Johnstown weekly Democrat. (Johnstown, Cambria County, Pa.) 1889-1916, 1890-03-07

in liquor.
Time has shown that this thought even
was libelion Johnstown. Its morals are
worse since the flood, and there are more
saloons than groceries IN the city but it
is the stranger element that is responsible
for this state of affairs. Rum of the vIlest
character runs freely in the slums, but cx-
cept in few cases it is not the people who
survived the flood that are drinking it.
There are exceptional instances,u course.
There are men whom l met in the gin
mills on Washington street who was
told had taken to drink that they might
drown their sorrow. could hardly blame
them as saw them reeling around.
All that they had to live for had gone
from them, They were isolated individuals,
however The bulk OF the loud mouthed;
profane bullies and buns that infested the
rum holes were the refuse of the popula-
tion that htd foated in after the flood, and
worked just about long enough each week
to keep them drunk during the remainder
Were they away nine-tenths of the saloons
might put on their shutters. Some of the
relief money has found its way INTO the
Golfers of these people, but only trifling
fraction.
l failed as well to detect in single in
stance proof of the assertion so widely
made that had the people been given the
money promptly they would have squan-
dered it on luxuries.
NO LUXURIEs IN JoHNsTowN.
LuXures Let no one speak of luxur-
les in Johnstown. Put down the stories
of the wives of workingmen purchasing
tawdry jewelry at diamond prices with re-
lief money as silly twaddle. There is lit
tie of luxury in the homes of Johnstown.
| have been in no home where found it.
| have been in many a home that was
cheerless enough. They were clean as
hands can make them, the kitchen tins and
stoves were bright and polished, the
floors scrubbed until they looked as
though they might have been oiled, but
that was all.
In but one house in the flooded district
did L hear anything that sounded like
something we would wish 10 hear in a
Eome in the valley and that was one in
which bird was singing. There is only
too great a plenty of songless homes.
There is dearth of homes in which the
merry prattle of children may be heard.
You may go along blocks of houses and
see no little chubby face up against the
window pane. You may go into tens of
homes and look in vain for the child that
one is won't to expect to greet him with
its merry crow.
SOCIAL LIFE WIPED OUT.
Johnstown's social life has been prac.
tically wiped out Some of its people
have no time to pas any attention to the
round off life, and some Of them have no
heart to engage in them. Even the peren-
NAL pastimc Of marriage appears to have
been neglected to very large extent,
though two Of the resident clcrgymen
laIgIingly told me they had not given up
hopes that the portion Of thtir revenue
d Ii'e fr m tha. source had gone from
THIN entirely. OF those, however, who
wera made either widows or widowcrs 10y
the food II may be Of interest to know
that only four have since married, and
these four were widowcrs.
There are "a few clubs for the young
men. but exceedingly few, and no theutc,s
The Old Opera House on Main stree, hao
been turned into billiard room. II has
not been occupied for its original purpose
since the night of the panic, some few
months since, when some idiot called out
an alarm of fire, and ten people were
trampled to death. In speaking Of this
sad occurrence Mr.. Woodruff. the editor
of the DEMOCRAT, told me that that event,
which before the flood would have Gre
ated a tremendous sensation, called out
tut little interest. The memory of the
flood Overshadowed everything so com
pletely that happenings since are insig-
nilicant in comparison. OF dances and
such like there is none. There have been
tbre' church socials. | attended one
that at the English Lutheran Church-for
the purpose of noting TIE people. They
seemed to enjoy themselves, were dressed
in excellent taste and were generous in
their donations.
JOUNSTOWNs BRIGuT SIDE
This much for the people, and again to
the town itself What has been said tnus
far will apply very generally to the bulk
of the sufferers. 1t is the dark side of
the picture. And now for the brighter
one
Having shown that JohnstowL's exis-
tence was a practical necessity, created
by the Cambria Iron Works Company, it
is not ard to unders tand how the flood
may well have afforded the corporation
an opportunity for devising plans where
by many of the natural defects of city
built as it had been might be remedied.
Though we speak of Johnstown in talk
ing of the great disaster, there were two
other boroughs between it and the fatal