The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-06-04
PiteOuS and Heartrending Sights
at JOhnStOWn.
THE DEAD SEEN EVERYWHERE
The Work of the Wasers-In the Debris are
Nangled Masses Of Humanity-SOme
HumanMonsters.


town used to stand, is half covered with
water. The few sidewalks in part that es
capped the food were four inches thick witt
black, sticky mud, through which trampeC
a steady procession Of people. Women whC
are left utterly destitute are in tents where
the people are housed who can't lind any
other shelter, and they We're cold and cheer
ldss. The town seemed like Ereat
tomb. The people u JOhustDwn
have supped so full Of cor
rors that they 20 about i'll ii sort o. G,asa
and are only half conscious OF their grlel5.
Every hour as one goes through the sCr2et'
he hears the neighbors greeting each ovilct
and then inquirlng without show OF feel
ing how many each lad lost in his family.
To-day ! heard a gray-hared man hal
ansther across the street with this ques-
ton: II lost FIVE; they are all gone but
Mary and L. This was the reply: Il
am worse of than that said
the first old man, II have only my grand
son left: seven of US are gone" and so they
passed on without apparent excitement
They and everyone slse had heard so much
Of these melancholy conversations that
4 somehow the calamity had lost its signiti
canoe to them. They treat it exactly as il
the dead persons had gone away and were
coming back in a week.
The melancholy task of searching the
towns for more bodies went on to-day in a
soaking rain. There were little crowds OF
morbid curiosity hunters around each knot
of working men.
Even those who come in from neighbor-
ing towns with an idea OF the days strange
and ghOstly experience did not care to be
near after they mad seen one body eXhumed.
There were hundreds and thousands of
these -'Sitors from the country to-day.
The eject of the dreadful things theg saw
4 RssV- 70 ~
noon the streets were beginning to
be fall of boisterOus and noisy
cOuntrymen, who were trying to counterfeit
the strains on their nerves with unnatural
excitement Then half of the police, see
ing the unseemly sights that were likely to
disgrace the streets, drove out and kept
all visitors who had not some good reason
for their presence. After that and far into
the evening all the country roads were
filed with drunken Stragglers who were
trying to forget what they had seen.
One thing that makes the work of
searching for bodies very slow is the
strange way that the great masses of OBJ
jects were rolled into intricate masses Of
rubbish. AS the flood came down the
&S1iey of South Fork it obliterated the
suburb of Woodville, where not house
was left nor trace of one. The material
they had contained was rolled on down the
valley over and over, grinding it up to a
pulp ana finally leaving 1t against the I'M
usually firm foundation of an eddy.
These contain human bodies, but it is slow
work TO pick them to pieces Inside of one
of them to-day l saw the remnant of a car
rage and the body Of harnessed horse, a
baby cradle and doll, a tresS of wOman's
hair. Z rocking horse and piece of beef
still hanging to a hook. The city is much
better patr0lled than any time since the
food occurred Many members of the
,1s ,f -hVe1-r
offered their services. One of them showed
his spirit by striking man whom he saw
opening a trunk, a tremendous blow over
the head, knocking him senseless. Several
big trunks and safes lie in full sight on the
big plain in the lower part of the town, but
no one dared touch them after that.
Among the priests here are Fathers
Troutwin, Rosenstel, Doran, Corcoran
berlin, Boyle, Smith, O'Connell and
PLambing. ]. J. Murphy, a bookseller of
Pittsburg, hunted the morgue all day for
his brother james. His entire family has
been lost and Murphy is seeking for the
remains. Every fresh arrival of CHASTITY
burdens set him to making anxious in
5eI hFtfs' oo' as YET ne mas not '0uno MS
There is much comment over the finding
of the, body of a nun cut in two. 1t was
first thought she was a resident of the
Johnstown community, but as none of
them are reported missing the supposition
is she was travelling on the day express.
A broken-hearted couple are Thomas Ley
den and wife, hard working people of the
little town of Minersville. All day they
have been trudging over the slipping ooze
in Johnstowu, asking every person for
news OF their daughter.
R. S. Frazer, Pittsburg lawyer, was
tramping among the ruins looking like
h.,g ,-s.4 h
( lily was almost drowned, but managed to
escape after an exciting experience.
When the flood came down on them they
were driven from the first to the second
story and soon after to the third. They
were kept there six hours before they were
helped through the roof, and from there
made their escape over the housetops to
the hills.
Where Woodvale once stood is now sea
of mud. The Associated Press correspon-
dent waded through the mud and water of
the valley to-day over to the site of the
former village. As has often been stated,
nothing is standing but the old wooden
mills, and the place is swept bare of all
other buildings but the ruins of the Gau-
tier wire mill The boilers of these great
works were carried l 900 yards from their
foundations. Pieces of engines, rolls and
other machinery were swept far away
from where they once stood. The
wreck Of a hose carriage is sticking
I'D out Of the mud, it belonging to the
a.ack company Of Johnstown. The house
~ swept away and the cellar is filled with
mud, so that the site is obliterated A
German Waterman was on guard at the
mill when the waters came. He ran for
the hillsids and succeeded in escaping. He
tells a graphic story of the appearance of
the water as it swept down the valley. He
declared the first wave was as high as the
third story of house. The place is de-
serted, and no effort is being made TO clean
of the streets. The mire has formed a |
grave for many people who were victims. |
Arms and legs are protruding from the |
Aud, and it makes the most sickening of |
pictures. |
A man named Dougherty tells thrilling |
story of a ride down the river on log. |
When the water struck the roof on which |
he had taken shelter, he jumped straddle |
of telegraph pole, riding some three miles |
from Johnstown to Boliver before he was |
rescued.
Many inquiries have been made as to |
why the. militia did not respond when |
ordered out by A6jutant- General Hastings. !
In the first place il IS beyond the generals |
authority to order the troops to a scene of |
this kind unless the governor first issues a |
proclamation; then it becomes his duty to |
issue orders. The general said he was |
noss.5ed that Pittsburg troops. consisting |
of STthe Fourteenth and Tenth regi |
ments, had rendered their services |
aud no doubt they would have been a great |
service. The general consulted with the |
chief burgess of Johnstown and the sheriff |
of Cambria county in regard to calling