The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-06-06
AID FROM EVERYWHERE.


The newspaper men here have organic.
ed and sent out relief trains, and the
mayors of Pittsburg and Allegheny called
public meetings this afternoon topromote
the measures of assistance.
The mayor Of this city wired Governor
Beaver to send tents to Johnstown.
All the telegraph Offices of the vicinity
of the disaster are thronged with crowds
of heart broken people, anxious for news
of the dead and missing.
A late dispatch from Johnstown this
afternoon places the loss at $50, 000, 900,
and says that 5000 houses were swept
away yesterday.
PIrTsBURG, Pa, June 1.-The raging
storms that have prevailed through Penn.
sylyania in the past few days have re-
suited in an appalling loss of life.
The scene of q terrible disaster is at
Johnstown, Pa, in Cambria County, on
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the
Conemaugh River. Two and half miles
northeast of the town is q reservoir owned
by rich. fishing club. It is the largest.
reservoir in the United States, being
three and half miles long, and from one
to one and half miles wide.
It's depth in some places is 100 feet.
It holds more water than any other reser.
yoir, natural or artificial, in the United
States. The lake has been quadrupled in
size by artificial means and was held in
check by dam from 700 to 1000 feet
wide. It is 80 feet in thickness at the
base and the height is ITO feet. The top
has breadth of over 20 feet. Recognize
ing the menace which the lake had to the
region below, the South Fork Club had
the dam inspected once a month by
Pennsylvania Railroad engineers and
their investigation shows that nothing
less than some convulsion of nature would
tear the barrier away and loosen the
weapon of death.
The steady rains of the past twenty
four hours increased the volume of water
in all the mountain streams, which were
already swelled by the lesser rains early
in the week. From the best information
obtainable at this time it is evident that
something in the nature of a cloud burst
must have been the elimination of the
struggle of water against the embank.
ment.
The difficulty of obtaining definite in.
formation added tremendously to the
excitement and apprehension. The course
of the torrent from the broken dam at
the foot of the lake to Johnstown is
almost eighteen miles, and with the ex.
ception Of one locality, the water passed
through narrow V shaped valley. Four
miles below the dam lay the town of
South Fork, where the South Fork itself
empties into the Conemaugh River. The
town contained about 1000 inhabitants.
It has not been heard from, but it is said
that four6fths of it has been swept away.
Four miles further down the Conemaugh
River was the town of Mineral Point.
It had 800 inhabitants, 80 per cent. of
the houses being on flat close to the
river. It seems impossible at this time to
hope that any of them have escaped.
Six miles further down was the town Of
Conemangh, and here alone was there q
Typographical possibility of the spreading
of the flood and the breaking of its force.
It contained $500 inhabitants, and
must be almost devastated. Woodvale,
with 1000 people, lay mile below Co.
nemaugh in a fat, and one mile further
down we're Johnstown and its cluster of
sister towns, Cambria and Conemaugh-
borough, with a total population of 5000
on made ground, and stretched along
right at the rivers verge were thu immense
iron works OF the Cambria Iron and Steel
Company, who have FIVE million dollars
invested in their plant Besides this
there are many other large industrial es
tablshments on the bank of the river, the
damage to which cannot be estimated.
SoNa Hollow, Pa, June 1.-The first
reports of the loss of life we're entirely
too low. It ip believed that fully 5000
persons have perished. Of these 700 or
800 were burned in the fiery furnace at
the viaduct. Two thousand cofins have
been ordered for bodies already rescued.
FREEpoRT, Pa, June 1.-The water is
receding here now, having reached TWEEN.
ty one feet in the channel, but is running
full Of logs of all dimensions. Half
million have passed to-day and gentle.
man Just arrived from Redbank says a
million will pass here tonight. This
morning the river was full of everything,
pianos, organs, trunks, bedding, beer, lard,
oil, soda fountains, etc. No dead bodies
have been found here, but at Lordsburg
six have been takon out. The loss along
a., T;n,o.at, p;1nr ia noofi n. q hlo