Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-06-08
DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!
Thousands Perish BY Fire and Water.
Horrible Particulars of the Flood.
Johasto,on, Pa, Eagulfed,

Thousands Perish by Fire and Water.
Horrible Particulars of the Flood.
Johnsto,on, Pa, Eagufed,
Johnstown is post-borough Of
Cambria county, Pa, OF the Cone
maugh river, and on the Pennsylyan-
ia Railroad thirty nine miles. south
west of Altoona and seventy eight
miles east by south of Pittsburg. 1t
Is the eastern terminus of the Penn
sylvania canal, and is the most popu
lous town in Cambria county. 1t is
surrounded by picturesque mountain
scenery. Here are the extensive
works of the Cambria Iron Compa-
ny, which employ about 1,6O0 men
in the manufacture of steel and iron
rails for railroads.
PoINTS.-Conemaugh Lake and
Reservoir several miles long and
fourteen miles above Johnstown,
whose broken dam flooded the val
ley. Town of South Forks, 1000 in
habitants. Mineral Point 800 inhab-
itants. Pennsylvania Railroad
Bridge swept away. Town of Cone
maugh, $500 inhabitants, ten miles
below the lake. Woodvale, 1000 in.
habitants. Large wooden mills.
Homes of 5000 workingmen employ.
ed by iron and steel works at Johns
town. Cambria Iron and Steel
Works. Johnstown, Cambria Cities
and Conemaugh Borough contained
total population of nearly 10000
souls. Sheridan, 500 inhabitants.
Sang Hollow, II miles below Johns
town, where the railroad operator
counted 70 dead bodies carried down
the river. Continuation of river to-
ward Nineveh, Lockport and Boil
var.
A Basin i'm the Mountains.
Johnstown's geographical situation
is one that renders it peculiarly liable
to terrible loss of life in the event of
such a casualty as that reported to.
night. 1t is town built in the basin
of the mountains and grit about by
streams, all of which finally find
their way into the Allegheny River,
and thence into the Ohio. On one
side of the town flows the Cone.
maugh River a stream which during
the dry periods of the Summer
drought can be readily crossed. On
the other side of the town is Stony
Creek, which gathers mp its own
share of the mountain rains and
whirls them along toward Plttsburg.
Directly across the river in Indi-
ana County there are 315 bodies
reported lying in the open air unat-
tended to.
More than 1000 residences lie in
the confused mass of burning debris
lodged above the stone bridge at
the lower end of Johnstown. The
ruins are reeking with the smells of
drying and burning bodies. Near
the edge of the ruins the body of a
stont cOlOred woman is lying, and
blackened skulls from which the
flesh has been burned can be seen
hICGhotSO IiSU
above the East end of the bridge.
Twenty seven Pennsylvania Rail
road engines and an unknown num-
Der of freight cars and passenger
coaches are lying in the river bed
under the debris of Johnstown at the
stone bridge. The towns of Wood,
vale, Conemaugh Borough and
JohnstOwn are swept almost as
clearly off the face OF the earth as if
they had never had an existence. OF
Woodvale's population of 1000 souls
barely half dozen have been &C
counted for.
Story of an Eye Witness.
BALTIMORE. Md, June Sc. w.
Linthicum, drummer for q Balti-
more firm, arrived here this morning.
He was witness to the disastrous
flood at YOUNGSTOWN, of which he tells
the following story: My train left
Pittsburg at / o'clock for Johns
town. The tram was due at Sang
Hollow at 1902, but was five minutes
late. At Sang Hollow just as we
were about to pull out of the station,
we heard the flood was coming.
Looking ahead we saw an immense
wall of water at least thirty feet
high raging, roaring, rushing to-
wards us. The engineer reversed
his engine and rushed back toward
the hills at full speed, and we barely
nSnannH fhn pnSh Of Mo
back 300 yards and the flood swept
by, tearing up tracks, telegraph
poles, houses, and trees. Superinten-
dent Pitcair was on the train. All
got out and tried to save the float
ing people. Taking the bell cord
off the train we formed line and
threw the rope out, saving seven
persons. We could have saved more,
but many were afraid to let go the
floating debris.
The immense volume of water was
roaring along, whirling over huge
rocks, dashing against the banks
and ieaping high into the air, and
this seethlng flood was strewn with
grinding and crushing timbers,
trunks of trees, part of houses and
hundreds of human beings, cattle,
dogs, cats and almost every animal.
The fearful peril of the living was
not more awful than the CHASTITY hor-
ror of hundreds of distorted bleed
ing cOrpses whirling along the ava
lanche of death. We counted 107
persons alive floating on one piece
of timber, and dead with out num-
Der. A woman had lost her husband
and four children and a girl her
father, mother and entire family. A
little boy came by with his mother.
Both were as calm as could be, and
the boy was apparently trying to
comfort his mother. They passed,
r. |, Il.