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
Long after dark the flames of fire shot high above the burning mass of
timber, lighting the vast flood of rushing waters on all sides.
The Dead.
Dead bodies are being picked up. The train master, E. Pitcairn, has been
working manfully directing the rescuing of dead bodies at Nineveh. In a
ten acre field seventy-five bodies were taken out within a half mile of
each other. Of this number only five were men, the rest being women and
children. Many beautiful young girls, refined in features and handsomely
dressed, were found, and women and young mothers with their hair matted
with roots and leaves are constantly being removed.
The wrecking crew which took out these bodies are confident that 150
bodies are lying buried in the sand and under the debris on those
low-lying bottom lands. Some of the bodies were horribly mangled, and
the features were twisted and contorted as if they had died in the most
excrutiating agony. Others are found lying stretched out with calm
faces.
Many a tear was dropped by the men as they worked away removing the
bodies. An old lady with fine gray hair was picked up alive, although
every bone in her body was broken. Judging from the number of women and
children found in the swamps of Nineveh, the female portion of the
population suffered the most.
A Fatal Tree.
Mr. O'Conner was at Sang Hollow when the flood began. He remained there
through the afternoon and night, and he states that there was a fatal
tree on the island against which a number of people were dashed and
instantly killed. Their bodies were almost tied in a knot doubled over
the tree by the force of the current. Mr. O'Conner says that the first
man who came down had his brains knocked out against this obstruction.
In fact, those who hit the tree met the same fate and were instantly
killed under the pile of driftwood collected there. He could give no
estimate of the number lost at this point, but says that it is certainly
large.
Braves Death for His Family.
One of the most thrilling incidents of the disaster was the performance
of A.J. Leonard, whose family reside in Morrellville, a short distance
below this point. He was at work here, and hearing that his house had
been swept away determined at all hazards to ascertain the fate of his
family. The bridges having been carried away he constructed a temporary
raft, and clinging to it as close as a cat to the side of a fence, he
pushed his frail craft out in the raging torrent and started on a chase
which, to all who were watching, seemed to mean an embrace in death.
Heedless of cries "For God's sake go back, you will be drowned," and
"Don't attempt it," he persevered. As the raft struck the current he
threw off his coat and in his shirt sleeves braved the stream. Down
plunged the boards and down went Leonard, but as it rose he was seen
still clinging. A mighty shout arose from the throats of the hundreds on
the banks, who were now deeply interested, earnestly hoping he would
successfully ford the stream.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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