Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-06-07
NO. 23.

houses. Many of them were occupied. The
victims were swept into the comparatively
sill waters at the bridge and there met
death either by fire or water.
The scene Of the Disaster.
Johnstown, which is the county seat of
Cambria county, is a city of 5000 10 l0,-
600 inhabitants and is the natural centre
Of population of $4,000 to &c, 900 distrib-
uted along the Conemaugh river in the
track of the flood. 1t is 30 miles south
west of Altoona, and about 30 miles from
the famous Horse Shoe curve of the Penn
sylvania railroad near Cresson. IL is the
eastern terminus of the western division
Of the Pennsylvania canal, and has a large
station on the Pennsylvania railroad 1t is
picturesquely situated among a ridge of
mountains rich in bituminous coal, lime
stone, and fireclay, and is the seat of the
Cambria iron works, which employ some
l 300 men, with a plant valued at 50, j,000,-
900. From South Fork the place extends
along the bottom of the valley, and the
flood of water sweeping down carried away
village after village that were clustered to-
gether under the general name of Johns
town. The towns along the Conemaugh
from Johnstown down are Cambria, Sheri-
dan, Cooperdael, Sang Hollow, Conemaugh,
Nineveh, New Florence, Lacolle, Lockport,
Bolivar, Coke Valley, Snyder, Tunnelton,
Kellys, White and Salisbury.
The body of water, the breaking away
of which caused this disaster, was the larg-
est reservoir or artificial lake in the United
States. 1t lay up in the mountains 200 to
300 feet above the level of the valley in
which Johnstown and the other towns
named were built. 1t was fed by springs
and was originally raised into lake by the
Pennsylvania canal company, which built
a dam across the ravine in which it lay,
using its water as a feeder for their canal.
Recently the lake had been bought by a
company of wealthy Pittsburg men, known
as the South Fork fishing and hunting club,
| who kept it as a private preserve. They
had quadrupled it in size by increasing the
dam, which they converted into an i'm
mense structure 700 to 1000 feet wide, 80
| feet thick at the base, and 110 feet high.
The lake was 81 miles long, II miles wide,
and very deep, 100 feet in some places. 1t
was recognized that the lake was a menace
to the country below, and the South Fork
club had the dam inspected once a month
by the Pennsylvania railroad engineer, who
said that nothing less than some convul-
sion of nature would tear the barrier away
Other Similar Disasters Recalled.
The bursting of the reservoir at Johns
town will at once recall the Mill River dis
aster on May IS, 1874, when the village of
Haydenville, Mass, was swept out of ex-
istence and l40 persons were drowned A
| guard was watching the dam, and about
O'Clock i'll the morning he discovered that
an enormous leak had developed out of
small one. He started to give warning to
the village of Leeds Just below, but the
| l.. E.. 4
the village, and the water from pond ia
acres in area came down like a wall, car
rying away nearly the whole village Hay
denville was swept away, and several 9TH
er towns on the Connecticut river were in
undated. Over 300 families were render
ed homeless and 81 200, 900 worth of prop
ertY in dams, dwellings, factories, ETC., was
| lost. Roads and bridges were damaged to
the extent of 5000, 900.
At Lynde Brook near Worcester, on
March 30 1876, thirty feet of the reser-
voir wall, which had been leaking gave
way and over 800, 900, 900 gallons of water
were emptied into the valley. Only one
life was lost, but property was damaged to
the extent of nearly 81 100000.
On March 81, 1877, the Staffordville res
ervoir, on the east branch of the Whitman
tic river, gave way, and a torrent of wa
| Jer TuSneu uOWn Jne valley dU Jne TdUe Ol
five miles an hour, destroying mill-dams
and railroad bridges in its course. The
people were warned by man on horse
back, who kept ahead of the food and all
except two of the residents of the valley
escaped. The loss of property on this oc
casion exceeded a million dollars.
By the bursting of the Huron mill dam,
near Houghton, Mich, on January 2, 1884,
six lives were lost
A similar disaster near East Lee, Mass,
April 90, 1886, destroyed nine lives, and
the damage to mill property, private dwell
ings, and roads and bridges exceeded $3.50,
OO0
One reservoir calamity, that at Sheffield,
Eng, has been made famous by Charles
Reade in Put Yourself in His Place" On
March II, 1854, the embankment of the
Bradford reservoir gave way and flooded
Sheffield and the country for II or IA miles
around. About $50 lives were lost and
property valued at over 81 100000 was
destroyed.