The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1889-06-01
A MIGHTY DELUGE.
The Town Of Johnstown, Pa, WipeI
Out and Hundreds of Lives
Reported Lost.
Heavy Rains Cause the Largest Res
ervoir in the Country to Suddenly
Give Way.
Details Are Impossible to Obtain
Damage at other Points.

Damage at Other Points.
: PIrTsBURs, Pa, May s1.-A sudder
freshet is reported in the north fork of th'
river east of Johnstown, Pa, in the ALE
gheny mountains Two-thirds OF Johns
town Is said TO be under water. and III,
railroad and telegraph lines are washed
out
The flood at Johnstown has resulted il
an awful catastrophe Ii is said the reser
voir above the town broke about O'Clock
this evening. and an immense volume oi
water rushed down TO the city, carrying
with it death and destruction. Houses
with their occupants were swept
away and many people were drowned.
There is no communication with Johns
t'wn, but the telegraph operators on the
Pennsylvania railway II Snag Hollow,
twelve miles this side of JOhnstown, say al
least seventy-five dead bodies have hOated
past The wires are all down and no trains
are running east of Blairsviile. which is
about twenty-five miles west of Johns
town. There is no way 10 20 70 the scene
Of the disaster and full particulars can
hardly he obtained tonight, although every
effort is being made 20 do SO. There will
be no irains through to the east Before to-
morrow.
The latest reliable information received
from JohnStOwn comes through Pennsyl-
vania railroad officials, and shows that
over 200 dead bodies have been counted
floating down the stream AT Johnstown
alone, while along the line many addition
al lives have been loet. Ii is asserted there
are but two houses in Johnstown proper
entirely abuve the water line. A special
| bearing Pennsylvania railroad officials and
Associated Press correspondents has left
this city for the scene. Telegraphie CON-
munication is entirely cut off. andtuntiI the
telegraph repairmen and operators with the
necessary instruments open up at the near
est point but little reliable information can
be obtained
The telegraph wires being down abso-
lntely for six OF seven miles below the i'm
mediate scene of the disaster, and being in
unworksble shape for three or four miles
distant, il was at least 7.30 O'Clock before
an accurate outline of the effect of the tidal
wave could be learned. The chief officials
OF the Pittsburg end OF the main line of the
Pennsylvania railroad received most of
their first information from the signal
tower at Snag Hollow, SIX miles west of
JOhDstOwn- At 7:45 O'Clock boy was res
cned by the men in the signal tower of the
railroad company. He said that with his
father, mother, brother and two sisters he
was swept over the breast OF the new stone
railroad bridge at Johnstow WI, that it cap
sized few seconds later and they were all
drowned, so far as he could tell. The rail- |
road operator officially reports that before |
lark they were able to count ia persons |
cllnging U buildings, wreckage. or drowned |
and hoatleg in the current. If this inform |
alton is {" pe credited, the damage 20 town |
property must be in the nature of a clean |
sweep.
AS early as O'Clock an alarm was sent |
TO JOhnstown, that there was danger from |
the dams. The railroad officials were noti- |
fed and in a very short time began 10 carry
the people from the town TO places of safe
ty on regular trains and hastily imprOvis,- d /
rescuing trains. Superintendent PitcairHe,
of the western division of the Pennsylvania
railroad, was on his way southwark and /
was notified of the impending trouble.
A dispatch from Greensburg sa IS:
JOhnstOwn is completely submerged, nd
the loss of life is inestImsbe. Houses lre
going down the river by the dozens, and
people can be seen clinging 10 the ro of.
At Camptown, village of several hun
dred Inhabitants, the houses are almost
entirely covered and a great many
dwellings at Blairsville are submerged.
Scarcely dwelling in the vicinity of Snag
Hollow can be seen. The bridges at Boil
WAR and Minerva, it is reported, have given
way, and that at Ssiesburg. il is feared,
will be carried away. People here who
have friends in the flooded district are
eagerly waiting for news at the telegraph
Office Great uneasiness prevails. The
river at Livermore is rising and great de-
struction will follow.
Superintendent Pitcairn promptly took
charge Of the work and began the double
duty of clearing the tracks and sending all
possible aid to those in danger. His prompt
work no doubt saved many lives. In order
TO understand the nature of this calamity
1t is necessary to describe the respective To-
cations of the reservoirs. The Johnstown
lies about eighteen miles
northeast of Johnstown. and is tue site of
an old reservoir which ,sas one of the fe ed
ers OF the Pennsylvania canal. This sh Get
of water was formerly known as Cone
maueh lake. Ii is from 29O 10 300 i!ret
above the level of JohHstown, being in the
In is three and half miles
long and from one mile to one and . quar-
ter in width. Ii some places it is 100 Ieet
in depth Ii holds more water than any
other reservoir, natural or artificial, in the
United States. The lake has been qu zd-
rupled in size by artificial means and il was
held in check by dam 200 TO loo seet
wide. Ii is ninety feet in thick
ness st the base and the height is
Ito feet. The top has a brea 1th
Of over twenty feet. Recognizing the
menace which the lake presented TO the re-
gion below, the South Fork club. which
owned the reservoir, had the dam inspe, ted
once . month by a Pennsy lvanis railroad
engineer and their investigation sho we'd
that nothing less than some convulsion of
nature would tear the barrier away and
loosen the weapon of death. The steady |
rains Of the past forty-eight hours in
creased the volume of water in all the |
small mountain streams, which were al
ready swelled by lesser rains earlier in the
week. From the Information obtained 81
this time il is evident something in the na-
ture Of a cloud burst must have been the
elimination Of the struggle of the water
against the embankment The ficuIty
Of obtaining definite information salded
10 the excitement and appre-
hension of the people who had relatives
and friends at the scene of the disaster
The course of the torrent from the br' ken
dam at the foot OF the lake 20 JOhnstosrn is
almost eighteen miles, and with the ex-
ception Of one point the water passed
through 8 narrow V-shSped valley. -Four
miles below the dam lay the town of south |
Fork, where the South Fork itself empties !
into the Conemaugh river. The town con-
tanned about 1000 Inhabitants IL has not
been heard from, but it IS said fOur-fifths Of
il has been swept away. -Four miles further
down on the Conemaugh river, which runs
parallel with the main line of the PsnusyI-
vanis railway, was the town Of Mineral
Point IL had 500 inhabitants. 20 per
cent OF the houses being on a fat and
close TO the river. 1t seems impossible