The Irish standard., 1889-06-08

JL. SATURDAY, y VI
and devastation, which grew at every
instant Of its progress. Forty feet high
some say, thirty. according to others
was this sea and it travelled with the
swiftness OF the wind. On and on
raced the rider and on and on rushed
the wave. Dozens of people took heed
of the warning and ran up to the hills
1t was an unequal contest. Just as the
rider turned across the railroad bridge
the mighty wave fell upon him, and
horse, rider and bridge all went out into
chaos together.
c. w. Linthicum, of Baltimore, an
eyewitness to the disastrous flood at
Johnstown, tells the following story
my train left Pittsburg Friday morn
inc for Johnstown. The train was due
at Sang Hollow at 4:0O. but was five
minutes late. At Sang Hallow, just as
we we're about to pull out, we heard
that the flood was coming. Looking
ahead, up the valley, we saw an i'm
mense wall of water thirty feet high,
raging, roaring, rushing towards us
The engineer reversed his engine and
rushed back to the hills at full speed
and we barely escaped the waters. We
ran back 800 yards, and the flood swept
by. tearing up track, telegraph poles,
houses and trees, Supt. Pitcairn was
On the train. We all got out and tried
to save the floating people. Taking the
bell cord we formed line and threw
the rope out, thus saving seven persons.
We could have saved more, but many
were afraid to let go of the debris on
which they were floating. 1t was an
awful sight, The immense sum of
water was rolling along, whirling over
huge rocks, dashing against the banks
and leaping high in the air, and this
seethlng flood was strewn with timber,
trunks Of trees, parts of houses and
hundreds of human beings, cattle and
almost every living animal. The fear
full peril of the living was not more
awful than the horror of hundreds Of
distorted, bleeding corpses wh1rling
along the avalanche of death. We
counted 107 people floating by and dead
without number"
"A tremendous sensation has been
caused at Cambria City through what
all classes of people consider a most re.
markable miracle. 1t happened at the
Church of the Immaculate Conception.
A large number of persons will testify
as to the nature of the event, and to put
it mildly, the circumstances are really
May devotlons were in
on FRIDAY night when the water
descended on Cambria City. The church
was filed with people at the time, but
when the noise of the flood was heard
the congregation hastened to get out of
the way. They succeeded, as far as
escaping from the interior is concerned,
and in a few moments the church was
partially submerged, the water reach
ing fifteen feet up the sides and swirling
around the corners furiously. The
building was badly wrecked, the
benches were torn out, and in general
the entire structure. both inside and
outside. was fairly dismantled. Sunday
morning when the entrance was forced
through the blocked doorway, the ruin
appeared to be complete. One object
alone had escaped the waters wrath.
The statue Of the Blessed Virgin that
mad been decorated and adorned because
If the May devotions, was as unsullied
IS the day it was made. The flowers.
The wreaths, the lace were undisturbed
and unsoiled. Not wrinkle was OBJ
in Its outlines: The marks on
The wall showed that the statue, which
IS three feet high, the surface of the
water had raised to a height of fifteen
FEET, while the statue had been sayed
rom all contact with the liquid. Every
)ne that has seen the statue and its
is firmly convinced the
Incident was q miraculous one, and
,ven to the most skeptical the affair
,avors of the supernatural.
There are about thirty Catholic priests
Ind nuns here. The sisters are devot-
ng themselves to the care of the sick
ind IN the hospitals, while the priests
ire doing anything and everything and
making themselves generally useful.
What the hospitals would have done
without tina sisters is difficult ques-
ion.
Some Doubt About This.
A Mississippian was Dragging to a
Tankee of the fertility of the soil Of his
egion. TO give practical illustra-
ion of his subject, he said that he went
O the woods to cut down an oak tree.
After he had chopped for about a week
+ ten days, he thought he would take