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
By seven o'clock the whole valley was full of people and the scene was a
most animated one. The various sections of the flooded territory were
full of men busy in searching for the dead, removing and burning the
debris. At eight o'clock this morning five bodies had been taken from
the mass at the stone bridge. A large force of men have been working all
day on this part of the wreck, but so great is the quantity of wreckage
to be gone over and removed that while much work is done very slow
progress is being made. The continued falling of the river renders the
removal of the debris every day more arduous, and where a few days ago
the timbers when loosened would float away, now they have to be moved by
hand, making the work very slow.
A most welcome arrival this morning was Dr. B. Bullen of disinfectant
fame. He brought with him fifty barrels more of his disinfectant. The
doctor will take charge of the disinfecting of the dangerous sections of
the flooded district and notably at the stone bridge. Twenty-five
barrels have already been used with most favorable results. Dr. Bullen
was a former resident of Johnstown and lost thirty relatives in the
flood, among them three brothers-in-law, three uncles and two aunts.
Clearing the Cambria Iron Works.
The Cambria Iron Company's Works presented a busy scene to-day. At least
nine hundred men are at work, and most rapid progress is being made in
clearing away the wreck. It is said that the works will start up in
about three weeks.
There is little change in the situation. Every one is working with the
one end in view, to clear away the wreckage and give the people of
Johnstown a chance to rebuild. The laborers working at the Cambria Iron
Works and on the Pennsylvania Railroad seem to be making rapid progress.
This is no doubt for the reason that these men are more used to this
kind of work. About ten o'clock the rain was over and the sun came out
with its fierce June heat.
A number of charges of dynamite were fired during the day, and each time
with good effect. The channels through to the bridge are almost clear of
debris, and each charge of dynamite has loosened large quantities of the
wreckage.
This is the eighth day since the demon of destruction swept down the
valley of the Conemaugh, but the desolation that marks its angry flight
is still visible in all its intensity and horror. The days that have
been spent by weary toilers whose efforts were steeled by grief have
done little to repair the devastation wrought in one short hour by the
potent fury of the elements. To the watchers on the mountain side all
seems yet chaos and confusion. The thousand fires that spot the valley
show that the torch is being used to complete the work of annihilation
where repair is impossible and the smoke curls upward. It reminds one of
the peace offerings of ancient Babylon.
Uncle Sam's Men on Hand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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