The Johnstown Horror!!!: or, Valley of Death, being A Complete and Thrilling Account; of the Awful Floods and Their Appalling RuinWalker, James Herbert
History
The Johnstown Horror!!!: or, Valley of Death, being A Complete and Thrilling Account; of the Awful Floods and Their Appalling Ruin
Up the ragged surface of Prospect Hill, whither hundreds of terrified
people fled for safety Friday night, I scrambled this afternoon. I came
upon a pneumonia scourge which bids fair to do for a number of the
escaped victims what the flood could not. Death has pursued them to
their highest places, and terror will not die. Every little house on
the hill--and there are a hundred or two of them--had thrown its doors
open to receive the bruised, half-clad fugitives on the dark day of the
deluge, and every one was now a crude hospital. Half the women who had
scaled the height were so overcome with fright that they have been
bedridden ever since. There had been pneumonia on the hill, but only a
few cases. To-day, however, several fresh cases developed among the the
flood fugitives, and a local physician said the prospects for a scourge
are all too promising. The enfeebled condition of the patients, the
unhealthy atmosphere pervading the valley and the necessarily close
quarters in which the people are crowded render the spread of the
disease almost certain.
The Military Called Out.
At the request of the Sheriff, Adjutant General Hastings called out the
Fourteenth regiment of Pittsburgh, who are to be stationed at Johnstown
proper, to guard the buildings and against emergencies. Other reasons
are known to exist for this precaution. Bodies were recovered to-day
that have been robbed by the ghouls. It is known that one lady had
several hundred dollars in her possession just before the disaster, but
when the body was recovered there was not a cent in her pocket.
The Hungarians attacked a supply wagon between Morrellville and Cambria
City to-day. The drivers of the wagon repulsed them, but they again
returned. A second fight ensued, but after lively scrambling the
Hungarians were again driven away. After that drivers and guards of
supply wagons were permitted to go armed.
General Hastings was seen later in the day, and when asked what caused
him to order the militia said: "There is no need of troops to quell
another disturbance, but now there are at least two thousand men at work
in Johnstown clearing up the debris, and I think that it will not hurt
to have the Fourteenth regiment here, as they can guard the banks and
all valuables. The Sheriff consulted me in the matter. He stated that
his men were about worn out, and he thought that we had better have some
soldiers. So I ordered them."
The people, aroused by repeated outrages, are bitterly hounding the
Hungarians, and a military force is essential to see that both sides
preserve order.
Indignant Battery B.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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