Nevada County picayune., 1889-06-12
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

The great Conemaugh disaster, by
 which 12.0O0 lives were lost and
 thirty millions of dollars worth of property destroyed, will go down ill
 history as the most awful calamity
 that ever happened on the Western Continent From time to time great and destructive disasters have oc- cured in various portions of the
 earth; but in one respect, at least this is entitled to the pre-eminence over all former ones, from the fact that it was avoidable and preventable by the exercise of ordinary prccau- ton and foresight. In the Fay
 Bridge and Chatworth disasters; in the terrible overflow of Yellow river in China, with it's immense destruc- tion of life; in the sudden and over whelming destruction of Hercula- neum and Pompeii. and in many other disasters recorded in history, we can distinctly trace the hand of
 Providence, and hence they consti- tute a class of accidents, or yisita- tions, against which human skill, sagacity and foresight are utterly powerless and impotent.
 But the Conemaugh disaster does not belong to this class; on the other hand, it belongs to that chapter of accidents in which criminal careless ness and the absence of reasonable precautions were the chief factors of the wholesale destruction which fol-
 lowed the breakage of the dam in the reservoir above Johnstown city. This reservoir or lake was owned by a wealthy corporation, of Pittsburg, and was used by them for hunting and fishing purposes. They procured a charter from the State legislature, authorizing them to construct this huge reservoir, and investing them with certain rights and privileges :; and it seems that, in order to pro- vide against contingencies, theywere required to give an iEdemnifying bond of three million dollars, which, it is alleged, they failed to give, but managed to evade it in some way or other. Their failure to give this bond is prima facie evidence of an intention to shirk responsibility, and probably this dereliction was the direct cause of that criminal careless ness which eliminated finally on the 3lst of May in the greatest calamity of the kind in history; for, had this bond been rigidly eXacted, they would have become legally responsi- ble for large amount, which would have stimulated them to the making of such substantial repairs of the dam as to avert any serious catastrophe. In any event the only answer to the question, "Who is held responsible, is the corporation of wealthy sports men at Pittsburg.
 That they were permitted to con struct q reservoir 5 miles in length by II miles in width, with an average depth of forty or fifty feet of water, and situated only 25 miles northeast of Johnstown, with fall of 800 feet from the lake to the city, without any satisfactory guarantees against he terrible dangers to which it ex- posed the people and property in the yalley below, is one of those myste- -ious problems which ever and anon confront Us in the tortuous records )f history. and constitutes another sad illustration of the degeneracy of he human race. But the calm and 1. verdict of all unbiased l minds is, that this appalling catas- rophe might have been avoided had l hese Pttsburg sportsmen only done | heir plain duty; and hence upon hem lies the fearful responsibility | If the loss of l2,000 lives, besides | he destruction of thirty millions of | lollars in property.
 These men ought to be made to ,ay in damages all they have, except
 bare living; and even then they annot atone for the one hundredth 'art of the fearful loss for which hey are responsible.