The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1889-06-08
THE STRICKEN CITY.
Thousands of lives Lost-Doatb aud Ruin
Stalks Everywhere.

Thousands of lives Lost-Doath aud Ruin
Stalks Everywhere.
JoHNsrowN, June. When the large
reservoir here burst on Fnda death and
obstruction followed everywhere. In five
minutes the waters rose forly-fYe feet;
above the roar of the elements the piercing
crys OF men, women and children, dying in
the seething, bodily waters, could be heard.
The total loss is beyond the power of esti-
mate
When Superintendent Pitcairn telegraph
ed to Pittsburgh on Friday night that
Johnstown was annhilated lie came very
close to the facts of the case, although he
ad not seen the ill-fated city. To say that
Johnstown is a wreck is but stating the
facts of the case Nothing like il was ever
seen in this country. Where long rows o.
dwelling houses and business blocks stood
rum and desolati0n now reign supreme.
Probably 1,500 houses have been swept
from the face of the earth as complelel, as
Ii they had never been erected. Main street
from end to end, is piled from fifteen and
twenty feet high wit debris, and in some
instances it is as high as the roofs OF the
houses. This great mass of wreckage fills
the street from curb to curb, and frequent
ly has crushed the buildings in and filled
the space of the remainder of the terrible
calamity. There is not man in the place
who can give any reliable estimate OF the
number of houses that have been swept
away. City Solicitor Kuehn, who should
be very good authority in this matter,
places the number at 1900. From the
wooden mill above the island to the bridge,
distance of probably two miles, a strip OF
territory nearly half mile in width has
been swept clean, not a stick of timber or
one b ick on top of another being left TO
tell the story. IL is the most complete
wreck that imaeination could portray.
Men, women and children were plodding
about the desolate waste looking in vain 10
locate the boundaries of their former ONES.
Nothing but wide eXpanse of mud, orna-
mented h ere and there with heaps of drift
wood, remained, however, for their con-
temptation. 1t is perfectly safe to say that
every house in the city that was not located
well up on the hillside was either swept
completely away or wrecked SO badly that
rebuilding will be absolutely necessary.
These losses, however, are nothing com
pared to the frightful sacrifice of precious
human lives to be seen on every hand.
During all this solemn week Johnstown
has been drenched with the tears of strick
EN- mortals, and the air is filled With sobs
aud sghs that come from breaking hearts.
There are scenes enacted here every hour
and every minute that affect all beholders
profoundly. When homes are thus torn
asunder in an instant, and the loYed ones
hurled from the arms of loving and devoted
mothers, there is an element of sadness in
tie tragedy that oYerwhelms every heart.
An utterly wretched woman named Mrs.
Fem stood by a muddy pool of water try
is,ar End fpnp Of han
home. She was half crazed with grief, and
her eyes were red and swollen. As the
writer stepped to her side, she raised her
pale and haggard face and remarked:
"They are all gone. Oh, God, be merci-
| full to them. Ny husband and my seven
dear little children have been swept down
with The flood, and l am left alone. We
were driven by the awful flood Into the gar
ret, but the water followed us tuere. Inch
| by inch it kept rising until our heads were
crushing against the roof. 1t was dea:h TO
remain. So raised a window and one b.
one placed my darlings on some drift wood
trusting to the great Creator. As | liber-
ated the last one, my sweet little boy, he
looked at me and said Mamma, you al
ways told me that the Lord would care for
me, and, with prayer on my lips for his
delYerance, lie passed from sight forever.
The next moment the roof crushed in, and
| foated outside, to be rescued fifteen
hours later from the roof of a house in
Kernville. If could only find one of my
darliDgs | could bow to tue will of God,
but thev all are gone / have lost every
thing on earth now but my life, and | will
return 10 my old Virginia home and lay me
down for my last great sleep.
A handsome woman, with hair as black
as ravens wing. walked through the de-
pot where a dozen or more bodies were
awaiting burial. Passing from one to an
other, she finally lifted the paper covering
from the face of a woman, young, and with
traces OF beauty showing through the stains
OF muddy water, and with cry of anguish
she reeled backward to be caught by rug
ged man who chanced to be passing In a
momen: or so she had calmed herself suf-
iicently TO take one more look at the fea
lures of her dead. She stood gazing at the
corpse as if dumb. Finally turning away
with another wild burst of grief, she said
"And her beautiful hair all matted and
her sweet face so bruised and stained with
mud and water" The dead woman was
the sister of the mourner. The body was
| placed in coffin few minutes later and
sent away to its narrow house.
These incidents are but fair samples oil
the scenes familiar at every turn in this
stricken city. The loss of life is simply
| dreadful.
The very latest information up to the hour o
| going TO press place the number of dead anC
missing at over 10000. Work of burying the deat
| is progressing as rapidly as possible, and 300
men are employed cleaning up the debris. Tn,
| loss OF property Will run up in the millions
| Great fears of pestilence are ripe, the stencil
OF purifying bodies filling the air with sick
! ming stencil that Is threatening. The town vii
| be rebuilt Contributions are falling in on thu
sufferers and everything possible is being done L
alleviate the suffering Of the afflicted.