Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1889-06-08

ed towns as Pittsburg indicates that
bodies may be strewn along the
course of the food for more than
miles, and that many of
them may be concealed in the holes
and whirlpools which abound in all
rapidly flowing rivers.
Thousands crazed with grief for
the loss of relatives destitute of food
and clothing, and exposed to the ell
ements, which appear not TO grow
weary of their CHASTITY work, mutely
appeal to the humane instincts of
their fellows all over the land. They
are undergoing great suffering al
ready, and the conditions which sur
round them lead to the conviction
that they are doomed to much great
er hardships hereafter. The most
sympathetic efforts can scarcely
avert the horrors of a pestllence. No
army could be forced to camp on a
battlefield Tor long at this season OF
the year, with the dead unDuried,
and the dead in the desolated Cone
maugh Valley probably far outnum-
Der the victims of any modern battle.
field.
The burial of the drowned aud
burned must be provided for at once.
Many of the living are manned, and
many more will in short time be
stricken with fever from the horrors
they have had to endure. Care, nurs-
ing, shelter and medicines, in ad-
dition to food aud clothing, will be
needed, and money must be had to
purchase these.
Cold, rainy weather Monday inten
sified the dismal scenes in the Cone
maugh Valley of death. Over a
thousand more bodies OF victims
we're recovered aud prepared for bur
ial. A company of state troops were
busy all day carrying collins from
the cars to the buildings used as
morgues. The number of the dead
is now estimated at from five to
eight thousand. The population of
Johnstown and the other towns in
the valley was upwards of $4,000,
and it is believed that from % to 80
per cent. of this number persisted.
How many hundreds or thousands
persisted in the fire that is still con-
Stunning the dead and the debris can
never be accurately told. Physicians
having in view the sanitary condi-
tion of Johnstown, which is becom,
ing alarming, yesterday suggested
that the flames be let continue their
work of reducing the dead to ashes.
This caused storm of indignation,
and the fire engines continue to play
upon the smouldering ruins. Hun
dreds of the dead will have to be
buried without Identification. Long
trenches in the hillsides are being
dug for this purpose. Several more
thieves were detected pillasing
among the dead, and another suffer
ed lynching for his terrible crime
The Hungarians attempted to give
trouble by Selling sup plies aud fight
ing poor, destitute creatures for food
They were promptly put down, how
ever, by the military. Several relief
trains arrived in the valley yester
day, and very soon the homeless
people will be provided with shelter
food and clothing. There has been
a generous response from all over
the nation to the appeals for aid, and
already the general fund is fast ap
preaching half million of dollars
The ruin wrought in Washington
and vicinity by the floods is even
more than first reported. The latest
reports from West Virginia and Vir-
ginia increase the already heavy
losses. The railroads have made
but little progress in reaching the
West, and it will take weeks to put
the Western lines in good condition.
That Awful Funeral Pyre.
YOUNGSTOWN, Pa, June 3.-The
dark disaster of Friday, with its at
tendant terrors, thrilled the universe
and drew two continents closer to.
gether in the bonds of sympathy
that bind humanity to man. The
midnight terrors of Ashtabula and
Chatsworth evoked tears Of pity
from every Preside in Ohristendom,
but the true story of Johnstown,
when all is known, will stand soil.
tary and alone as the acme of mans
annibilatlon by the potent forces to
which humanity is ever subject. 1t
is not hackneyed utterance to say
that no pen can adequately depict
the horrors of this twin disaster,
holocaust and deluge; the deep emo
tions that fell from the heart of
every spectator find most eloquent
expression in silence-the silence
that bespeaks mans recognition of
his subserviency to the elements and
impotence to avert catastrophe.
From the banks many charred re-
mains of victims of flames and flood
are plainly visible to the naked eye
as the receding waters reluctantly
give up the dead. Beneath almost
every log or blackened beam a glis-
tening skull or blanched remnants
of ribs or limbs mark all that
remains of LIES hopes and dreams.
Since ten o'clock last night the fire
engines have been busy. Water
has constantly playing on the burn
ing ruins. At times the fire seemed
almost extinguished, but fitful flames
suddenly break out afresh in some
new quarter, and again the water
and flames wage fierce combat.
JoHNsTowN, PA, June 2.-Not less
than fifteen thousand strangers are
here. The handsome brick high
school is damaged to such an extent
that 1t will have to be rebuilt. The
water attained the height of the
windOw.sills of the second floor. Its
upper stories formed refuge for
many persons. All Saturday after
noon two little girls could De seen
at the windows frantically calling
for aid. They have spent all the
night and the day in this building,
cut off from all aid, without food or
drinking water. Their condition
was lamentabIe. Late in the eve
ming the children were removed to
higher ground and properly cared