Connecticut western news., 1889-07-10
RISING FROM THE RUINS.
The Johnstown of Old is a New
 City To-day:

ClCy 1O-uay:
 The Johnstown of to-day presents quite different picture from that which people looked upon few weeks ago, when the floods came and almost literally wiped it from the face of the earth. 1he day after the flood the streets of the once-hourishing city of nearly 15OOO people were defined by long rows of ruined buildings. From end to end the thuroughfares we're piled from 10 to 20 Feet high with wrecks of houses, huge logs, and all manner of debris. It was utterly impossible to walk three squares in any di- streets. br, rather, all which have been definitely marked out. are once more passable There are still number that have been So entirely obliteratcd that their loca- tion cannot be fixed until resurvey of the town plan has been made. This resurvey of streets and property lines recon structioh of sewers and drains, rebuilding of bridges and culverts, will take many months and perhaps years to accomplish. This fcu- ture Of the disaster is likely to weigh heavily years to come. Chief Burgess Howell esti- mates the borohgh's loss upon public build 1ngs at $15,OOO; upon furniture, $1 ,OOO; parks, streets, etc, $12, 1000; bridges, $5O,. 000, and sewers, $5, 900, or @ total of $s3,- 900: Add to this a portion at least of a bill of S14 1000, contracted in the employment of special policemen during the first ten days or more following the food-whch the Relief Committee repudiates, the State is not liable for, and the County of Cambria doesn't want to pay-and the taxpayers of the town have not pleasant prospect at best.
 James E. Scott, member of the State Re- lief Commission, expresses the opinion thnt by Oct. 1 the 15, ,O00 homeless people in and around Johnstown will all have been housed in buildings suitable for occupation all the year round. Main street, which was so com pletely blocked by debris that reporters walked along it upon the roofs of the houses, is now clear and business men are opening their stores again. Tho houses on the neigh. boring hills and in nearby settlements, which, for time, gave shelter to from ten to us many as thirty survivors each, are gradu- ally being surrendered to their original ten ants. and the survivors are making their homes in small portable buildings brought by the hundred from Chicago. As quickly as possible it is proposed to erect more substan. tial structures, and it is hoped to provide all with comfor ble homes be ore the snow flies. Little permanent building can be done until the cleaning out of the cellars is complete. This will keep large force of men busy all | summer
 | The terrible jam above the stone bridge, | which at first appalled, the boldest contract l or, has been removed, and the waters of the | Conemaugh and of Stony Creek are now | running in their natural channels. The mag l nitude of the work necessary to accomplish | this undertaking cannot be appreciated by | one who has not seen the place. It required the labor of hundreds of men for over three | weeks and the explosion of Ia, 800 pounds o 1 dynamite to dislodge and remove this de | bris. The dynamite cost 20 cents a pound l In the course of this work many dead bodies 1 were recovered and some of the blasts sent arms, legs and heads flying high in the nil l from the mass of mud in which the victims lay buried. Tho dynamite work was i'll l charge of Mai jor Phillips who has completed his task.
 The State authorities have nearly com | pleted their labor Of clearing the debris and opening the rivers When this Is done Johns town will be left to care for herself Her flu l ture is problematical. Much depends upor the manner in which the relief funds are dis tributed. The majority of the survivors are now selfsupportihg as far as provisions nr' concerned. The first few weeks after th' flood there were so many idle people abou
 It was then resolved to put al able bodied men to work. This has been done by thu Cambria Iron Company, the Johnstowl l Steel Street Rail Company, thePPrnnsylvani; l Railroad Company, and other large employ CTS of labor The Cambria Iron Com pany which has one of the ost extensive plants o the kind in America and lost $500, 900 by tn | flood, is rapidly restoring its works. The com
 pany IS also endeavoring to buy more land
 evidently with the purpose of enlarging it.
 establishment. The local street railway com
 pany, with lines running to Kernvillc an,
 Woodvale, was paying per cent. dividend
 regularly. 'rhe flood left nothing but t fe,
 Kernville will probably be rebuilt in q fe'
 months, but the branch to Woodvale is no,
 unnecessary, for Woodvale has been wipe
 away completely.
 The business men and merchants ar
 ready and anxious to resume at their ol
 stands or rather where their stands one
 were. At meeting held this week it wa
 found that there were seventy applicants
 for stands on the park and Market-squart
 It was decided to cut some of tn
 temporary structures on Market-sGuar
 in two and to erect two more blocks of but
 mess houses. Thus far about one hundre
 and eighty of the little portable houses bull
 in Chicago have arrived, and though man
 people object to them as totally inadequat
 there have been twice that many applied
 tions acted upon. On Wednesday the Relic
 Commission contracted for 200 four-roon
 frame houses to be built for $25O apiece
 These dwellings will be given to needy pcl
 sons under lease for eighteen months for
 consideration of one dollar, at the end (
 that time the building to become the proI
 erty of the tenant The idea is to prevent tn
 recipients from selling the houses. or som I