Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-11-28
CHAPTER VIII.
WAS IT PROVIDENCE?

Tidings Of the overwhelming calamity
travelled fast. The telegraph wires flashed
it half way across the continent that
night.
The first to receive the news were the
newsgatherers in Pittsburgh. The
calamity grew in volume there until the
writer's on the press, the printers, and
pressmen were wearied, tagged out, pre-
pairing the details for their readers.
The bulletins startled the workers who
passed the newspaper offices. BY the
time the business world had its eyes
open, thousands we're looking on the
Allegheny, which was running bank full.
Evidences OF ruin were abundant at dawn.
1t was not until the morning was we'll ad-
vanced, however, that the surface of the
river became thickly covered with all
manner of debris. Then the houses,
barns, shops, and lumber-all the float
ing matter swept away by the food be-
low the bridge at Johnstown-was borne
past the city at the head of the Ohio.
The tidings of tha disaster were borne
up the Allegheny Valley again by the
trainmen, by the morning newspapers,
by hundreds of workingmen. By the
time the debris had reached from shore
to shore, hundreds of eyes in every town
and hamlet in the Allegheny Valley were
scanning the waters.
There were courageous men ready and
anxious to succor victims of the flood.
They sat in skiffs, looking out over the
river.
Here and there, where large masses of
the wreck were collected into RATS, boats
pushed out at great risk to the occupants;
who examined the debris, and satisfied
themselves that no human being was
fastened between the interlaced frag-
ments of timber and lumber.
At Verona, seven miles from Pitts
burgh, large crowd of workingmen were
gathered together, encouraging those
who had skiffs to 60 out.
One keen-eyed man, looking over the
broad expanse Of water, directed atten-
tion to cradle far out in the river. In
stantly all eyes were fixed upon the OBJ
ject, and the occupant of skiff urged to
make his way to it.
This man did not require urging. The
drift was very thick. It required no little
labor and ingenuity to row sklf across
the current that was bearing a mass of
debris onward.
The occupant Of the skiff proved equal
to the task he set himself. He made his
way carefully to the cradle, which was
now almost abreast of the crowd assem-
bled on the bank Of the river.
At this juncture speculation was rife
among the lookers-on. What if there
should be child in the cradle, one ven
tured to say.
There was movement among the
crowd. One positive man reminded the
man who made the remark that, that drift
had foated from fifty to seventy miles.
Another equally positive said: THAT
stuff comes all the way from Johnstown.
II amt likely that any one will come down
this far alive"
@H there is anything in that cradle it
is dead"
"WbSs,n said another, think of the aw-
full we6aher. Do you think child could
live through the night in that river the
air would chill stout man."
The man who thought child might be
found in the cradle meanwhile held his
peace. The absurdity of the idea grew on
him, too, as he looked at the rushing
water.
The man in the skif was now very near
the object of oil this solicitude. Those
on shore could see him moving through
the drift with rare deliberation. They
observed him resting on his oars one
minute as be looked over his shoulders.
Then he pushed forward, rowing rapidly
until the boat touched the drift that sus-
tanned the cradle.
When the skiF seemed to be wedRed
into the drift, the occupant stood up
suddenly. The people on shore could
see him bending over the cradle--could
Gao him 1iftin0 nnynathinp ht,t xuhafl,ar
he took it out Of the cradle orfrom the
debris beside it no one could be sure.
They beheld him moving around in a