The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-05-22
THE DANGER AT JoHNsrowN.
It is Not Only From Flood, but From
the Idle Iaborers

1t is Not Only From Flood, but From
the Idle Laborers.
Mr.. J. z. Babbitt, of Hartford, Conn,
is at the De Soto. Mr. Babbitt is we'll
known in Savannah, having been here for
two years in an official capacity with the
South Bound railroad, and afterward
with the Central railroad. He is now in
the railroad supply business, representing
the Washbun Manufacturing Company of
Hartford, Conn, and the Cambria Iron
Works, of Johnstown, Pa. He is very
much interested in the reports from
Johnstown, which indicate that there is
danger of the terrible disaster of five
years ago being repeated, the floods
threatening to sweep down upon and de-
stoy the town and the iron works, as was
| done in 1889
Il have very serious fears of the dan
| ger from the flood, said Mr.. Babbitt last
! night. The Cambria Iron Works were
rebuilt at cost of 81, 600. 000 and their
destruction again would mean a serious
calamity, both to the company and the
| thousands of workmen which it employs.
| see by the press reports that the two
smaller dams have broken and the full
force of the food is now pressing upon
the larger dam, the bursting of which
| caused the great Johustown disaster.
This dam was rebuilt heavier than
before, but it is not impossible that it
might give way before the flood"
Mr.. Babbitt has recently returned from
| the north. He gives a gloomy picture of
the state of affairs in the north and east.
In the iron and steel business almost all
| the factories are shut down and thousands
OF worklngmen are out of employment
! The worst feature of the situation is that
there Is at present no prospect of any let
up in the depression and there is a very
serious probability, he thinks, of a series
of uprisings among the idle workingmen
There are l25, 900 idle men within a
radius of fifty miles of Johnstown," said
Mr. Babbitt They are almost entirely
! composed OF Slavs, Hungarians, Italians
and the lowest class of European labor
generally. These men are all thoroughly
imbued with socialistic ideas TO such an
extent that it is impossible to reason with
them upon the subject. If they are not
provided with work there will be trouble
and that of the most serious kind The
immense strike of the coal miners adds
another difficulty to the situation There
is no prospect of the operators giving in
and the men are very determined. The
| only prospect before them is starvation,
and there is almost certain to be trouble
! this summer The effects of the strike
are already felt by all classes of coal con-
sumers, and coal famine is a dead GER
! tainty unless there is an immediate
| change in the situation, which is not
! likely. Several of the leading railroad
lines are already confscating every car
of coal shipped over their lines
! you people down south" continued
Mr.. Babbitt, don't know the meaning of
the word hard times You have not felt
the depression one-fourth as much as it
has been felt in the north. Instead of
| growing better there is no prospect what
ever of any improvement and the outlook
for the summer is gloomy one indeed.
With manufacturing of all kinds at a
standstill and hundreds of thousands of
people out of employment, the industrial
situation at the north to-day is the
worst ever known in the history of the
country. The south is infinitely better
! of