The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-06-05

locomotives, iron beams freight passenger
Pullman and baggage cars. heavy iron beams
the greedy flames licking with haste their DIET
oil human flesh.
The scene was horrible beyond description
From infancy few days old to the wasted
figures of age were burned before the eyes OF
the behodeTs and no rescue from such fate
was possible. Strong men turned away with
agonized expressions and women screamed a.
the horror OF the scene.
The dead has been computed at not less than
5000, and the number may exceed that esri-
mate. This seems incredible, but until the
waters will have ahated and the work of re-
moving the dead from this tremendous mass
begun, 1t will be impossible to tell how many
lives have been lost
The Associated Press correspondent was the
first man to cross TO Johnstown proper by
means OF basket suspended from a cable, 80
passengers are removed from wrecked ships
Here the scenes were magniied in their horror.
Here we're the residences of the little citys
most wealthy, and intelligent people, Here
were found the bodies ot John Dibert the
banker, and hls entire family, consisting OF q
daughter and two grandchildren; William
Overbeck; John Dorsey OF Depew & Co. to-
haceonists, Philadelphia and one of the most
bopuiar travelling men on the road;
Dr. ). Z. Cooper and wife; J. O.
Benschoh, bookseller; Mr.. William
Gilmore, wife anu family; James Howard;
+ Neil McAuley aud wife; Mrx. Droling aud
family OF three; Mrs. Cyrus Elder, vile of the
j I
/ company and daughter. and many women and
/ children who could not be Identified
fohee oIhcers ana others were rendering all
possible aid, but the number OF the dead seems
I greater than the number OF the living.
/ Cinder, Market, Main, Locust aud Washing.
ton-sts. have been swept clean snd bare
OF all buildings OF whatever chsrac-
ter and their inhabitants seem to have
fed into the streets at the frst
warning of danger, and others rushed 70 their
Z in heir
had an opportunity 10 fee 10 the upper stories
when the houses were frame they were toated
from their foundations aud many were saved
lhe Motel Hubert, a brick structure, bad
slxiy.hve guests, and siXty.three OF these were.
killed by the falling IN @ the floors and walls
The Morcll library. the sehOoi-houSe, Alma
hali, general stores and iron OTiceS OF the CON
pahy and one other brick building are ell OF
probably 1900 buildings that have not foated
from their foundations or eaved in.
The stone yladuct Is forty feet high from the
rlveF bed az low water and over this the water
rushed IN q resisIless dood. On this-on the
west side-is the BessemeF aud rail mills
oi the Cambria iron company. Al
though warned TO dee to the hillSides, many
OF the men. resting in a faneied security, loi-
tered about the mills aud were enguled in 50
instant To-day their bodies are streWn along
the Conemaugh, Riskiminita aud Alleghaney
rivers, and are being caught as far down the
ONO river as Rochester.
Below the mills Is Cambria a sub-burrough
IN which district reside probably 1000 people
The scenes here are but q repetition Of the
other parts OF the food-wasted city. In ST
Colombia's church, new structure, which
has been flooded to the depth OF six feet in ths
auditorium, the water had receded
and the door was covered with a shiny oozs
10 the depth of seven or eight inches.
On boards stretched along the top OF the pews
we're thirty bodies which had been snatehed
from the stream by Father Thomas Darlin and
some OF his Pensioners whom he had ia.
pressed into service.
While IN the awful presence OF the dead and
amid the solemn surroundings OF 9 desoaied
plane. the representative saw Joseph
smith, man OF extraordinary siIs
and strength, enter. lie said not .
word but quietly went from corpse 10 corpse.
lifting the stained aud Undiscovered coverings
OF the dead. AT last hs came 10 the corpse OF
child about nine years old-his daughter.
be looked AZ the swollen and blood.
stained features moment and then with voice
OF the most unutterable agony cried "Ay Mag.
gle! my little Maggie" at the same time press
ing the inanimate form to his bosom, and giving
expression 10 alternate caressings and ejacula-
tons OF griet the man took his child and ran
with il 70 what had been his home. He placed
it beside those Of his wife and two other
children, all Of whom had been drowned.
IL IS Impossible 10 narrate the many pa
thetic incidents that occurred on all sides.
Al MOrrell forty-three bodies we're laid Gus
waiting 10 be Identified. Eight OF them were
children, one that OF a child which a physician
said had been born while the mother vas tight
Ing for her ife in the raging food.
At Nineveh, nine miles down the stream, Ios
bodies, mostly women and children, were laid
out in assaw-mill and additions we're being
made by wagon-loads al time, which wers
being picked up on ths meadows over which
the great tide bad surged With the fury OF .
demon.
Many were found with their hands yet
elinging tenaciously 70 branches OF trees
and shrubs n vou0s
couple were found locked in each others
arms. In another case a mother found
with child clasped in each arm and held
closely to her bosom. There is no possibility
of telling just who has been lost thousands
are missing.
The survivors, many Of whom tell of the rnost
thrilling escapes from collections Of debris,
hOuse-rOofs Cardoors and plankS, seek the banks
and gaze with stupor born OF paralysis OF their
mental faculties from fright and horror they
have been subjected to. The numbered people
who visible from the banks are 50 lev
in contrast with the population OF the
various little boroughs which constitute
the city that the question Where are
the peOpleP is asked all sides The inn
preston is gaining that the disclosures yet 70
come where the gorge collected, and which IL
now burning over an area OF several acres, is
yet more CHASTITY.
The awlulness Of the scene dehes language
60 depict as it does Imagination 10 conceive.
Without seeing the havoc created. no idea can
be given OF either OF the area OF the deSolstlon
or the extent OF the damage.
The condition of the streets is one Of un-
paralleled desolatIOn. Fine thoroughfares IN
the most densely populated parts Of the town
denuded of the houses which once were the
pride Of the inhabitants. Trees have been
denuded Of their branches, their trunks
standing bare and broken, or are uprOoted aud
swept away IL il not sxagceration to say that
not single structure now lett within the con-
fines OF the city is SAFE place Of habitation.
and all must be torn down and rebuilt
The gorge has so Obstructed the
siuice-ways Of the viaduct that the water
docs not recede ns fast as il otherwise
would. All boats and water craft having been
swept away, the means of getting about the de-
luged streets, now ft rivals for the canals OF
Venice, is attended with danger.
Notwithstanding the dire distress Of their fel-
low-citizens, the Huns" we're caught puTioin-
ing garments and searching the pockets Of
the victims of the awful tragedy.
All food supply having been destroyed, aud
all places OF shelter having been rendered in
secure, hundreds took refuge on the slopes
which surround the city. The scenes Of these
camps were pathetic. Little children clustered
around their elders crying for food and Shlvers
ing with the cold mountain air.
For sixteen hours the little city was cut OF
from the world and the tragedies Of that awful
night can never be told. The Pennsylvania
railroad tracks at Sang Hollow. three miles
west, were torn out and ALSO utely washed
away for distance OF three-Quarters OF mile.