite
flowers are greeted with EXPLANATIONS of
delight.
The coaches begin to roll down the west
ern slope. A crystal stream dashes through
n small defile on the right. Its wa ers reach
the Gulf of Mexico through the Cone
maugh, the Allegheny, the Ohio and MIS-
sissippi rivers. 1t joins the Conemaugh
some distance below and trickles through
iilfated Johnstown. A little depot next
appears in a nest of houses on the left.
A ign above the door informs you that it
is the village Of South Forks. 1t nestles at
the base of a mountain cone. The dam
that did all the damage was the other side
of the cone The flood struck the gorge in
which we are running a little distance be-
low the village. Looking back from tile
left, beyond the jul iction of tne ravines,
you see part of the torn dam.
THE SCENE BELOW THE DAM.
The slope below it looks as though it had
been swept by the rapids of the Niagara.
TIE earth is heaved into ridges and scanned
with sand until the junction is reac ed
Further downward rolls the train. The
valley swerves to the right and becomes a
rocky dehle. 1t makes snort angles and
takes serpentine twists The railroad re-
peatedly crosses the stream. All its bridges,
including one nearly 100 feet high, were
carried away. Temporary wooden struc-
lures span the gaps, while squads of work
ingmen below are cutting stone for more
permanent spans. The rocks in the canyoss
are secured and SCARED by the action of
the flood. Great uprooted trees and the
frames of houses and barns are left in the
eddies and upon sharp turns in the lodges.
Huge mounds Of refuse are banked below
US.
Three miles away, and the valley again
widens. The ground is torn up, pparen ",
by the teeth OF a gigantic harrow, and the
vale looks as though it had been sowed
with paving stones. Houses fringing the
hillside mark the site of the hamlet above
Johnstown. Its heart was torn away. Two
new frame dwellings stand in the debris.
The railroad runs through the center of the
vale on prepared ridges. They were washed
away at the time Of the disaster. The de-
VISITATION Is so great that it is hard to find
the bed of the stream. The vale, however,
is being cleared. Scores Of teams and hun
dreds of laborers are at work on each side
OF the track. Temporary switch tracks run
out lnto the debris and are used in clearing
away the refuse. The tents of the laborers
gleam like huge mushrooms among the
trees on the side of the hill. The pick and
the shovel are il use everywhere, and the
hammer and saw are at work as the space
is cleared.
JohnstoNn heaves in sight from the left
A murmur OF establishment from those il
the rear CT is heard. Buildings, brick
and frame, are standing appar emily uni :
lured. You quickly see, however, that it
Is only the upper part of the town, mile
or more above the railroad viaduct, where
the flood " as damned. The houses are on
the lett bank of the stream where the
ground is high and where the force of the
water was much less than below. They
were entirely beyond the rush of the back
water which began at the stone bridge.
Ragged brick buildings and the Quilted
dwellings, appear in the outskirts of what is
lett And then there is clean sweep
Gown to the vladuct. Everything is gone
Inc tract Is a complete level. Men are
working like bees to prepare foundation
Tor new city.
CITY OF TENTS.
Ahere is city of tents upon a shaded
plateau above the town. The tents have
lost their brightness. They look old and
uirty. A grand army veteran might fancy
mat one of Q A. P. HIPS brlgades was
campld there.
AS you shoot down the valley the view is
hidden by long lines of freight cars await
ing a chance to climb the slope. There are
eAciamatlons of Impotence among the in
eesnsely observant passengers. The last rays
VI 0Ae setting sun are crowniag the hills.
AZ Intervals the travellers catch glimpses
VI men quitting work, for the DAYS
work is done Twenty seconds more and
you are whisked over the fatal viaduct. II
y small stone fridge, only three spans.
iou get glance at the desolation above
you, and that is all. No trace of the deadly
ueorls packed above the vi duct by the
pressure of the current is left. the air,
however, seems tainted with the horror.
nue faint undoubtedly comes from what