The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-06-06
TWELVE HUNDRED
Lives Lost ia the Disaster at Johns
town, Pennsylvania.
PitiIsss Waters Sweep Hundreds of
Human Beings to De tn.
Scenes of Horror and Despair Sell
dom II Ever tquaIIed.
Scores of Dead Bodies Found as
the Waters Recsds.

gray morning light does not seem TO |
show either hope or mitigation of the
awful fears of the night. We are
where we drove across the mountains |
in the darkness of the early morning |
at New Florence, fourteen miles from |
the scene of desolation at YOUNGSTOWN. |
1t has been hard night to everybody. |
The weary, Overworked newspaper
men who have been without food and |
rest since yesterday afternoon, and the
operators who have handled the mes
sages are even now preparing for til
work of the day. There has been a
long wrangle over the possession of a
special train for the press between rival
morning paper men and it has delayed
the work of the others, who are anxious
TO get further east. Even here
so far from the washed out towus, the
horror is in our midst. Seven bodies
have been found on the shore near this
town. two being in tree, man and a
woman, where the tide had carried
them. The country people are coming
into the news centers in large num-
beers, telling stories of disaster along
the river banks in sequestered places.
| John Mccartney, carpenter, who
lives in Johnstown, reach here about
4 O'Clock. He left Johnsuown at half
past yesterday, and says the scene
when he left was indescribable. The
people had been warned early in the
morning to move to the highlands, but
they did not heed the warning, although
it was repeated number of times up
to o'clock, when the water poured in
to Cinder street several feet deep.
| Then the houses began rocking to and
fro, and finally the currents rushed
across the streets and dashed the
houses against each other, breaking
them into fragments. These build
ings were freighted with the poor
wretches who so shortly before had
laughed at the cry of danger. Mozart
ney says in some cases he counted as
many as fifteen people
CLINGING TO THE BUILDINGS.
McCartney's wife was with him. She
had three sisters who lived near her.
They saw the house in which these
girls lived carried away, and then they
could stand it no longer, so they hur-
ried away. The husband feared his
wife would go crazy before he could
drag her away, and they left the flood
ed district and went inland along
country roads until they reached here.
1t is said to be next to impossible to
get to JohnstOwn proper To-Day in any
manner except by row-bOat. The
roads are cut up so that even the cOun-
trymen refuse to travel over them in
their toughest vehicles. The only
hope is to get within about three miles
of Johnstown by special train or by
hand-car. This will be done by the
Associated Press agent within the
next hour. The waters are now re-
night, and us the banks uncover the
dead are showing up. Already
NINE DEAD BODIES HAVE BEEN PICKED
UP
within the limits of this borough since
daylight. None of them have as yet
been recognized. Five of those found
are women. One lady, probably TWEEN
!, ty-five years old and rather handsome,
had clasped in her arms babe six
months old. The dead body of a-yOunI
man was discovered in the branches OF
huge tree, which had been carried
down the stream. All the orchard
! crops and shrubbery along the banks OF
! che river have been destroyed. The
/, body of another woman has just beer
/ discovered in the river here. Her fool
was discovered above the surface of the
: water. A rope was fastened about it
p and now tied to a tree awaiting assist
: ance to land it. John l.. Weber and
c his wife, and aged couple, Mike Metz
: Ter and John FOrney, were rescued neal
< here early this morning. They had beer
Y carried from their home in Cambriy
- city on the roof of the house. There
e were seven others on the roof of TIT
G house when it was carried off by thu
angry waters. They were all drowned
n They are unknown to Weber. they
= having drifted on to the roof from
|, floating debris. Weber and wifi,
q were thoroughly drenched, and wert
r almost helpless from exposure. The
q wore unable to walk when taken from
g the roof at this place. They are nov
= at the hotel here.
e The banks ON both sides of the rive
n at this place are crowded with anXiou
4 watchers and with horrifying frequen
cy their vigilS are rewarded by the dis
covery of dead body. Within tn
last half hour three floating bodie
have been recovered at this point. ant
hundreds of people from JohnstoWl
o and up river towns are hurrying her
r. in search of their friends and relative
i who were swept away in last night
= flood. The
10 MOST INTENSE EXCITEMENT.
prevails here. The street corners, ar
|
who tell of the awful calamity wit
l. still breath. Squire Bennett has charg
r of the dead bodies and he is havin
them properly cared for They are be
E ing prepared for burial, but will be he'll
here for Identification. -Four boys hav
W just come from the river bank abov
here and they say that on the opposit
side number of bodies can be see
u lying in the mud. They found tn
e, body of a woman on this side. Sh
T. was covered with debris. but the
hauled her out. She had only feN
tatters of clothes on her, an
IS the body was badly bauised
(. No news can be heard from
Jamestown, and it may be man
Rogers, justice of the peace at nineve
IS has wired the coroner at Greensbur
), that
, ONE HUNDRED DEAD BODIES
have been found at that place and h
asks what to do with them. From this
10 one can estimate that the loss OF lif
= will reach over 1000. No one knows
d no one can guess the sickenipg sigh
that is expected to be met by the CORES
/, pondents, when they arrive at tn
L scene above. A report just receives
X that twenty persons are on an islan'
near NsneVeh and that a man and We
;, man are on partly submerged tree
= A report has just reached here that a
ID least one hundred people were con
e sumed in the flames at johnson las
70 night. It is said to have been an aw
% full horror. but information cannot b
obtained here. The air is filed witt
thrilling and almost incredible stories
& but none of them has as We
fl been confirmed. It IS certain
"a however, that even the worst canno
be imagined.
The calamity of yesterday was a
singular as it was fatal. 1t is now yer,
evident that more lives have been los
It because of foolish incredulity than tina
n from ignorance of the danger. Fo
=. more than a year there have been fear
:, of an accident of just such a character
u The foundations of the dam were con