The Penn's Grove record., 1889-06-08

list Is the great number Of morgues'
There is no central bureau Of inf0rma-
ton, and to communicate with the
dead houses Is the work Of hours. The
journey from the Pennsylvania Rail.
road morgue to the n In the Fourth
Wa d school-house In J0hnstown occu
pies at least one hour. This renders II
impossible to reach all of them in one
day, particularly as some Of the
morgues are situated at points inacces'
sible from Johnstown.
THE REsIsTLEss FORCE OF THE
FLOOD.
The dam broke in the centre at !
o'clock, Friday afternoon. and at 4
O'Clock 1t was dry. The great body OF
water passed out 10 one hour. MessIs.
Park and Van Buren,, who are build
ing a new draining system at the lake.
tired to avert the disaster by digging q
sluice way on one side to ease the
pressure on the dam. They had
about 40 men at work, and did all
they could without avail. The water
passed over the dam about u foot above
its top, beginning at about half-past
2. Whatever happened in the way
Of a cloud burst took place dur
ing the night. There had been but
little ram up to dark. When the
workmen woke In the morning the
lake was very full and was rising at
the rate of a foot an hour. 1t kept
OH rising until at 2 O'Clock 1t first be-
gan breaking over the dam and under
mining, Men were sent three or four
times during the day to war people Of
their danger. When tie final break
came, at 8 O'Clock, there was a sound
like tremendous and continued peals
of thunder, trees, rocks and earth
we're shot up into mid all
in great columns, and then
the wave started down the ra-
vine. A farmer who escaped said that
the water did not come down like a
wave, but jumped on his house and
beat it to fragments in an instant. He
was safe on the hillside, but his wife
and two children were killed. At the
present time the lake looks like a cross
between the crater Of a volcano and a
huge mud puddle, with stumps Of trees
and rocks scattered over it. There Is
Q small stream OF muddy water run.
ming through the centre OF the lake
site.
The break In the dam is about 220
feet wide, and there is but a small
p rtfon of the dam left on either side.
No damage was done to any of the
buildings belonging to the club. The
whole South Fork Is swept away, with
not a tree standing. There are but one
or two small streams showing here and
there / n the lake. A great many OF
the workmen carried of baskets full
of fish which they caught in the mud.
YOUNGSTOWN, Pa, June AT II
o'clock the first relief train, bearing
thousands of pounds Of provisions foi
the suffering and 1000 cof1ns for tn.
dead, passed over JohnstOwn bridge.
across the impr0vised trestle aud track
up the incline to the Johnstown depot
For the first time railroad commune
cation is re-established between the
stricken city and the outside world.
Twenty-Five registry offices for thu
living were Opaned this morning.
Up to noon 5000 out Of $4,000 wer
registered.
Three hundred more bodies have
just been found opposite Nlneveh.
This makes 700 bodies found at that
point.
Out In the centre Of the river, on the
extreme edge Of the mass which rests
against the bridge, the P~ittsburg Gre
man have a stream playing on tue
wIeckage. They are literally in the
middle OF the river putting out a fire.
BODGres are burning everywhere. Fire
is the agent employed to help the com.
mittees get rid of the refuse and broken
wood. by means Of fire the Cambria
Iron Company has cleared away most
OF the lighter lumber. and will soon be
able to work on the heavier piles. The
completion Of the temporary track and
bridge. which permits the passage Of
trains over the river, has been a bles.
sing, for it allows the men to work
much faster than before, and to get
tools and materials closer at hand.
This was the day set aside by the
Citizens' Committee for the burying of
all ike unidentified deal that have
been lying in the Morgues since Sun
day at 10 o'clock. This morning the
men who were in charge OF the burying
started to work, and have been busy
all day. There are no pathetic scenes
at these burials. The men who have
been hired to do the work seem to do it
just as a matter of business. The
bodies are being inferred in the GENE.
terry nearest the place where the bodies
were found.
About noon q procession of about so
cOfined bodies was seen going up the
hill above the railroad. There were
no mOurners present and the sight was
a CHASTITY one to behold. 1t will take
several days to bury the bodies now in
the different grave yards. as there were
few graves dug until this morning, and
no implements to dig with. However,
a large detachment OF men arrived
from Pittsburg this IN rning. and they
were put to work at digging graves
Immediately Altogether about 800
bodies were taken to the different cem-
CEMETERIES this morning.
Thomas Williams, the husband who
lost his wife and family. recovered his
wife's remains and took them up the
mountain, where he dug a grave and
buried them himself. He said: "This
is the most terrible thing | ever heard
Done; but when l buried them, all has
been done.'
Mrs. Fredericks, an aged woman,
was rescued alive from the attic In her
house yesterday afternoon.
The house had fioated from what was
formerly Vine street to the foot of the
mountains. Mrs. Fredericks says her
experience was terrible. She said
hundreds or men, women and children
floated down the torrent to meet their
death, some praying, while others hae
become raving maniacs. Il
VIM. Gaffney, al insurance agent at
this place, had a very pitiful dufy to
perform this morning. On his fathers
and wife's side he lost IA relatives,
kl~- 1t H. - t