The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-06-07
Imnaired and hnt FOR th1s xonld have

houses are standing on the side of the
hill TO mark the spot of that thriving
village. Thirty houses ana eighteen
lives, were the sacrifice demanded by
The flood from that little town.
At East Conemsugh, the round house
with twenty-eight engines is gone, not
a brick remaining to mark .he spot
where the round house stood. y num-
Der Of engines are lying around in every
imaginable shape and position, some of
them nearly buried in the sand. All
the hotels and business houses on che
street facing the railroad are gone and
the surface is cOversd over with sand
as smooth as If no buildings had ever
stood there. At Franklin, across the
river from East Conemaugh, the houses
that stood next TO the river are all
gone
At Woodvale. the only buildings
standing are The -four mill and a pOr-
tion of the wooden mill. Every house
in the town is gone, and with the eXcep-
Iion OF the two houses mentioned there is
nothing left to show that town had
ever been there.
At Conemsugh borough and Johns
town the scene is indescribable. Moth
ing like it has ever occurred IN this
country. Where the Gautier works
and long rows of dwelling houses
and business blocks stood on Friday
morning. was a scene of ruin and DESC
! latiOu on Saturday From one thou
sand to fifteen hundred houses have
/ been swept away as if they had never
/ been. On Main street from end to end
I the street is covered with debris, in
/ some places as high as the roofs of the
I houses. From the wooden mill at
/ WoOdyale, TO the bridge, a distance OF
/ probably two miles, a strip of territory
I nearly half mile in width has been
swept clean. Not a stick of timber or
one brick on top of another being left
to tell the story. 1t is the most com
plete wreck that imagination could
portray.
In MiIlgiile and Cambria city, the de-
struction is even worse Standing at
the depot in Johnstown and looking
down where once stood rows of houses
and business places, the first building
TO be seen is the MilIville schoo! house.
Every other building between it and
the station is gone. While at the stone
bridge that spans the river, below the
station ruins of buildings, trunks of
trees, debris of every description includ
ing The bodies of men, women, children
and animals are packed in against the
piers forming a dam that backed the
water all over the streets of the main
portion of Johnstown. a number of
no uses, including the Mansion house
that stood near the Conemaugh IN
JohnstOGn are now found over in Kern
! Vile, across the Stonycreek, being car
I ried down by the food TO where the wa
= ter was damned by the railroad bridge,
which caused a swirl and carried them
with their living freight up the Sony
( creek into KerDville, where a number
were rescued.
/ At the bridge the wrecksge is on
! fire and hundreds of human bodies will
be burned beyond all hope OF recogni-
ton.
INCIDENTS OF THE FLOOD.
James NJ. Walters. Esq, spent the
night in Alma Hall and relates thrill
ing story. One Of the most curious oc~
! curreuces of The whole disaster was how
Mr.. Walters got to the hall. He has
his Office on the second floor. His home
I is at l35 Walnut street. He says he
was in the house with his family when
the water struck his and carried it away
Mr.. Wslters's family drifted on a raft
in one direction. He passed down sew
eral streets IN another until he came to
the hall, his dwelling struck that edifice
and he was thrown into bis own office.
About 200 persons had taken refuge
in the hall and were on the second,
third and fourth stories. The men
held a meeting and drew up some rules
which all were bound to respect. Mr..
Walters was chosen president, Rev.
Bsale was put in charge of the first
floor, and Doctor Matthews OF the
fourth floor.
night was spent in darkness. The sick
were cared for. The weaker women
and children had the best accommoda-
tions while others had to wait. The
scenes were most agonizing heart
rendering shrieks, sobs and means
pierced the gloomy darkness. The cry
ing OF children mingled with the sup
pressed sobs o: 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 supplicstions mingling
with the roar OF the waters and the
shrieks OF the dying il the surrounding
houses. In al this misery two women
gave premature birth of children
Doctor Matthews is a hero-several of
Der and his pains were most severe, vet
through all he attended the sick. When
two women in a house across the street
shouted for help he, with two other
brave young men, climbed across the
drift and ministered TO their wants.
No one died during the night, but woN
men and children surrendered their
lives on the succeeding day as a result
of terror and fatigue. Miss Ross
Young, one of the young ladies in the
hall, was frightfully c1t aud bruised.
Mrs Young had leg broken. All OF
Mr.. Walters family were saved.
Ga Sunday afternoon spring Wagon
came slowly from the ruins in what was
once Cambria. In it, on a board and