St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-06-06

came a cloud OF ruin down the broad
streets, down the narrow alleys
grinding, twisting, hurting, crashing
annihilating the weak and the strong
1t was the charge of the flood. For
ty feet high was this sea, and trav.
elled with a swiftness like that which
lay hidden in the heels of Mercury
On raced the rider and on rushed the
wave. Dozens of people took heed
of the warning and ran up to the
hills. Poor, faithful rider 1t was
an unequal contest Just as he turn
ed across the railroad bridge, the
mighty wave fell upon him, and
horse, rider and bridge all went into
chaos together.
Struggling Like Flies on Fly Paper.
Frank Mcdonald, the conductor
on the Somerset branch of the Balti-
more & Ohio was at the Pennsylva-
MIA depot when the flood came. He
said when he first saw the flood it
was 80 feet high and gradually rose
to at least 40 feet. Decker, the Penn
sylvania railroad agent, said he,
read to me a telegram he had just
received, saying the South Fork dam
had broken. AS soon as they heard
this the people in the station, num-
bering 600, made rush for hill. l
aid, that saw 1000 bodies go over
the bridge. The first house that came
down struck the bridge, and at once
took fire, and as fast as the others
came they were consumed. l believe
| am safe in saying l saw a thousand
bodies burn 1t reminded me of a1ot
of flies on fly paper struggling to get
away, with no hope and no chance
of saving themselves. | have no idea
that, had the bridge been blown up,
the loss of life would have been any
less They would have foated a lit
tie farther with the same certain
death. From under the large brick
schoolhouse 1914 bodies were taken
last night and today in every nook
and corner the bodies are being found
and buried as fast as possible. The
necessity for speedy burial is becom-
ing manifest, as the stencil arising
from the bodies is unbearable.
Died at Her Post.
Mrs. Ogle, the manager of the
Western Union office, who died at her
post, will go down in history as a
heroine. Notwithstanding repeated
notifications which she received to
get out of reach of the approaching
danger, she stood by the instrument
with undaunted courage, sending
words of warning to those in danger
in the valley below. When every
station in the path of the coming
torrent had been warned, she wired
her companion at South Fork: This
is my last message" and as such it
shall always be remembered, as at
that very moment the torrent en-
quilted her and bore her from her post
on earth to her post of honor in the
great beyond.
Graphic Picture of the Calamity.
The following dispatch is from
William Henry Smith, general mana
ger of the Associated Press, who was
a passenger on the day express and
was an eyewitness of the scene at
Conemaugh on the night of the ter
rible calamity: The fast line trains
that leave Chicago at 3.15 and Gin
cinnati at p. m. constitute the day
express eastward from Pittsburg,
train left Pittsburg on time Friday
morning, but was stopped for an
hour at Johnstown by reports of a
wash-out ahead. 1t had been rain
ing hard for over 16 hours, and the
sides of the mountains were covered
with water descending into the val
leys. The Conemaugh river, whose
bank is followed by the Pennsylvania
railroad for many miles, looked an
ugly flood nearly bank-full. Passen-
gers were interested in seeing hum
dreds of saw logs and enormous
amount of drift-wood shoot rapidly
by, and the train pursued its way
eastward. At Johnstown there was
a long wait as before stated. The
lower stories of many houses were
submerged by the slack water, and
the inhabitants were looking out of
the second-story windows. Horses
were standing up to their knees in
water in the streets; a side track OF
the railroad had been washed out;
loaded cars were on the bridge to
keep it steady, and the huge poles of
the Western Union telegraph COM
pany, carrying Is wires, swayed
badly and several soon went down.
The two sections of the train ran
to Conemaugh, about two miles this
side of Johnstown, and lay there
about three hours, when they were
moved on the highest ground and
placed side by side. The mail train
was placed in the rear of the first
section and a freight train was run
on to a side track on the bank of the
Conemaugh. The report was that
bridge had been washed out, carry
ing away one track, and that the
other track was unsafe. There was
a rumor also that the reservoir at
South Fork, some time ago a feeder
ly the property of club of Pittsburg
and used for hunting and fishing,
was unsafe and might break. This
made most of the passengers uneasy
and they kept pretty good lookout
for information. Soon the cry came
that the water in the reservoir had
broken down the barrier and was
sweeping down the valley Instant
1y there was panic and rush for
the mountains side Children were
carried and women assisted by few
who kept cool heads. 1t was race
for life. No words can adequately
describe the terror that filled every
breast, or the awful power manifest
ed by the flood. The round-house
had stalls for % locomotives. There
were IS or 20 of these standing
there at this time There was an
ominous crash and the round-house
and locomotives disappeared. Ev-
erything in the main track of the
flood was first lifted in air and then
SWALLOWED Nh hU the waters