Evening journal., 1889-06-03
OSOULSDEAD
JOhnstOWn's Ruins Filled with
Corpses.
HORRORS GROWING HOURLY
Great Suffering Prevails Among
Those Who Survive.
JOHNSTOWN'S BUSINESS LOSSES.
Awful Sights Witnessed by Those Who
We're First ON the Spot.
THE FLOOD IN VIRGINIA.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Adds Its
Quota to the Disaster.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Adds Its
Quota to the Disaster

Two Thousand Bodies Taken from the
Conemaugh River, and stiII Many Thou
sands OF People Are Missing-The Ruins
of the viaduct ON Fire and There Ii
No Hope Of Ever Rescuing the 1000
Corpses Imprisoned Under the Debris.
virginia's Great F1oods-The Calamity
Far surpasses Amy Unfortunate Catas-
trophe That Has Ever Occurred In
This Country-Rascals Meet with Swift
Vengeance.
JoHNsTowN, Pa, June 3-A scene OF hor-
ror such as probably was never before seen
by human eye met the gaze of the party Of
newspaper men-the first to reach the de
vastated city-when they clambered down
the mountain side back Of what was once
Johnstown. 1t was just daybreak, and each
CLINT Of light breaking through the night
shades opened up some new scene of the awful
tragedy to view.
The site Of the city is still submerged, the
viaduct below with its acres Of debris form
ing dam which holds the waters in Human
bodies seem to be everywhere. Practically
nothing remains Of Johnstown
Debris 100 Feet High.
Every building in the city has either been
entirely carried away by the raging waters
or so damaged as to ruin it completely.
Whole streets are swept clear of every trace
Of habitation. Down at the viaduct the
debris is heaped up nearly 100 feet high.
Frame buildings, brick buildings, cars fur
niture and everything conceivable is in the
huge mass
Here and there human body can be seen
while arms and limbs, rigid in death, sticl
out everywhere. The accounts published o.
the awful calamity, far from being exagger
ated, have not appreciated the terrible re
ality Of this greatest tragedy Of the age
The Work of Rescue.
After the first party OF explorers cam
many others, bringing slziffs, ropes, ladder
and other articles for the work Of rescue. L
was not long before the labor Of gathering il
the bodies of the victims was begun.
A temporary morgue was established
wires were strung down the mountain side
and short time before noon the devastated
outside world.
A corps Of operators Of the Western Union
Telegraph company began to send out mes
sages to Pittsburg at II o'clock.
From 5000 to 10000 Perish.
From the best information obtainable at
this hour it would seem that the total mum
Der Of lost will not fall below 5000 and il
may go over 10, ,000 To add to the terrible
catastrophe it is feared that many Of those
who escaped to the mountains have persisted
from starvation and hunger. Those who ran
to the hillsides at the approach Of the water
are no doubt pressed for food.
They had to camp in the bushes, and the
women and children suffered greatly from
hardship, besides being half crazsd with
anxiety over the fate Of friends and rela.
tives
The water is now receding slowly. When
the viaduct is cleared off the debris which
chokes the arches the real state of affairs can
be asoertained
The eastern end Of Main street, through
which the waters tore most madly and dc.
structively, and in which they left their leg
acy of wrecked houses, fallen trees and dead
bodies in greater degree than in any other
portion of the city, has been cleared and the
remains of over fifty taken out Of the portion
cleared. All over the town the searchers
have been equally successful AS soon as a
body is found it is placed on litter aud sent
to the morgue, where il is washed and placed
on board for several hours TO await identi-
fication.
Sad Scenes at the Morgue.
The morgue is the Fourth ward schoolhouse,
and it has been surrounded all day by a
crowd of several thousand people At first
the crowd was disposed to stop those bearing
the stretchers uncover the remains and view
them, but this was found to be prolific not
only of great delay, but also Of scenes Of
agony that not even the bearers could endure
nor the thousands calmly stand up under
Now litter is guarded by a file Of soldiers
with fixed bayonets in charge OF sergeant,
and the people are forced aside until the
morgue is reached.
The whole corps Of Western Union Tele-
graph operators was lost last Friday even
ing. Among them were Mrs Ogle, man
ager, who for twenty-five years has acted as
receiver of Associated Press reports here,
and her daughter Minnie, also a well known
operator; also Misses German and Watkins
and three messenger boys who were unable
to escape from the builling.
A Babe of the Flood.
1t is thought by many that fully 1000 per-
sons were burned to death in the debris at
the bridge. The Cambria Iron Works COM
pany announces that they will rebuild their
plant at once The work Of burying the
dead is proceeding rapidly, and necessarily
with scant ceremony, as decomposition has
set in in most cases.
The total number of bodies recovered in the
Conemaugh valley up to midnight was about
1000. Only one quarter of these have been
identified, and it is doubtful il half Of those
recovered will ever be recognized.
One OF tie most touching scenes Of this
day of horror was the finding of the body Of
little babe in the water near Sang Hollow.
Il was a chlld Of the food, having been born
IN the water. Near by was floating the body
Of its mother
There were no dry eyes among the party
of res uerS thar telllerlv IaiS fla h7dias on ;