The Washington critic., 1889-06-03
THE STORY OF THE STORM.



gineer and conductor of engine No.
,165, an extra freight, which happened
to be lying at South Fork when the
dam broke, tell graphic story of their
wonderful flight and escape on the loco.
motive before the advancing flood. At
the time mentioned Bennett and Kcltz
were in the signal tower ut that point
awaiting orders. The fireman and flag
man were on the engine and two brake.
men were asleep in the caboose. Sud
denly the men in the tower heard a
loud booming roar in the valley above
them. They looked in the direction of
the sound and were almost transfixed
with horror to see two miles above them
a huge, black wall of water, at least 1j0
feet m height, rushing down the valley
upon them
One look the fear.strickcn men gave
the awful sight and then they made q
rush for the locomotive, at the same
time giving the alarm TO the sleeping
brakemen In the caboosc with loud
cries, but with no avail. 1t was impos-
siblc TO aid them further however, so
they cut the engine loose from the train
and the engineer, with one wild wrench,
threw the lever wide open and they
were away on mad race for life. For
| a moment IL seemed that they would
not receive momentum enough to keep
! ahead of the flood, and they east one
despairing glance back. Then they
could see the awful deluge approaching
| in It's might. On it>cane, rolling and
roaring Ike some Titanic monster,
tossing and tearing houses, sheds and
trees in its awful speed as II they were
mere toys. AS they looked they saw
the two brakemen rush out Of the cab,
but they had not time to gather the
slightest idea of the cause Of their doom
before they, the car and signal tower
were tossed high in the air to disappear
forever in engulfng water.
comprchended It's peril. the engine
leaped forward like a thing of life and
speeded down the valley But fast as
1t went, the flood gained upon them.
Hope, however, was in the ascendant,
for If they could but get across the
bridge below the track would lean to.
ward the hillside in such .amanner that
they would be comparatively safe. In
few breathless moments the shrek
ing locomotive whizzed around
the curve and they were In
sight of the bridge. Horror upon
horrors. Ahead Of them was freight
train, with the rear end almost on the
bridge, and to get across was simply
| impossible. Engineer Bennett then re
versed the lever and succeeded in check
ing the engine as they glided across the
bridge, and then they jumped and rar
for their lives up the hillside as the
bridge and tender Of the locomotive
they had been ON were swept away lik,
a bundle of matches in the torrent.
A View of the Deserted City.
The Philadelphia Times correspond
ent, who has just returned from Johns
town says:
House is piled upon house, not sucl
as we are to see ruined in occasional
floods of the Western rivers, but th,
remains of two and four-storied build
ings piled upon the top of each other
The ruins of what is known as tn,
club house is in perhaps the best con
dition of any In that portion of til,
town, but II is certainly damaged be
! yond possibility Of repair. On til,
upper floor five bodies are lying un
identified. One of them. a woman o
genteel birth, Judging by her dress, 4
locked in one of the small rooms Il
prevent a possibility OF spoliation b,
wreckers, who are fiocking to the spo
from all directions and taking posses
sion of everything they can get hold of
"Here and there bodies can be seel
sticking in the ruins Some of the mos
prominent citizens areto be seen work
ing with might and main to get at tn
remains of relatives whom they hav
located There is no doubt but tha
wild as the estimates Of the loss of lif
and damage to property has been, it i
even larger than there Is any idea of
Close on to 1000 residences lie II
kindling wood at the lower end of Tn,
town. An idea Of the eccentricity o
the flood may be gathered from the fac
that houses that were situated at Wood
vale and points above Johnst0wn ar
piled at the lower end of town, Will
some massive houses have been lifted
; and carried from the lower end as far q
the cemetery, at the extreme upper por
ton of the town, where they have beei
visited by friends. All through tn
ruins are scattered the most costly furni
ture and store goods of all kinds.
II stood on the key board and string
of piano, while l watched numbe
Of ghouls break into the remains o.
houses and pilfer them, while other
again had got into supply of fin
groceries and had broken Into a barre
Of fine brandy and were fairly steepin
themselves in it. A great fear is fel
that there will be some difficulty in re
storing the stream to its proper chan
mel. Its course now lies right alonl
Main street and is about 200 yards wide
Something should be done TO get tn
bodies of the dead decently taken car
of. The ruins are reeking with tn
smell of decaying bodies. Right ut th
edge Of the ruins the decaying body 0
stout colored woman is lying like til
remains of an animal, without anyon
to identify and take care of them"
Cheerful to the Last.
"At o'clock on Saturday after
noon," said Chief Night Operate
Bender of the Western Unio
at Pittsburg, 1.-THE girl operate
at Johnstown was cheerfully tickin
away that she had to abandon the offic
on the first floor because the water wa
three feet deep there. She said SHE wa
writing from the second story and Tia
water was gaining steadily. Sac wa
frightened and said many houses aroun
were flooded. This was evidently be
fore the dam broke, for our man her
said something encouraging to her an,
she was talking back as only cheerful
operator can, when the receivers s.iille
ears caught sound on the wire mad
by no human hand, The wires ha
been grounded or the house had bee
swept away in the flood from the lake
No one knows which now; anyway at
o'clock the girl was there, and at 80
we might rs well have asked the grav