The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-06-05
AWFUL CALAMITY.
Many Thousand People Destroyed-A Great
City and Thriving Villages Annihi-
lated by Flood.

A fair town In western valley of Penn
sylvania, happy in the arts of peace and
prosperity by its busy manufactures, was
suddenly swept out of existence by gigan-
tic flood, and hundreds, possibly thousands,
of lives extinguished as by one fell stroke.
Such appears to have been the fate of Johns
town, according to the tenor of the latest
dispatches. A large reservoir, situated
above the town, gave way last Friday after
noon, owing to the floods, and the village
was literally wiped out by the rushing
waters. The flood swept down the valley,
carrying everything in its way. Railroads
were torn up, bridges carried away, houses
submerged and the inmates borne struggling
down the stream. Never before in this
country has there happened disaster of
such appalling proportions. 1t Is necessary
to refer to those which have occurred in the
valleys of the great European rivers, where
there is a densely crowded population, to
find parallel. 1t was at first thought that
the number of the victims might reach two
hundred, but later dispatches showed that
the extent Of the horror had been fearfully
underestimate and that the death-roll
would mount into the thousands. Ten
thousand people are missing and very few
will turn up alive. 1t is believed that at
least eight thousand people have perished
THE CAUSE.
The cause of the disaster was the burst
ing of the big dam at South Fork, a popular
summer resort. The body of water that
did this immense damage covers seven hun
! dred acres. 1t is two and one-half miles
long, about three-fourths of a mile wide
and lies between two high hills. Johns
| town lies, or did lie, at the foot of valley
which at that point is little more than
gorge. 1t was situated on point of land
! between Conemaugh river and Stony creek
as Pittsburgh lies between the Allegheny
and Monongahela, with PERCEPTIONS hills
rising almost from the waters edge. 1t
was in a mere gap between the hills and
one hundred yards wide, and about ten
miles below the lake. Here, early Friday
morning, there was a city of 10000 people
at night there was waste of water, chok ed
with blazing wreck. When the dam gave
way the water poured down from Cone
maugh creek in great wave-like wal,
sweeping everything before it. The i'm
mense works of the Cambria Iron Com
| pany, employing seven thousand men, and
the second largest iron works in this conn
try were buried out of sight, except the
roofs and chimney tops, and these soon be-
gan to crumble and disappear under the
battering of the floating timber. Half the
town seemed to be lifted from its founda-
tons and swept away at once. The wreck
age covered the water thicker than the
houses had stood in the town before. 1t
was no longer a flood OF water; it was a
town afoat. The most awful elimination
of the night was the roasting of hundreds of
u. 3,
outbuildings and other structures swept
against the new railroad bridge at Johns
town, and from an overturned stove or some
such cause the upper part of the wreckage
caught fire. There were crowds of men,
women and children on the wreck, and
their screams were soon added to the chorus
of horror. They were literally roasted on
the flood. Soon after the fire burned itself
out others were thrown against the mass
There were some fifty people in sight when
the ruins suddenly parted, broke up and
the whole mass was swept under the bridge
into pitch darkness. The scenes of suffer.
ing and agony during the night beggar
description. Children were borne away
before the eyes of their parents and friends
and relatives were swept apart by the rush
ing torrents never to meet again Never
has such a sight been seen since the time Of
Noah.
PLUNDERING THE DEAD.
The scenes on Sunday and Monday, wher
the work of collecting and identifying the
bodies began were even more terrible. Tc
add to the horrors of the situation thieve,
began to flock to the valley of death and
rob the bodies of the dead. One unfeeling
wretch was seen to rifle the pockets of q
dead man and remove his gold watch and
chain and then turn to a woman and take
from her finger ring A drunken Hun
garian with pick in his hand was discov
cred in partly demolished residence il
the act of breaking open trunk, when a
police officer came up behind him anC
dealt him a blow with his club which
rendered him unconscious. just as the
shadows began to fall, Saturday even
ing, party of thirteen Hungarians were no
ticed stealthily picking their way along the
banks. Suspicious of their purpose, severa
farmers armed themselves and started il
pursuit. Their fears were realized. Tn,
Hungarians We're out for plumber and soor
came upon the dead and nanged body of
woman, upon whose person there were
number of trinkets of jewelry and two dia
mond rings. In their eagerness to secure thu
plumber the Hungarians got into a squad
bic, during which one of the number sew
cred the finger upon which were the ring
and started on run with his prize. TIL,
revolving nature of the deed so wrough
upon the pursuing farmers, who by thi
time were close at hand, that they CAV
chase. Some of the Hungarians showed
fight but being outnumbered were com
PEELED to flee for their lives. Nine Of thu
brutes escaped, but four were LITERAL,
driven into the surging river and wer
drowned. Early Sunday morning a rail
roader, who had walked from Sang Hollow
stepped up to number of men who wer
congregated on the platform station at Cur
ranville and said Gentlemen, had |
shotgun with me half an hour ago | woul,
now be a murderer, yet with no fear of eve
having to suffer for my crime. Two mile
below here watched three men going alon
the banks stealing the jewels from the bod
les of the dead wives and daughters of mel
) who have been robbed of all they held dea
on earth" He had no sooner finished tn
last sentence than five burly men, witt
looks of terrible determination writer
on their faces, were on their way to tn
scene of plumber, one with a coil of rop
over his shoulder and another with re
volver in his hand. In twenty minute
they had overtaken two of their victims
who were then in the act of cutting piece
from the ears and fingers of the dead, an,
lynched the tiends TO the nearest tree.
THE PROPERTY Loss.
1t is impossible TO form any estimat
of the property loss. The Pennsylvani
, railroads loss will be enormous. From
Johnstown to Mineral Point Tower tn
Pennsylvania road-bed was completed
swept away. For quarter of mile tn
road is uninjured. Then comes auothe
complete wreck TO a point above Soutl
Fork. Twenty-seven locomotives and al
unknown number of both freight cars ant
+ passenger coaches are lying in the river
bed under the debris of Johnstown at I'll
stone bridge. The towns of Woodvile AM
= Conemaugh borough, above Johnstown, ar
swept as clearly off the face of the earth a
If they had never had an existence. EST
mates of the losses of the Cambria Iro