The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-06-13
ISlCKENlNG SCENES.
Horrors Increasing as the Work of
Recovery Progresses at
JOhnstOwn.

JOhnstOwn.
JoHNsTowN, Pa, June 5.-The gray mlsts
had hardly arisen from the hills this morn
ing until thousand funerals were coursing
their green sides. There were no hearses,
few mourners aud as little solemnity as
formality. The majority of the collins were
OF rough pine. Silently the professions moved
aud silently they unloaded in the lap OF
mother earth. No minister of God was there
to pronounce u last blessing as the clods
ratified down, except few faithful priests
who had followed some lnangled representa-
tives of their faith to the grave. All day
long the corpses were being hurried below
ground. The unidentified bodies were
grouped on a high hill west of the doomed
city, where one epitaph suited for all, and that
the word unknown" There are hundreds
of these graves already, and each day will
increase the proportion. The possibility of
identification dim.nishes every hour. Fires
are raging over the mangled graves of hun
dreds, and the partial cremation of many
bodies is inevitable Others are becoming so
blackened in their contact with the debris
or through qualification that q grnning
skeleton would show as much resem blance
to the persons in life as they Almost every
stroke OF the pick in some portions of the
city to-day resulted in the discovery of an
other victim. Wherever one turns the mel
ancholy view of a coffin is met. Every train
into Johnstown was laden with them, the bet
ter ones being accompanied by friends of the
dead Men could be seeu staggering over
the ruins with shining mahogany casBcts on
their shoulders Several stumbled and fell
into the Astounding pits. The hollow houses
of the dead went bounding over the stones
like drums in q funeral march The coffin
famine appears to be alleviated.
THE ENoRMITY OF THE DEVASTATION
Wrought by the Conemaugh flood is becom-
ing more and more apparent with every eff
fort of the luborers to resolve order out of
chaos Over one hundred men have been
all day engaged in an effort to clear mar
row passage from the death bridge upward
through the seq of debris that blocks the
Conemaugh for nearly half mile Every in
genuity known to man has been resorted to
by this crew. Tie giant power of dynamite
was brought into requsltion, and at fire.
QuenJ intervals the roar of explosions re-
verberated through the valley, and sticks,
stones and logs would fly high in the air.
When one reflects that fu ly twenty-five
acres are to be cleared IN this
way, the task ahead seems an
lnterminable one. But there is no roya
road, and if the hundreds or thousands Of
bodies beneath these blackened ruins are to
be recovered for Christian burial, the labors
of to-day must be continued with increased
vigor. 1t is only in Difference to the unrea.
son1ng mandate of grief that the Herculean
labor of clearing the river by means of
DYNAMITE AND DERRICK
Is persisted in. There is no hope IN the
| calmer minds that this task can be pursued
to the end The progress of to-day is hardly
observable, and ere two more days have
elapsed there is little doubt the emanations
of putrid bodies will have Eecome so fright
| full as to drive the hardest workman from
the scene Until that time arrives,
however. there is no hope tHaG this grief
striken populace will abandon the cherished
hope OF again gazing upon the forms of the
loved once whose lives went out in the fire
and food of the Conemaugh The work of
clearing up the wreck and recovering the
bodies Is now being conducted most
systematically. Over six thousand men are
at work in the various portions of the
valley, and each little gang Of twenty men
is directed by foreman who is under orders
from the general headquarters. AS the rub
Dish is gone over and the bodies and scat
tered articles of value recovered, the debris
is piled up in one high mass and the torch
applied In this way the valley is assuming
a less devastated condition.
LONG DEATH LIST.
Conservative men are of the opinion that
the number of people destroyed Will reach
| from II, 900 to $4,000. This view of it is
based on many fragments of evidence OBJ
| tanned from over one hundred citizens, be-
| ing careful to select a. Intelligent men
and women as could be found They
| were chosen from as many occupations
| as possible and from as many social classes
| They were asked to estimate the percentage
| of loss to the total population. to tell how
| many people of their acquaintance have
disappeared, and how the gathering of RESI-
dents on the streets and in public places
| compare with the same in former times
! Their statements of fact and estimates were
proved as far as possible, and the pendulum
| of calculation seems to be beating time
when it swings from u, 1000 to $4,000. 1t
must be rene mbered that a very large pro-
| portion of this loss is made up of children.
| Being lighter and smaller thev have been
| swept into out of the way recesses
| and are almost inaccessible, and they
are more easily carried away. The
GT1IG OF opinion dLuOuS luISIIlSehO u0uf
| physicians, engineers and railroad men, is
that from 900 to 1900 of the bodies will
never be found To-day fifty bodies were
taken from the debris in front of the Catho-
| lie church in Johnstown borough. About
| forty of the bodies were those of women.
| They were Immediately removed to the
| morgue for Identification. Eve bodies were
| taken out of the wreckage near Dibert's
| bank on Main street this morning. Miss
| Clara Barton of Washington, d. O., the orig
| inator of what is known as the Red Cross
| here this morning and will at once assum e
| charge of all female relief corps
| MANY IN WANT.
Notwithstanding the fact that nearly every
| prominent city in the United States is raising
! fund for the relief of Conemaugh sufferers,
| the wants of the homeless and afflicted are
far from being allevlated At the various
| relief STATIONS to-day crowds of appli-
| cants was continuous from morning
till night, and many of the needy
| were forced to wait in line for
| hours before their turn came and their little
portion was allotted out to them. Hundreds
| Of thousands of dollars must pour into this
| stricken valley If positive suffering and
| privation is to be avoided. Thousands OF
| people are homeless, and in these devastated
| homes thousands also last their all,
| Labor and manufacturing OF nearly
| every kind is al a standstill In the
valley, and weeks or months must elapse be-
fore the Cambria Iron works and other in
| dustriaI institutions can possibly resume and
give employment to the thousands that de-
pend upon them for support Teegraphic
| expressions Of commiseration are
pouring in from every city aud
borough throughout the broad land,
| but substantial evidences of sympathy ar e