St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-06-06
APPALLING DISASTER
A Dam Breaks.
FLOOD AND FIRE
DESTROYS Twelve Thousand Lives
and Millions of Property
I'M (RNRMATGH VALLEY PENN
I'm CONEmAUGH VALLEY, PENN.
Details of the Disaster.

1
from western Pennsylvania of a ter
rible food and loss of life at Johns
town city of G, 900 in the Allegheny
mountains, about 40 miles west OF
Altoona and rs miles this side OF
Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania Cen
trail railroad, main line, from
New York to Chicago. A heavy rain
of Sc hours filled the streams to over
flowing and seems to have caused
the reservoir above Johnstown to
break through its banks. The flood
rushed down upon the town, sweep
ing away the houses and drowning
the inhabitants. The early reports
gave the loss of life at 200 with
great destruction of property. Later
accounts Saturday reported 1900
dead, and by Sunday morning came
the appalling announcement of the
| details:
The Death-DeaIine Reservoir.
The reservoir lies about two and a
half miles northeast of ,Johnstown,
and is the site of the old reservoir
which was one of the feeders of the
Pennsylvania canal. 1t is the prop
erty of a number of wealthy men in
| Pittsburg, who formed themselves
into the corporation, the title of
which is the South Fork fishing and
hunting club This sheet of water
was formerly known as Conemaugh
| lake 1t is from 200 to 800 feet
above the level of Johnstown, being
in the mountains. 1t is about 312
miles long and from a mile to IA
miles in width and in some places it
is 100 feet in depth. The lake has
| been quadrupled in size by artificial
means and was held in check by a
dam from 700 to 1000 feet wide. 1t
is 90 feet in thickness at the base and
the height is 10 feet Recognizing
the menace which the lake had to
the region below, the South Fork
club had the dam inspected once a
month by the Pennsylvania railroad
engineer, and their Investigations
showed that nothing less than some
CONFUSION of nature would tear the
barrier away. The steady rains of
| the past two days increased the vol
ume of water in all the small noun
tain streams which were already
swelled by the lesser rains earlier in
the week. 1t is thought that some
thing in the nature of a cloud-burst
must have been the elimination of
the struggle of the water against the
embankment.
The Warning Unheeded.
Itappears that the unheeded warn
ing which came to the JohnstOwn
people was sent from South Fork vii
lage by Freight Agent Deckert, when
the wall of the reservoir began to
crumble at the top. He begged the
people of Johnstown for Gods sake
to take to the hills The same alarm
call had been sent down at every
flood since the lake was made, and
people had grown careless of this cry
of wolf" But at last the waters
came in very truth, and they were
lost.
A dispa tch from JohnstOwn reports
that the towns Of Woodvale and
Conemaugh Borough, which lay be-
tween that city and the reservoir,
are swept as clearly off the face of
the earth as if they never had an
existence. Of Woodvale's popula-
ton of 1900 souls barely half dozen
have been accounted for. City So
licitor Keuhn of Johnstown places
the number of buildings swept away
in that place at 1900.
Some Stories of Survivors.
S. ]. Heron, who left Johnstown
at 2 O'Clock Friday afternoon, arriv-
ed at Pittsburg late at night. Mr..
Heron tells a graphic story of the
disaster that fell on the mountain
city. All of Thursday afternoon and
night rain poured down in a deluge.
The little mountain streams swelled
into torrents, pouring their waters
into the COnemaugh river that pass
es through the center of the city.
Soon the banks of the river over
flowed and the streets through the
city began to disappear beneath the
rapidly increasing current. Houses
and bridges from above the city were
swept away by the flood and added
largely to the damage further down.
The water rose so rapidly that
many people could not escape from
their homes, and ran to the upper
stories from which they were rescued
by men riding horses and mules.
When l left it looked as if 1000 peo-
pie were homeless. They were gath
cred on the mountain sides looking
sadly at their homes buried in the
water.
Pennsylvania railroad officials say
that the number of dead cannot be
estimated Over 200 bodies have
been counted floating down the
stream at Johnstown alone. They
Il L e
other debris. Remnants of houses,
cattle, fences, trees and innumerable
other things are seen sweeping by in
the food.
Some idea of the immense amount
of woe worked by the disaster may
be CLEANED by the assertion that there
are but two houses in Johnstown
proper entirely above the water line
houses are going down the river by
the dozen and people can be seen
clinging to the roofs.
Summary of Facts and Rumors.
Later dispatches from the great
flood are confounding in the magni-
tude of the dreadful figures given. A
despatch dated at New Florence,
some 10 miles below Johnstown on
the Couemaugh, at 1 o'clock Sunday
morning, says that the loss will be
in lives 1000, in property 81, OOO,
900.
Still more appalling are hereports
from Sang Hollow, six miles west of
Johnstown. The first reports of loss
of life, it is said, were entirely too
low 1t is believed that at least 5000
persons have persisted. Of these 700
or 800 were burned in the fiery fur
mace at the viaduct. Two thousand
collins have been ordered for bodies