The Portland daily press., 1889-06-06

barns and others in tents. When supper
was ready, long pine tables were crowded
with men. Stoves were erected in the open.
Gallons OF coffee were heated in large wash
boilers. For one gang of men, seven boilers
full we're emptied in half an hour. Coffee,
bread and cheese were the fare tonight, but
more substantial rati0nS will be given out
tomorrow. AT dark, the valley became
quiet, the only noise being an occasional
challenge q milltlaman as ne bade some me
sheriff and leave the city of the dead.
Johnstown is under martial law and laborers
only are wanted.
A radical and disagreeable change Of tenn
much suffering and many ills. The air Is
now keen and penetrating. This condition
is favorable to the workers. but unpleasant
for the houseless sufferers. Thinly clad
WOMEN AND CHILDREN ARE sHIvERING
under the caves of every convenient build
ing. The sight of long relief trains rolling
into Johnstown over both railroads, from
every section Of the country, almost every
hour of the "a, tends to make the observer
conclude that charity is not so rare as the
eynic philosophers would have us believe.
From East, West, North and South come
whole train loads of clothing and provisions,
accompanied by special messengers having
funds, and a large corps of volunteer physi-
clans, nurses and workers. Accompanying
the big Philadelphia relief train was spe-
cial car occupied by a corps Of surgeons,
equipped with large outfit of instruments
and medicines
The registration of survivors goes on not
SO rapidly as yesterday The total registra-
tlon to date is trifle over 1900 out of a to
tai estimated population of 5000 to 10000.
Allowance must be made for the large num-
bers Of survivors who sought refuge with
friends in other places as well as the. many
who failed from ignorance or remission to
register. The falling off of today leads the
authorities to apprehend that their worst
fears will be realized and the death roll
mount well up into five figures.
-, The gray mists had scarcely arisen from
the Hills this morning before thusand
funerals were coursing their green sides.
There were no hearseS and few m0urners
and as little solemnitv as formality. A ma
J0rity OF the collins were of rough pine and
the pail bearers strong OK teams, there being
generally six coffins to one team. The men
silently unloaded the burdens in the lap of
mother earth. No minister was there. ex-
cept few faithful priests who followed
some mangled representatives of their faith
to the grave. Fully one third Of the bodies
recovered were so mangled, bruised or
charred that Identification was impossible.
All day long the corpses were hurried below
the groud. The unidentified bodies were
grouped on a high hill
WEST OF THE DOOMED CITY,
where the epitaph "Unknown," must do for
all. Hundreds of these graves have been
made already, and each day will increase the
proportion. The possibility Of Identification
diminishes every hour. Fires are raging
over the tangled graves of hundreds, and
the partial cremation of many bodies is inev-
liable. Others are becoming so blackened in
anpfaat xust ho Iahric roh nm utra-
faction, that a grinning skeleton would show
as much resemblance to the persons in life
as they. Almost every stroke of the pick in
some portions Of the city today resulted In
the discovery of another victim. Although
the funerals relieved the morgues OF
the crush, before night they were as full of
dead as ever.
Every train into Johnstown was laden
with cofins. the better ones being generally
accompanied by friends of the dead. Men
could be seen staggering over the ruins with
caskets on their shoulders. Several stum- |
bled and fell into the abounding man pits.
over 100 men have been all day engaged In |
an effort to clear a narrow passage from the |
death bridge upward through the sea of |
debris which blocks the COnemaugh for |
nearly half mile. Every ingenuity known |
to man was resorted to by this crew. Dyna
mite was brought into requisitiOn and at |
frequent intervals, sticks, stones and logs |
would fly high in the air. Gradually few |
of the heaviest timbers were demolished and |
their fragments permitted to flow down |
ward through the center arch. AT nightfall |
the clear space above the bridge did not ex-
ceed 60 feet in length and 40 feet width. |
There are 25 acres to be cleared In this way |
and the task seems interminable. Many |
conservative minds recommend
THE USE OF THE TORCH
in clearing the river. They are not among |
the sufferers. When,such counsels are heard |
by the wives, children. sisters or brothers Of |
those who rest beneath this sea Of tiotsam |
and jetsam. the suggestion meets with wild |
objection and in Difference to this unresson- |
ing mandate of grief. the herculean labor of
clearing the river by means of the dynamite
and derrick is persisted in. No hope re-
mains in calmer minds that this task can be
pursued to the end. The progress of today |
is hardly disc0verable, and ere two more |
days have elapsed there is little doubt that |
the emanati0ns of the putrid bodies will be- |
come so frightful as to drive the hardest |
workmen from the scene. Until that time
arrives there is no hope that this grief
stricken populace will abandon the cherish |
ed hope of again gazing upon the forms of |
loved ones whose lives went out in the fire
and flood of the Conemaugh.
At the various relief stations today the |
crowd of applicants continued from morning |
forced to wait In line for hours before their |
turn came and their little portion was |
allotted to them. Hundreds of thousands of |
dollars must pour into this stricken valley If |
positive suffering and privati0n be avoided. |
Thousands of people are homeless and |
thousands lost their all. Labor and manu- |
featuring of nearly every kind is at a stand |
still and weeks or months must elapse be- |
fore the Cambria Iron Works and other |
industrial institutions can possibly resume
and give employment to the thousands that |
depend on them for support. Hundreds of |
hungry people in the Cenemaugh valley |