The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1889-06-06


many times before and nothing ha
come of it. very lew prisons hcede
it. Finally the critical mo.nen
came, tie great dam was swep
away and the vast body of water
seated high UP among the c'oud
capped hills, flashed like streaI
of lightning down the valley, an
towns were bio;tcd ont and thous
ands of lives lost in almost a breath
The FIRST village to be overwhelme'
was the town of South Fork, an,
containing 1000 inhabitants, AM
situated at the junction of th'
, branch from the reservoir to th'
Conemangh river. Here the tow
. erlng food crushed over tha who!,
town and sweeping on, filing th'
valley to great depth, next de
stroyed the small town of Mlnera
Point. . short distance below. This
had a population of 500. The towr
of Conemaugh, with 25C0 irhabi-
tants, came next. This was ter
miles below the lake. Half way be.
tween this and Joknstown wa;
W oodporte, with a population ol
1000. Johnstown lay a short dis
tal.ce below, in the forks of the
Conemaugh and Stony creek, and
on the left bank of the latter. oppo,
site and somewhat above the center
of Johnstown. were the cottages of
5000 work men in the Cambria Iron
mills. Across the river and a little
distance below Johnstown was Cam
bria City. The valley thus far de-
scribed contained a population of
5000, largely made up IF those con-
necfej with the iron works and
woolen mills of the vicinity. Johns
town proper had population of
2S 900. The valley down through
which the tide of death swept is
narrow, with steep slopes through
out, with number of flats iu vari
ous bends of the streams upon
which were established the towns
and villages of workmen which
have been overwhelmed in the food.
The ranges which shut in tho valley
rise from 500 to 1000 feet in height.
The lowest estimate places the loss
of life in this valley in less than two
hours at 5000 persons. The mum
ber may reach 10000, though 1t
will probably never be known just
how many lives were a.ly lost
Below the town of JobnstOwn is a |
viaduct of the Pennsylvania rail-
road. The debris of 1900 houses
from Johnstown alone was banked
up against this bridge. 1t caught
ire and it supposed over a thou sand
persons were burned to death. tho
t is likely the exact number in
hat funeral pile will never be
known.
The stories that come up from
he flood swept district are harrow
ng. they are sickenlng. Witnesses
Who looked upon the food as it swept
lown from the mountains say the
irst wave must have had a breast of
70 or 40 feet, crushing houses like
gg shells and tossing locomotives
hat weighed over 100. 1000 pounds ,
round like SO many corks. Hun '
reds, thousands dead bod es have /;
cen dug cut of the mud, gathered
rom the bosom of the raging wa {
srs, pulled out Of the wreckage and I
re now being buried in long
-enches. Whole families have q
cen swept away. Strong men have |
a.od by and seen hundreds of ba bes f
vept under the seething tide. ut s
,rly powerless to help them in any
ay. One man found i've months
d baby floating down the river. L
lie and miles away from the scene t,
the calamity. II was well and n
,arty. What of its kindrcd y God r
one knows. Beastly Hungar,ans ,
bbed the dead and were shot down U
Se dogs or hung up to the nearest
ees. n
Never since the deluge have we n
ad of anything SO slckcnins in all o,
lis dcfails as this Johnstown Gu
nifty 1t would take volumes to III
We all the details, 1t will t:ke
,cks before anything like an in- b
iigent statement of the loss of :,
8 and property can he given to %
3 public. Tho less of property Ia
II amount to something like $40
O,0OO or $3o,oO0,c0O. Perhaps W
re. So
The waters of the Conemaugh ;.
Ter find their way into the Ohio. 20
d Monday the wreckage from III
hnstown began TO pass Ohio CD
sns. One dead body was taken to
IN tho water at Marietta, and n
,cral others at different points, "
nductor Ed. d. Warren who eft
> river Monday morning, said The SIS
eckage hed just begin TO pass the on
vn of Maddieport. He saw many la
use tops in the food. horses, cows of
1 hogs that had been swept down -,
m the mountain town. Engi- ="
II John Hutcillns secured table le.
from the wreckage and brought ia
,ome Tuesday evening. hi
The calamity has appalled, the liz
ion; it ls enough to put the -.
rid ih mourning. One week ago ''
C. - 81, ! nrt