River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-06-06


strip OF territory nearly half-mile in width
has been swept clean. not stick of timber
or one brick on top of another being left to
tell the story. 1t is perfectly safe to say
that every house In the city that was not
located well up on the hillsides was either
swept completely away or wrecked so bad
ly that rebuilding will be absolutely neces-
sary.
These losses, however, were as nothing
compared TO the frightful sacrifices OF
precious human lives TO be seen on
every hand. During all this solemn Sun
day Johustown has been drenched with
the tears of stricken mortals, and the
air is filed with sobs and signs that
come from breaking hearts There are
scenes enacted here every hour and every
minute that affect all beholders profoundly.
The loss of life is simply dreadful The
most conservative people declare that the
number will reach 5000.
STRUNG THEM UP
JoHSsTowN, Pa, June "A party of
searchers saw two men robbing the body
of a woman Sunday. The thieves were
caught In one of their pockets was found
a lady's ear, entire, sliced from the head
with a sharp knife In the ear lobe
was a sparkling diamond ring Fur
Their investigation of the contents
of the pockets of the fiends
brought forth large quantities of
jewelry and the mutilated finger of a
little girl on which was a gold band ring.
The captors placed ropes around the necks
of the villains and strung them up to the
nearest tree until they were dead They
then cut them down and buried them.
AT o'clock p. m Sunday a posse of
farmers surrounded a gang of fourteen
Hungarians who were robbing the dead,
and succeeded, after a lively battle with
clubs and rocks in driving three of them
into the middle of the stream where they
sank beneath the waves to rise no more.
C. l. Dick, ex-mayor of Johnstown, and
several other gentlemen, while patroling
that part of the city known as the Point
discovered a party of Huns Iooting the
houses and robbing the bodies Of the dead
The parties had no guns with them, but
Mr.. Dick leveled his revolver at one Of the
plunderers and shot him dead He fell into
the river, and no further attention was
paid to his remains The city is guarded
by over 800 special officers
THE SITUATION AT JoHNsTowN
JoHNsrowN, Pa, June 3-The situation
here has not changed and estimates OF the
loss OF life do not seem to be exaggerated.
Six hundred bodies are now lying in Johns
town, and a large number have al
ready been buried Four immense relief
trains arrived Saturday night and the sur
vivors are being well cared for A portion
of the police force of Pittsburgh and AL
legheny are on duty, and better order is
maintained than prevailed Saturday There
is an absence of pillaging Communi-
cation has been restored between
Cambria City and Johnstown by a foot
bridge. The work of repairing the tracks
between Sang Hollow and Johnstown is GO
ing on rapidly, and trains will probably be
running by noon Not less than 1900
strangers are here.
james H. Walters, an attorney, spent Sat
urday night in Alma hall, and relates a
thrilling story. About 200 persons had
taken refuge in the hall and were in the
second third and fourth stories The men
held meeting and drew up some rules
which all were bound TO respect Mr.. Walters
was chosen president Rev. Mr.. Beale was
put in charge of the first floor, A. NJ Hart
of the second floor and Dr.. Matthews of the
fourth floor No lights were allowed and
the whole night was spent in darkness.
The sick were cared for. The weaker
women and children had the best accom-
modations that could be had, while the
Others had to wait
The scenes were most agonizing. Heart
rending shrieks, sobs and means pierced
the gloomy darkness. The crying of chill
dren mingled with the suppressed
sobs of the women Under the
guardianship of the men all took
more hope. No one slept during all
the long, dark night Many knelt for hours
in prayer, their supplications mingling with
the roar of the waters and the shrieks OF
dxvf., in. ha In
all this misery two women gave premature
birth of children
COLLECTING THE BODIES.
The work of getting the bodies together
for easy identification began Sunday after
noon. The central point was Morrellville
On Fairfield avenue Is a large vacant
lot belonging to Frank Lecky. Al
o'clock this was almost entirely
covered with collins, while between
them and STOPPING over them were weeping
men and women. Although the number
was short of 100 at 3 o'clock, others will
come in. and there is no telling what the
total will be. On one rough box was 0
paper with the words: Three children"
Only a few hundred yards below the
bridge a number of bodies had been taken
to private houses. They were taken to
the Morrellville morgue Five were not
identified In one rude box lay the body
of a beautiful young woman. ANY one
know herr" called out a committee
man. A crowd passed the box, but no one
called her name On the face was beau
tiful expression of peace. The features
were fine and the clothing elegant The
only disagreement was an ugly cut on the
left temple sufficient to cause death.
St Mary's German Catholic Church
stands a quarter of a mile below the
bridge Its walls are standing, but inside
it is filed with mixed, broken benches and
ruined images. In it were found the MAI
gled body of 2. Eldridge and the remains
of several negroes The distance 10
st. Columbias Catholic Church is halt
a mile The streets leading to 1t are filled
with broken houses, and people in those
that were left standing were busy shovel
ing mud from the first floors The scene at
St Columbia's Church was awful Forty or
fifty bodies had been carried into it and
laid on the muddy seats.
Like scenes are witnessed at various
locations Trenches are being dug in
Lower Yoder Catholic cemetery and
Grand View Protestant cemetery. The
bodies that were exposed when the
waters began falling are in bad
condition Some have already been in.
definite arrangements seem to have been
made for funeral services The only sug'
gestion that could be obtained at Morrell
vile was that all the bodies would be buried
and general memorial services held after
the present suffering is alleviated
JoHNsTowN APPEAL FOR AID.
PITTSBURGH, Pa, June 3-The following
touching appeal for aid has been sent out
from the nearest Geographic point to
Johnstown:
'IIoovERsvILLE, Pa, June please notify
the country that our bankers have been APP
pointed a committee to receive subscriptions.
They should be sent TO c. ID. Lewis, chairman.
We sorely need food, clothing and money. We
are putting ourselves together and viii not
ask for help too long, but must have some now
or many will starve. Words can not depict
the iru h OF the disaster"
Adiutant- General Hastings and Major
Sanger have assumed entire charge of
Johnstown One effect of this systematic
work is making itself felt The town is
guarded by a company OF the Sixth Regi-
ment, Lieutenant Leggett in command New
members were sworn Ia by him and they
are making excellent soldiers. Special
police are being enrolled and the regula-
tions are so strict that even the smoking of
q cigar is prohibited General Hastings ex-
;.Tesses the opinion that more troops are
necessary.
THE PRESIDENT HEARD FROM.
WASHINGTON. June 3-The President has
sent q telegram to the mayor of Johnstown,
Pa, expressing his sympathy for the people
of that city in their recent calamity andsay-
ing that the Secretary Of War is considering
tribution to the relief fund
Ca. of