The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1889-06-04

Pennsylvania railway morgue to tht
one in the Fourth ward schoo
house in Johnstown occupies one hour
This renders IL impossible 70 reach all o.
them in one day, particularly as some OF
the morgues are situated at points inacces
sible from Johnstown. At 8 O'Clock thi.
evening the 6S0th body had been received
at the Cambria City depository fer corpses
At Millyille was the body of a girl fifteen
years old, making the forty-sixth corpse
received there. Marks on the wrist looked
as If q bracelet had been torn from the arm.
At the fourth ward school house a great
number Of victims are being prepared for
interment- Yesterday 200 more were dis
posed OF, and to-day as many more received
Konville is In q deplersble condition.
The living are unable TO take care of the
dead, and q majority of the Inhabitants of
the town drowned. Boards have been
erected on the only street remaining in the
quarters for the committee that control the
dead. Quickly as the dead are brought
they are placed In boxes and then taken TO
the cemetery and buried.
A mIlkman who was overcharging for
milk this morning narrowly escaped lynch
ing. lnfuriated men appropriated all his
milk, distributed IL among the poor and
then drove him out Of town. The body of
a hungarian who was lynched in an or
chard last night has;5een recovered by his
friends The tnhuman monster was no
ticed cutting of four fingers of n woman's 8
body. He dropped the fingers into his
pocket where they were found when he
was captured. The ac. maddened the men
and they took him TO an orchard on hill
side and hung him.
There is but one street left in the town.
About l55 houses are standing where once
there stood a thousand. A thousand is the
lowest estimate of the number of lives lost
from this town, and but few bodies have
been recovered. 1t is directly above the
ruins, and the bodies have foated down
into the dam, where they burned.
A walk through the town revealed a des-
olate sight. Only about twenty-five able
bodied men have survived and are able to
render any assistance. Men and women
can be seen with black eyes, bruised faces
and cut heads. They we're injured in the
flood and since that have not slept Their
faces have turned sickly yellow and dark
rings surround their eyes. Many of
the women have succumbed TO nervous
prostration and for two days but little
assistance could be rendered them. The
wounded remained uncared for, in some
houses cut off by the water, and died from
their injuries alone. Some were alive on
Sunday and their shouts could be heard by
the people on the streets A man caught
stealing gold watch is now in the tempo
rary Jail of what is left of the town. A
shot was fired at him, but he was not
wounded. The only thing that saved him
from being Iynched was the smallness of
the crowd.
The services in the chapel from which
the bodies were buried consisted merely of
a prayer by one of the survivors. No min
lister was present Each coffin had q de-
scriptive card on It and on the graves q sim
liar card was placed, so that the bodies can
be removed later by friends.
The Cambria hospital has now 800 pa
tioRts- DIR. Buck, with an efficient corps of
aids, is in charge. Two of the patients
died yesterday. Hospitals have been es-
at COnemaugh and Mineral Point
but little could be learned of how many
patients they contained and how they were
faring.
The miracle as it is called, that happened
to the church of the immaculate Concep-
ton has caused a tremendous sensation.
A large number of persons will testify as
to the nature of the event and the circum-
stances, which are really remarkable.
The May devotions were in progress on
Friday when the water descended on Cam
bria city. The church was filled with peo-
pie at the time, but when the noise of the
flood was heard the congregation hastened
to get out OF the way They succeeded in
so far as escaping from the interior is con-
,erned, and in few moments the church
was partly suhmSraod. the water reached
toI niteen feet up the sides and swirling
around the corners furiously: The
benches torn out and in general
he entire structure, both inside and out
'ide. was fairly dismantled. Yesterday
morning when an entrance was forced the
-uin appeared to be complete. One object
Alone had escaped the waters wrath-the
tatue OF the Blessed Virgin. that had been
decorated and adorned because of May de-
Totions, was as unsullied as the day IL was
made The flowers woven in the lace veil
we're undisturbed and unsoiled. The marks
IN the wall showed the statue, which is
hree feet high, to have been immersed.
The surface of the water had risen to a
leight Of fifteen feet, while the statue had
,een saved from all contact with the liquid.
Everyone who has seen the statue and its
is firmly convinced the Incl
lent was miraculous one, and even 70 the
most skeptical the affair savors of the
supernatural. About thirty Catholic priests
nd nuns are here, and they are devoting
themselves to the care of the sick and in
ured. Bishop Phelan has organized the
,atholic forces of this neighborhood, and
III are devoting themselves to hard work
ssiduously. What the hospitals would
ave done without the sisters is difficult
npaffOO