The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-06-06
Another CHASTITY Discovery Has
Been Added to the Hundreds.
Thousands OF Dscaying Bodies Be-
meath the Burning Ruins.
The Loss Of Life is Estimated at
From 10000 10 10000.
HuHgsrians and Italians Attempting
to Rob the Bodies.

JOHNsTowN, Pa, June 3.-The dark
disaster of the day, with its attendant
terrors, thrills the universe and draws
too continents closer together in the
bonds of sympathy that bind humanity
to man. The midnight terrors of Ash
tabula and GhatswOrth evoked tears
of pity from every fireside in Christen-
dom, but the true story of Johnstown,
when all is known, will stand solitary
and alone as the acme of mans ami
hilation by the potent forces to which
humanity is ever subject. The menac-
ing clouds still hover darkly over the
valley of death and the muttering thun-
der that ever and anon reverberates
family in the distance seems the sardon-
ic chuckle of the demon of destruction,
as he pursues his way to other lands
and other homes. But the modern
deluRe has done its worst for Johns
town. The waters are rapidly subsid-
ing, but the angry torrents still eddy
around, and the winged messenger of
peace has not appeared to tell the pa
thetic tale of those who escaped the
devastation of black Friday. 1t is not a
hackneyed utterance to say that nopen
can adequately depict the horrors of
this twin disaster, holocaust and de-
huge, the deep emotion that wells from
the heart of every spectator, finds
most eloquent expressions in silence
the silence that bespeaks mans Tecog-
milton of his subServiency to the ele-
ments and impotence to fatal catas-
trophies The insignificance OF human
life is only reached by those who wit
nees such scenes of Johnstown, Chats
worth and Ashtabula, and to those
whose memory retains the picture of
horror, the dread experience cannot
fail to be fitting lesson. This morn
ing opens up dark and dreary. Great
drops of rainfall occasionally, and
and another storm seems imminent.
Everyone feels thankful though, that
the weather still remains cool, and that
the gradual putrefaction of the hun
dreds of bodies that line the stream
and lie hidden under the miles of
driftwood, and debris is not unduly
fastened. This morning the peculiar
stencil of decaying human flesh is
plainly perceptible to the Sences as one
ascends the bank of ruins of the wreck,
and the most sceptlcal now conceive the
perhaps thousands lie charred and
blackened beneath this great funeral
pyre. SearcherS wander YEARLY over
this smoking mass, and as occasionally
a sudden shout comes over the waters
the patient watchers on the hill realize
that another gastly discovery has been
added to the hundreds that chill every
heart and draw tears to the eyes from
pessimists. From the banks many
charred remains of victims of flames
and flood are plainly visible to the
naked eye as the receding waters re-
luctanty give up their dead. Beneath
almost every log VI blackened beam a
glistening skull, or the blanched rem
nantS of ribs or limbs mark all that re-
mains of life's hopes and dreams
Since 10 O'Clock last night the fire en-
gines have been busy. Water has
been constantly playing on the burning
ruins. At times the fire was almost
extinguished, but fitful flames sudden
ly break out afreSh in some new quarter
and again the water and flames wage
fierce combat. The chief sensation OF
the morning has been the united re-
monstrance of the physicians against
the extinguishment of the burning
wreck. They maintain with a philOS
ophy that to anxious searchers seems
heartless, that hundreds if not thou
sands of decaying bodies lie beneath
this mass of burning ruins. 1t would
be better, they say to per
NIT natures greatest scavengel
the flames to pursue the work unmo
Tested than to expose to further decay
the scores of purifying bodies that liz
beneath this debris. There can be bu
one result. Days Will elapse before thC
rubbish can be sufficiently removed Il
permit the resoYery of these bodies
and long ere that every corpse will bt
putrId mass, yielding forth those
frightful emenationsof decaying human
flesh that in n crowded community
like this can give but one result-tht
dreadful typhus. Every battlefield ha
demonstrated the necessity of TIT
hasty intermenL of decayiDg bodies
and the stencil that already arises is
foTeruuner of impending danger
Burn the wreck! Burn the wreck!
A loud cry of Indignation went III
from the lips of the vast multitude ant
the warnings of science were lost in TIL
eager demand of those that sought tn
remains of the near and dear. Tn
hose WAS again turned on the kissing
mass, and rapidly the flames yielded t.
the supremacy of water. 1t is almos
impossible To conceive the extent o
these smoking ruins. An area of eigh
or ten acres above the dam is coveret
to n depth of forty feet with shattere,
homes borne from the resident cente
of Johnstown. In each of these house
it is estimated there were from one t
twenty or twenty-five people. This
accepted as data upon which to est
mate the number that persisted on tn
spot, and if the data be correct, tn
bodies that lie beneath this rui
must run well up into the hundreds,
not thousands. There is no telling ho'
many bodies have been lost.
Adjutant General Hastings. who Ina
charge of everything, stated, this morI
ing that he supposed Chatsthere was {
least 1000 people under the burnin
debris, but the only way to find OF
how many lives were lost was to tai
census of the people now living an
subtract that from the census befOl
the flood. In my opinion there n
four Thousand to eight thousand sou
lost.
Battery b, of Pittsburg, arrived
the city this morning in command
Lieutenant Shippord who went to Il
headquarters fAdjutant General Has
ings in the tower. The general h
Just cotton up, and as the officer "a
preached the general officer said: wv
sent you here?' II was sent here
the chamber of commerce. repli
the lieutenant. I'VE want to state tn
there are only four people who C;
order you out, viz. The governor, a
.jutant general, major general, and t
commander OF the second brigaC
You have committed serious brea
of dicipline and my advice to you is
get back to PittsbuTg as soon as pos
BILE, or you may be mustered out
service. l am surprised that y
should attempt such an act withC
any authority whatever tt
seemed to settle.the matter, and
battery started back TO Pittsburg.
justice to Lieutenant Sheppard
might he stated that he was told I'll
an order had been issued by the g
erDor. General Hastings stated aft
wards that the sending down of
soldiers was like waving red flag 4
IL would tend to Great trouble