New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-05
EARLY part Of the day was a bodv


along the embankment he came upon a heap of
human skeletons. By the pieces of clothing re-
| naming upon them, he identified them as those
Of his wife and five of his children. He stood
there in q stricken way, saying half inaudihly:
Yes they are mine, but one is missing
| The old man was a pteous sight in his help
| lesSness. With bowed head, he looked at the
bodies and said nothing except when some one
| asked him to identify some articles. The mother
| held the body OF q baby claSped in her arms,
| while the other children lay close about her, rs
! II they had died cngng to her The man fol
! lowed the bodies in silence they were carried
| TO the embonkment When they had been la1d
| side by side he sat near them fearless and voice
less. waiting till he should get coffins for them.
In some places charred leg sticks up between
timbers or twisted pieces OF iron, the body being
| buried from sight. In burned shoe will be the
! remains Of foot a few feet away skull and
| on all sides are headless trunks and separated
| limbs. As the bodies discovered they are COW
cred with some scorchcd sheet or ruined pieces Of
! clothing and left for Identification. BY the side
| OF them are heaped whatever articles may assist
friends to recognize the remains OF the dead rcC-
pie. Among the ruins are seen things which are
scarcely injured at all
4 drummcr's travelling hng was found in the
handkrchefs, articles OF underwear and the like
in perfect preservation. Whole sets Of crocliery
have been found unniured in the midst of crushed
timbe-s. twisted iron and the ashes of dead men,
Upon a body burned to an unrecOgnizabh mass OF
cinders lay q photograph Of n young man. The
picture might have been taken from an album, for
on it were no traces OF food fire. Under
a shattered and burned house, wherein lay the
ashes Of two persons. were found live chickens
unharmed. 1t seems likely that there are hundreds
OF bodies beneath the ruins which can never be
taken out
As house after house came down the food and
dashed against the bridge, one piled upon the
other until the towering mass caught fire and
made six acres Of burning tomb. The lower
buildings perhaps not burned at all, and the
people in them crushed 10 death or drowned,
the houses being forced under the water by the
hundreds OF tons OF weight above them Could
the bodies be cot out from underneath the ruins
they might be identified. but as soon as the jam
breaks through the bridge they will be swept
down the river, for there are several feet Of
water beneath the charred wreckage. and the
river runs u torrent This makes investigation
among the ruins dangerous.
II is now thought that it will be necessary TO
blow up what is left OF the mass with dynamite
to start the wreck down stream. aS the hundreds
Of bodies beneath IL which were not burned send
up horrible stencil, threatening the health Of
those working on that side OF the river. II this
is done some Of the bodies will be taken out
further down the stream. AT present this is the
scene OF the most active operations
Guards still stand at the street crossings at all
hours and men are not allowed TO pass through
the lines without permission. The effect OF dis
cipline is beginning 10 he felt, for the people
arc losing their listless indifference, and there
begins TO he shown little system in the work
OF recovering and identifying the bodies, proyid-
ing for the wants Of those who have lost every.
thing they possessed, and making the streets
IaSSahle The Citizens Relief Committee is do.
ing much good work, but great deal Of energy
is misdirectHd. Many people have poured into
town and have volunteered their services. They
stand around among the people willing 10 be Of
use, but are utterly incapable. There many
people here 20 keep order and 10 take care OF
the injured and sick. What is wanted is money
or provisions. Hundreds OF people are in need of
food and clothing. They do not want care, and
are too much overwhelmed 10 create disturbance
Those who desire 10 help the sufferers might better
send them something 70 satisfy their hunger.
Provisions are hard to obtain at any price In.
deed, one who has lost his money and property
by the food has better chance Of getting some
can get orders on the Relief Department for food,
but the man who has money cannot find pro.
visions 10 buy.
People are sleeping in barns. on benches
floors, and on the ground. with tents over them.
When strangers ask at houses il they get a
meal, the people seem surprised
Collins are ordered by tho carload, and arc
piled up like cordwood in various places where
they are likely to be needed At first there was
a great scarcity OF them. but now there is 10
trouble about getting them.
The danger which threatened by law
less class who secured barrels of liquor floating
down the river is no longer felt; for, wherever
the Committee OF Relief find any barrels, they
tap them and run the contents into the river.
BarroomS closed, and there is little drink
ing, although one occasionally sees men who are
disposed 10 be riotous. People have foclIed TO
this point from miles around, to see the dcstruc-
tion wrought by the flood, and thcy spend
whole day in getting here only 10 turn back in
horror at the scenes which have become so conf
mon 10 those who live here that they hardly
seem to notice them. Those who could stand the
scenes became such a nuisance, with their intol-
crable curiosity, that efforts were made to keep
them from entering the town.
To-day wurlmcn have been engaged in clean
ing out the lower streets which were piled high
with the lumber Of demolished buildings. Little
progress is made, for tho ground Is covered with
Shiny mud and is treachcrous to the feet. foot
bridge has been strung on ropes across the river
and reporters are now able more easily TO get
from the town 10 the telegraph wires, which are
across the river at the point where the hundreds
OF people were burned TO death
One Of the strongest arguments OF those who
place the number OF the dead high in the thousands
is the conclusion that may be drawn from the
records of the morgues. There arc three places
where bodies are received, and they are so crowded
that IL will soon be necessary TO make other pro-
visions for receiving the corpses. The benches
were soon filled, and now almost every inch OF
floor in the buildings is occupied by body Tho
large force of men employed at these |
hr,ay niUhf 1aV