The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-06-13
thought of danger. One instance will i

| "a
| lustrate
"A man living there had sick mothe
IN bed On the other side of the street from
MS own house. In the early afternoon b.
went over to see her. While there th,
! Hood came. He carried her to the roof O.
Inc house, and then stood looking out ovel
the awful torrent that ran between hin
and his own house.
HE plunged in and swan through the
swift current, beating off the great tim
Ders that ran against him, and finall4
reached his home. He fastened two win
dow shutters together, tied his wife and
ten days old child to them, and re- swan
the current with this in tow. All were
saved.
line pennsylvania bridge saved thou
sands OF lives. The flood swept over the
narrow valley for ABOUT sixteen miles
above Jamestown, bearing .Conemaugh
and Woodvale with it. 1t struck Johns
town and swept it away, going down to
the bridge. The solid masonry of this
withstood the shock, and the water began
to back up.
"Had the bridge given way at once, very
few OF all the people of Johnstown would
have escaped. All would have been swept
on down the river to certain death. AS it
Is. III the mass of debris banked up against
the bridge, probably six thousand dead
bodies are buried. That is the general
estimate, and is no exaggeration.
The only buildings | saw standing
when | left were the school house, the
Club house, the Pennsylvania station
and one or two residences. All the rest
is swept away leaving not a trace of streets
or street railway tracks or houses or any,
thing but piled and broken debris. Up
the narrow valley only part of the mills
at Woodvaie remains standing of all the
houses and villages which were there last
Friday morning.
The police regulations are simply per-
feet. Mr.. Moxham is at the head of
things. and everything is systematized
No one is allowed on the site of the town
except people with orders from the Sheriff
or else those having relief corps badges.
Those who have houses left, up in the
east part OF the town, are taking III twenty
and thirty people apiece, and will not
charge cent for entertaining them.
1.-The cemetery is on Prospect Hill, and
as all the bridges over the river are swept
away it is impossible to bury the dead
there. A temporary burying ground has
been established on the hill on the Johns
town side of the river and the dead are
being put there to be removed afterward.
1.-The stories of ritling the dead bodies
have been greatly exaggerated. l only
heard positively of three or four cases of
that kind. Even the lowest of the peo-
pie OF the town have risen to the occasion.
and would never think of doing anything
of the kind. The sorrow is too universal,
too omnipotent, for the inhabitants to
think of despoiiing the dead.
The Cambria Iron Works proper are
not damaged more than $500, 900, although
their branch wire nail works above Johns
town are entirely destroyed.
ut was reported that John p. Linton,
Past Supreme Chancellor of the knights
of Pythias, was dead. and this 10 still
rumoreo; but saw him alive and well.
J ohn Mcmillan, a prominent man of the
town, was also reported dead, but is alive.
1T IS hard to give al y idea of the hurry,
the confusion, the wild and woful excite
ma f,,ff ha M, 40 -
were performed then and forgotten mo
ment afterWard, Men aided in saving
life and then forgot it in the constant peril
OF their own situations. | was talking to
man Tuesday when nottingham saw
him and rushed up. You saved NY dangh-
ter and her child, he said, excite1ly.
My friend did not remember it, but the
man insisted.
"Oh, YES, you did. AID if you were the
BLACKLIST sinner on earth, you will get the
highest place in heaven for it,
when my brother aud sister in law
were in the train coming toward Johus
town to inquire for their children. a little
black-and-tan dog jumped into the Car. all
covered with mud and wringing wet
lit leaped on my sister wild with joy
1t was the little dog they had left locked
up in the stable at home. Somehow or
or other it had escaped drowning swan
ashore, and accidentally ran across its mas
ter and mistress. My sister law is not
fond of dogs, but she took the dirty black
and tan in her arms and kissed it,
THRILLlNG CHAPTER.