, 1889-06-06

delay in getting OF news dispatches has
been fairly maddening The Associated
Press txpen ditur- was the frat IN the 6eld
and WAS ready with thousands OF words OF
specials, but
NO WIRES COULD DE HAD
from II A. N. until almost 2 p. NJ. No
90 cial trains could be hired, no locono
,ivps were to be bought Tre si,uatian can
be appreciated.
DERRY, Pa. May 3l.-A flood " death
NV, ut down the A ilrg haiiy mountains this
af,, rnoOn To-day and to night, and slmost
the entire city ~ JohnstOwn IL swimming
about IN n ru.hing. angry tide Dead
bodies are floating in every direction ana
simost every piece ~ mov-abls timber j.
carrying from the doomed city n'rpse OF
humanity. drininy with rauiny waters To
God knows where. The disa. ter overlook
Jubnstown shout 9 O'Clock. tbs evening,
as the ,rain bearing the Associated
Press CORE. .ponden's sped eastward Re-
At the train rsil~A officials we're gathered
who had come from Bolivar and OF the
passslle portion VI the road westward.
they had seen but small
portion Of the 1,od but enough
to allow them to imsgine the rest.
DONH tnTOuBu kuS S'-ThCkSdtiClI6 came lnB
rushing wat, rs. The wooded heights OF
the A Alleghsnies looked down In solemn
wonder at the scsne Of The most terrible
destruction that ever struck the romantic
valley cf The Conemangh. In death bat.
tie from n ,at.ng boards and tin, her were the
agouiZ d men, women and children. their
heartrendiny sbrieks for help striking hor-
ror TO the breasts OF lockers on. The cries
were OF no avail, as cal ried along ut rail-
way speed on the breast of the rushing tor.
rent no human ingenuity could devise
means Of rescue. with psllid cheek aud
hair clineing wet and damp to her cheek a
mother ws> seen grssping n floating tim
ber while with the other arm size held her
babe.
A special train pulled in ar Bolivar at
| 80 and the train men We're here potifis
that further progress was i'm possible. The
greatest excitement prevailed nj this place
and parties Oi citizens are out all the time
endeavur'ns ~ save the poor unvrtunstes
that are being hurled To eternity in the
fu.bing torrent. lhe tidal wave struck
Bolivar just after dark, and In five min
utes the cUneipaugh rose irotn six to iorty
feet and the waters spread yer the whole
c,untry. Soon houses began floating
down, and ciinging 10 the debris were
men, women and children shriekinv for
aid A large number OF citizens at once
gathered ON ,he county bridge, and
Nury WcTo ICiuNpCcu Wy u uuHnOtT ITOtn
Garfield, town on The opposite side.
They brought number Of ROPES and these
were thrown over into the boiling waters
as persons drifted by, in efforts 10 save
some poor being. For half an hour these
forts were II nit ess until at last. as the
rescuers were about giving up all hopes, a
little boy ascended = root and managed to
catch hold Ol one oi The ropes. He caught
II under his left arm and was thrown
violently against The abutm.nt but nsu
aged to keep hold aud was pulled on the
hridge amid the cheers of the lockers on
The boy 'sna me Is Edward Hessler, aged lt
AT midnight your correspondent secured
an interview with him. His story OF the
frightful calamity is as folio as. with
my father WAS spending the day at nv
grandfs,heI's house at Cambria City.
we're Theodore, Edward and John
King Jr., Miss Mary King,
Miss Tracy KIM. Mrs. Rica Smith, John
liirscii and tour children, father and my
self. shortly sit' 8 o'clock there was a
noise OF roaring waters and screams Of peo.
Pile. We looked out OF the door and saw
persons running, LILY father told us to
never mind as the waters would rise no
iurthe'. But we soon saw houses sweet
away and then ran up stairs Our house
WAS three stories and We were
At last forced to the top floors.
az JuihPcu Ou tHt Deu.
IL was an oldfa>hioned one with heavy
posts. Water Kept rising and my bed was
soon floating. Gradually II WAS lifted up.
The air IN the room grew close and the
house was moving. still the bed kept press.
ing the ctilrg and al last The posts pushed
the plaster. II ielded and a section of the
root gave away. Then suddenly 1 found
myself on the roof and was being. carried
down stream. Lflsr "a little the roof COM
meDced 10 part and / was afraid
was going to he drowned but
just then another house with shingle
rOoi fioated bv and managed to crawl on
1t, ana Il. ted down until nearly dead with
cold but WAS saved. After l was tree
from house did not zee my father. NV
grand father was ON tree but he must
have been drowned as the water was rising.
John King was sl>o on a tree. NJ Mss Mary
King and Mrs. Mary King /
saw drowned; Miss Smith was
also drowned; John Hrsch was
Ia tree but the four children were
drowned, Scenes were terrible; five bodies
and Corpses were floating down with me
and away from me would hear u per-
son shrek and then they would disappear
Along the line were people who were try
ing to save us, but they could do nothiug
aud only n iew were caught"
This boys story is but one incident. 1t
shows what happened to one family. God
Vu'S 6noNS Whhb NAV happened 10 the
hundreds who were In the path OF the
running waters II il impossible to get
anything In the way Of news ssve neagre
details.
EoLivAR. Pa May 3l.--A courier from
the seems of the flood near Johnstown re.
ports the LOSS OF lite to reach 1900.
PITTsBuRo. May 3t.--The food at Johns,
town has re plted in an awful catastro pbe.
It Is said that the reservoir above wn
broke about o'clock this evening and an
immense volume of water rushed down to