Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-06-09
WOFUL WATERS.
PeStilenC0 an After r-E1tCt of the Great
JOhnStOYn Flood.
AID COMING FROM ALL POINTS.
Proper Relief efPlans-Losses by Secret
Societies-The Unknown
Dead-Incidents.
DISINFECTING.

ESPECIAL DISPATCHES TO THE REooBD-UNIoN.I
DISINFECTING.
The Disposal of Debris the Problem of
the Hour.
JoHNsTowN, June Sth. - Yesterday
seventy-tiye bodies were discovered, but
very few were identified. Many troops
were forced to return home on account of
| sickness, generated by the poisonous
atmosphere, caused by the rapidly decom-
posing bodies. Scores of laborers have
stopped work from the same cause.
A CRUSHED BODY.
One of the most sickening sights yet pre-
sented among the ruins, was the finding in
the mud in the center of the wagon road,
| of poor remnant of humanity, over which
the wagons had been passing for forty eight
hours. Heavy vehicles had sunk hub-deep
into the mud and broken every bone in
the corpse. The head and one arm had
disappeared. The body was taken to the
Morgue and thence hurried off to burial.
BODIES RECOVERED YESTERDAY.
The bodies recovered yesterday and
taken to the Morgue are as follows: A 12-
year-old girl supposed to be Myrtle Strayer,
William Marshall of Indiana, Pa, three
unknown women, one slender old lady
who had S775 in her pocket, and an un-
known man, whose head and body were
burned to crisp. The remains of Mrs. J.
]. Llewellyn have been recovered and
identified.
BREEDING A PESTILENCE.
Pestilence permeates the atmosphere and
disease is spreading. The odor exhaled
from the fast decomposing bodies of human
beings and animals is everywhere apparent.
1t is almost beyond human power now to
take out more bodies that can ever be iden-
| titled, therefore protection to the lives of
those here will soon demand that heroic
measures be taken. In the interest of the
| general welfare upon recovery of remains
| they should beimmediately buried.
D1BEDDED IN THE DEBRIS.
Every one believes that not less than 500
bodies are imbedded in the debris from the
! junction of the Conemaugh and Stony
creek to the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge.
The work of removing the wreckage
| jammed in the riVer-bed continues neces-
| sarily very slow, as the debris is almost as
solid as rock down twenty feet 10 the bed
of the river. About 100 feet square has
| been cleared. At that rate, experts say it
| will take not less than two months to COM
plete the work.
HOW RELIEF IS DISTRIBUTED.
Supplies are pouring in from every quar-
ter. The thousands of workmen have re-
| newed their attack on the wreckage that
gorges the streets. The Red Cross Society,
in gray gowns and cross in red on the
left arms, is organizing its relief corps. All
that human sympathy and practical help
can suggest or do is being carried into ef-
feet. Grand Army men have appointed
committee of women to assist in their
work.
NOBLE WOMEN.
The women go from house to house. as
certaining the number of people quartered
| there, the number of people lost from there
in the flood and the exact needs Of the peo-
pie. 1t is found necessary to have some
such committee as this, for there were
some women actually starving who were
| too proud to take their places in the line
with other women with bag and basket.
Some of these people, rich before the flood,
| are now not worth dollar. A reporter
told of one man, reputed to be worth $780,
600 before the flood, who is now penniless,
and has to take his place in the line with
others seeking the necessaries of life.
SEVERE MILITARY REGULATIONS.
Citizens from Kernville were not per-
| mitted to cross Stony creek into Johns
town. Owing to the unusually rigid orders
guards had refused many citizens whose
houses and families had been carried across
the creek into Johnstown permission to
pass over. 1t is believed the reason SO
many of the dead have been unidentified
was that the only persons who could iden-
tify them were in Kernville and that if
permission was given to cross over many
of the dead could be recognized
General HASTINGS hparinC tbic Of orona
gave the necessary orders to permit all
such persons to pass the lines.
SUCCESSFUL REGISTRATION.
The number of persons who have so far
registered is 2011O. The registration is
having its good effect, and it is believed
that within five days all those living in
Johnstown and vicinity will be accounted
for. II is not claimed that those who have
not registered are dead, for many had left
this section before the system of reeistra-
ton began. Already from 1900 to Is. 900
passes have been issued to persons wishing
to leave. In some cases passes were issued
twice to those who were compelled to re-
turn for some reason, but it is safe to say
that 5000 people have left this section.
The Pennsylvania Railroad Company
has rendered the use of their wrecking ma
chinery with which TO tear apart the
masses of material that is piled up in vari-
Gus sections of the town.
The members of the State Board of
Health deny there is an epidemic or the
prospect for one. There are some light
cases of liberated tonsilitis in the Hospital
of the Red Cross Society, and it is reported
| there are forty-ive cases OF diphtheria on
the hill.
To prevent an epidemic Surgeon General
Hamilton of the United States Government
10 to aat . ha e
Health for the purpose of considering the
propriety OF the Government assuming
charge of the sanitary work here.
LOCK OF wAsHINGToN's HAIR.
Among the most interesting relics of the
flood is small gold locket found in the
ruins of the Hurlbut House. The locket
contains small coil of dark brown hair
and has engraved inside the following
lines: Lock of George Washington's hair
cut in Philadelphia while on his way to
Yorktown in ISL"
Mr.. Benford, one of the proprietors of
house, states that the locket was the
property Of his sister, who was lost in the
flood and was presented to her by an old
lady in Philadelphia whose mother had
herself cut the hair from the head of the
Father of His Country" and that there
is no doubt that the statement is reliable.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
The members of the secret societies in
Conemaugh valley Jared unusually well.
The Junior o. U. A. NJ. had a membership
of 200. Out of this only nine lives were
lost. Most of them lost their homes, but
all have employment, and expect to be on
their feet again in a short tune. The COM
mittees from Pittsburg and Allegheny es-
tsblished their headquarters in the upper
end of town, and relieved the wants Of all
who applied.
The Independent Order of Heptosophs
had membership of eighty-fve, and lost
but two. The Independent Order of Odd
Fellows had a membership of sos here,
and out of that number lost seventy-nine
The distressed members are being well
cared for.
1t is not known how many of the men,
bers of the Masonic order are lost, though
prominent Mason says they are few and
the survivors are being provided for by the
Relief Committee of that fraternity