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History of the Johnstown Flood: Including all the Fearful Record; the Breaking of the South Fork Dam; the Sweeping Out of the Conemaugh Valley; the Over-Throw of Johnstown; the Massing of the Wreck at the Railroad Bridge; Escapes, Rescues, Searches for Survivors and the Dead; Relief Organizations, Stupendous Charities, etc., etc., With Full Accounts also of the Destruction on the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers, and the Bald Eagle Creek.Johnson, Willis Fletcher

History

History of the Johnstown Flood: Including all the Fearful Record; the Breaking of the South Fork Dam; the Sweeping Out of the Conemaugh Valley; the Over-Throw of Johnstown; the Massing of the Wreck at the Railroad Bridge; Escapes, Rescues, Searches for Survivors and the Dead; Relief Organizations, Stupendous Charities, etc., etc., With Full Accounts also of the Destruction on the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers, and the Bald Eagle Creek.

Name: History of the Johnstown Flood: Including all the Fearful Record; the Breaking of the South Fork Dam; the Sweeping Out of the Conemaugh Valley; the Over-Throw of Johnstown; the Massing of the Wreck at the Railroad Bridge; Escapes, Rescues, Searches for Survivors and the Dead; Relief Organizations, Stupendous Charities, etc., etc., With Full Accounts also of the Destruction on the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers, and the Bald Eagle Creek.
Author: Johnson, Willis Fletcher

Johnson, Willis Fletcher

Floods -- Pennsylvania -- Johnstown (Cambria County)

The miracle, as it is called, that happened at the Church of the
Immaculate Conception, has caused a tremendous sensation. A large number
of persons will testify as to the nature of the event, and, to put it
mildly, the circumstances are really remarkable. The devotions in honor
of the Blessed Virgin celebrated daily during the month of May were in
progress on that Friday when the water descended on Cambria City. The
church was filled with people at the time, but when the noise of the
flood was heard the congregation hastened to get out of the way. They
succeeded as far as escaping from the interior is concerned, and in a
few minutes the church was partially submerged, the water reaching
fifteen feet up the sides and swirling around the corners furiously. The
building was badly wrecked, the benches were torn out, and in general
the entire structure, both inside and outside, was fairly dismantled.
Yesterday morning, when an entrance was forced through the blocked
doorway the ruin appeared to be complete. One object alone had escaped
the water's wrath. The statue of the Blessed Virgin, that had been
decorated and adorned because of the May devotions, was as unsullied as
the day it was made. The flowers, the wreaths, the lace veil were
undisturbed and unsoiled, although the marks on the wall showed that the
surface of the water had risen above the statue to a height of fifteen
feet, while the statue nevertheless had been saved from all contact with
the liquid. Every one who has seen the statue and its surroundings is
firmly convinced that the incident was a miraculous one, and even to the
most skeptical the affair savors of the supernatural.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.