The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1889-06-06
IMP AR ALLE,LE:',D|.
Johnstown's Calamity. the wort
Known In American History.
THE DEAIH-WAyES LIST OF VICTIMS

Its Number Estim.tod 1t from 1.ooo. =
! la.0O0-Johustowa and lts Neigh 49,.
/ Ing villsgea Annihilatsd -scsnes q s.
IIorror.-Relief Seasurss,
THE GREAT DISASTER.
PITTSBURGH, Pa, June A-Thousande ~
| lives have been lost In, the floods around
| this city. 49, 49,
Johnstown. city Of Is QUO inhabitants
has been practically wiped out Of existenoe'
and between GOO and 1900 lives have
been lost ,. 81 -,
The town Of Conemaueh Il submerged
The Pennsylvania rSilroad Il submerged
for a distance Of thirty miles
Reports from Tyrone, In Central PennsJ1-
vaniA, are that the town ID Submerged
Clear6eld, In the north central seotion IA
flooded z.,45
Dubois is reportei destroyed.
Petersburg, W. Va, reports great dam
ages and some lives lost.
Cambria City, lying half-mile outside Of
Johnstown was also inundated
dam at tho foot of q mountain lake
eight miles long and three miles wide
about eighteen miles up the valley Of tho
South Fork OF the Conomau9h river broke
at O'Clock Friday afternoon, just Is it was
struck by waterspOut, and the whole
tremendous volume of water swept In
resistless avalanche down the mountain
side, making it's own channel until it
reached the South Fork Of the Conemau1h,
swelling it to the proportions of Niagara
rapids. -.- $500 SIS >. s-ss-zg-; .ss5.l.. -,
The flood swept to the Conemapgh like .
tidal wave over twenty feet in height and
onward to Johnstown six or eight miles be-
low. Gathering force as it tore along the
wider channel, it quickly swept every
thing before it. Houses, factories and
bridges were overwhelmed In the twink
ling Of an eye, and with their human occu-
pants were carried in q vast chaos down the
raging torrent
THE DEADLY DAM
In order to understand the nature of this
calamity 1t Is necessary to describe the re-
spective locations of the reservoir and
Johnstown. The reservoir lies about
eighteen mi es northeast of Johnstown.
and is the site Of the old reservoir which
was one of the feeders of the Pennsyl-
vania canal 1t Is the property of num-
Der of wealthy gentlemen In Pittsburgh,
who formed themselves into an association,
the title of which Is the South Fork Fishing
Club This sheet of water was former
~ known as Conemaugh lake. It is
from 200 to 800: feet above the level
OF Johnstown, being in the mountains It
is about three miles and a half long and
from mile to a mile and quarter in
width and in some places it is loo feet in
depth. It holds more water than
any other reservoir, natural or arti-
fetal, In the United States The lake
has been quadrupled in size by artificial
MEANS and was held in check by q dam no
to 600 feet wide. 1t is 80 feet in thickness
at the base and the height is no feet The
top has breadth Of over ~ feet.
Recognizing the menace which the lake
had to the region below the South Fork
club had the dam inspected once a
month by the Pennsylvania railroad
engineer, and the investigation showed
that nothing less than some con-
vulsion of nature would tear the
barrier away and loosen the weapon
of death. The steady rains of the
last forty-eight hours increased the
volume of water in all the small mount
ain streams, which were already swelled
by the lesser rains earlier in the week.
From the best Information obtained at this
time it is evident that something in the
nature OF a cloud-burst must have been the
elimination of the struggle OF the water
against the embankment
OTHER TOWNS DESTROYED.
Four miles below the dam lay the town
OF South Fork. where the South Fork itself
empties into the COnemaugh river The
town contained about 2,OOO inhabitants
1t has not been heard FROM but it is said
that four ifths Of it has been swept away.
-Four miles farther down on the Cone
maugh river, which runs parallel with the
main line Of the Pennsylvania railroad was
the town OF Mineral Point It had $40 in
habitants, 80 per cent. of the houses being
on fiat and close to the river. It seems
impossible at this time to hope that any of
them have escaped
Six miles further down was the town of
Conemaugh and here alone was there
Typographical possibility, the spreading of
the food and the breaking of its force It
contained {, 500 inhabitants and must be al
most wholly devastated
Woodvale, with 9, 600 people, lays a mile
below Conemaugh in the flat, and one
mile further down were Johnstown and
its cluster of sister towns - Cambria
City and Conemaugh borough - with
total population of $4,000! On the
made ground and stretched along right at
the river verge were the immense iron
works of the Cambria Iron and Steel Com
pany, which has 81, 0O0, 600 invested in the
plant. Besides this there are many other
laSge industrial establishments Oh the bank
of the river.
At Coketown, village of several hun
dred inhabitants, the houses are almost
entirely covered and great many dwell
ings at Blairsville are submerged
Scarcely dwelling in the vicinity of
Sang Hollow can be seen. The bridges at
Bolivar and Nineva, it is reported, have
given away and that at Salisbury, it is
feared, will be carried away.
1t is estimated that 1900 citizens of
Johnstown and it's immediate vicinity per-
ished- The towns OF South Fork, Mineral
Point, Conemaugh, Woodvale, Cambria City
and other places, having from 1000
to 2,OO inhabitants, were completely
devastated, and hundreds of their citizens
carried down by the torrent to be tossed
hfeless upon the banks and partly buried in
debris Such fearful destruction as was
occasioned within thirty miles from
the dam to the town of New
Florence has never before been
recorded. The stone bridge of the Penn
sylvania Railroad Company Just below
JohnstOwn withstood the tremendous Hood
and against it's piers was thrown
mass of wreckage, to which per-
tenaciously for life. Portions Of house
after house were added to this drift.
which became an immense dam. Even
bridges, freight cars and locomotives wore
lodged there Then to the horror Of the
flood was added that of fire, which was
communicated to the debris from q stove,
and many who had hoped for sdccor from
the waters were burned to death.
The magnitude Of the catastrophe can
not now be approximately stated The de-
VISITATION in the entire region is ~ COM
plete as to prevent access to the desolate
and heartbroken survivors, and the prop
erty loss is incalculable. Watchers
line the banks of the rivers recov-
ering bodies Villages below Johnstown
have become charnal houses, all points an
nouncing numbers of dead left by the. re-
cedin2 flood Several trains on the Penn
sylvania railroad were overtaken by the
rising waters and some passengers, stran-
gers to the locality, lost their lives in