The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-06-06

Of South Fork, where tho South Fork itself
empties inta the Conemaugh river. The
town contained about 1000 inabttauts. IL
has not been heard from, but 1t is said that
four-fifths Of it has been swept
away. Fou= miles farther down
on the Conemaugh river, which runs paral-
lei with the main line of the Pennsy .v1nia
railroad was the town Of Mineral Poi;t it
had 800 Inhabitants 80 per cent OF the
houses being on the fiat and c.ose to the
river 1t seems impossible at this time to
hope that any Of them have escaped.
ALMOST WHOLLY DESERTED.
Six miles further down was the town Of
Conerpaugh, and here alone was there TO-
geographical possibiIity-the spreading of the
flood and the breaking of its force. 1t con-
tanned 2, 500 inhabttsnts and must be al
most wholly devastated. Woouvale, with
1000 people, lay a mile below Cone
maugh in the fiat and one mile fur9her down
where Johnstown and its cluster of sister
towns, Cambria City, Conemaugh borough,
with total population of 30, 600, on made
ground and stretched along right at
the river verge, where the i'm
mense iron works of the Cambria Iron
and Steel company. who have $5.0OO,OOO
invested in their plant Besides this there
ments on the bank of the river that are dam
aged, how badly cannot be estimated ALL
p. m. a railroad man says the loss of life will
reach hundreds, and possibly over thou
sand The report Of loss of these towns
above cannot yet be confirmed.
FLOATING DOWN STREAM
BOLIVAR, Pa, May 3l.-The water is higher
here than was ever known, and two-story
hor Sfo Nrho IF
outhouses, smoke houses, railroad bridges,
county bridges, RATS, skiffs and drift
wood by the acre, all of which
imploring hands were held out to those
on the banks, willing but impotent to help
have doated down the swollen torrent of the
Conemaugh Infor nation received is
meagre, but for the most part accur ate. At
LCckport two miles east, more than twenty
people have been taken from the Fl ood. The
first great rush of water reached here at
o'clock this evening This came from the
burst dam above Johnstown. 1t
came like a frenzed whirlpool, and
before the people could realize it,
they were in It's grasp. Fortunately the
people living on the low-lying ground c.
caped AT 7'3O o'clock great pile of drift
wood was swept along, and from it shrek
upon shrek. The terrified spectators on the
shore saw three women, to one of whom
were clinging two ch i.dren, neither OF whom
was apparently mole than an infant The
ra pidity of the current and the position of
the raft on the sire am, together with the
lack of facilities fer rescuing precluded the
possibility of ever thinking in the matter,
and the raft passed out of sight, the scream
of the women and children blending in their
pleadings for aid long after the craft was
around the bend The stream then became
thick strewn with men, women and children
clinging to all sorts of temporary means of
salvation and two men and a woman clung
madiy TO the tops of huge trees, the men
emulating the females i'll their shreks for
hep that it was not poss be 10 give Three
citizens Of Pittsburg are known 10 have been
drowned. They occupied house just below
the dam, short distance above Joanstown
Their names are Thomas FalIon, James
Tight and a telegraph operator, name un-
known.
DISTRESSING REPORTS.
PTTTsRURG, Pa, May 31.-Raports from
along the hiskiminetas river, into which the
Conemaugh empties are most distressing.
The river near Salisbury is filed with wreck
age, and number Of persons were noticed
clinging to such timbers as would
bear their weight At Blairsville men
are stationed on the bridges and
banks in The hope of securing some of those
who were being carried down the stream
x,O1rY,a Of ;e