New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-06-03
s.. .,rri.a avay. Mr. walsers's family iritted

was thrown into his own once. Apou0 ~V' W.
sons had taken refuge IN ths hall, and were on
tho second, third and fourth stories. Inc men
h.n n meeting and drew up some rules which oil
x,re hound to respect. Mr. Walters was chosen
I, presidens, the Rev. Dir. Beale was put In charge
Of tia first floor, A. NJ. Hart Of the second hoor,
On. Matthew's of the fourth floor. No lights
ware allowed, and the whole night
vas spent in darkness. The sick were
cared for The women and children had
the best accommodations that could be arranged,
xbfls thu Others had to wait. The scenes were
asonixing. Heartrending shrieks, sobs and means
pserced the gloomy darkness. The crying Of chill
idren mingled with the suppressed soSs Of the
women. Under the guardianship Of the men oil
took more hope. No one slept during al the
long dark night Many knelt for hours IN prayer,
their supplications minsling with the roar Of the
waters and the shrieRs Of the dying In the SUR
rounding houses. In all this misery two women
save premature birth OF children. DR.. Mat
thews is a hero Several of his ribs were crushed
By falling timber, and his pains were most
when two women in house across the street
shouted for help, he, with two other brave young
men. climbed across the drift and ministered to
their wants No one died during the night, but
women and children surrendered their lives on the
succeeding day as result Of terror and fatigue
Miss Rose Young, one of the young ladies In the
hall, was frightfully cut and bruised. Mrs. Young
had o leg broken. All Of Mr.. Walterss family
were saved.
The handsome brick High School building Is
damaged TO such an extent that it will have to
be rebuilt The water attained the height OF the
window siIls Of the second door. It's upper
stories formed a refuge for many persons. All
Saturday afternoon two little girls could be seen
at the windows franticaly calling for aid. They
had spent oil night and the day in the building,
without food or drinking water, and their condition
WINS lamentable Late in the evening the children
were removed to higher ground and properly cared
for. A number of persons had been taken from
this building earlier in the day, but In the excite
ment the children were forgotten. Their names
could not be obtained
Morrill, Institute, a beautiful building the old
homestead Of the Morrill, family, is ruined. The
water has weakened the walls and foundations so
that there is danger Of its collapse Many families
took refuge in this building and were saved.
Now that the waters have receded there is great
danger from falling walls All day long the
crashing of walls could be heard across the river
Before daybreak this morning the sounds could
not but make one shudder at the very thoughts
Of the horrible deaths that awaited many who had
escaped the food.
Library Hall was another Of the fine buildings
Of the many in the city that Is destroyed. OF the
Episcopal Church not a vestge remains. Where 1t
once stood there ia placid lake The parsonage
Is swept away, and the rector Of the church, che
Rev. Mr.. Dillon, was drowned. The church was
one Of the first buildings to fall 1t carried with
IL several of the surrounding houses. Many Of
them were occupied. The victims were swept
into the comparatively still waters at tbs bridge
and there met death either by fire or water.
Notwithstanding the dire distress Of their fellow
citizens, the Huns" were caught purloining gar
ments and searching the pockets Of the victims
of the awful tragedy. All food supplies having
been destroyed, and all places OF shelter having
been rendered insecure. hundreds took refuge on
the slopes which surrounded the city on all sides
The scenes IN these camps were pathetic. Little
children clustered around their elders crying for
food and shivering with the cold mountain air.
For sixteen hours the little city was cut of from
Che world. and the tragedies Of that awful night
i. can never be told
The Pennsylva Railroad tracks at Sang Hol-
low. three mikes west, were torn cut and washed
away for q distance Of three-quarters OF mile.
The heavy steel rails twisted about rs II they
were slender copper wires. and in some instances
were broken of by the strain One track WAS
swept into the river the rails and ties OF the east
track were thrown on top Of the westbound track,
and in one place they were twisted into plat
The stone ballast was washed from between the
taes for over q raile and in one place the rails,
ties and ballast were all swept away, and the
heavy clay roadbed was beaten as hard as a
cemented floor by the force Of the current sweep
ins over It.
The Hotel Hubert. a brick structure, had sixty.
Ave quests Sixty-three of these were killed by
the falling in Of the floors and walls.
The Morell Library, the schoolhouse, Alma Hall
general stores and Offices OF the iron comrany and
one other brick building all Of probably 1905
buildings that have not been foated from thcil
foundations or demolished.
The stone viaduct is forty feet high from th'
river bed 1T low water. and over this the watel
rushed in O resistless food. On this. or the ives
side. is the Bessemer and rail mills OF the Cam
bris Iron Company Although warned to fee 4
the hillsides many Of the men, resting In fan
cted security, loitered about the mills, md wer
sngulfed In an instant. To-day their bodies ar
strewn along the Conemaugh. Kisldminitas an
Allegheny rivers. Below the mills Is Cambria,
scarborough, in which district reside probably
1000 people The scenes here are but repetition
AZ the other parts of the food-wsshed towns. II
St Columbia's Church, new structure, whicI
had been flooded to depth Of six feet In th
auditorium, the water had receded. and the hoo
was covered with shiny ooze 10 the depth o
seven or eight inches. On boards stretched alon
the TOP of the pews were thirty bodies which ha'
been snatched from the stream by Father Thoma
parin and some OF his parishioners whom he ha
imuressed into service. Joseph Smith, a man o