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
Mr. Derlin, who heeded the warning as to the danger of the dam, had
hurried his wife and two children to the hills, but returned himself to
save some things from his house. While in the building the flood struck
it and swept it away, jamming it among a lot of other houses and hurling
them all around with a regular churning motion. Mr. Derlin was in a fix,
but went to his top story, clambered to the roof and escaped from there
to solid structures and then to the ground. His property was entirely
ruined, but he thinks himself fortunate in saving his family.
Where Woodvale once stood there is now a sea of mud, broken but rarely
by a pile of wreckage. I waded through mud and water up the valley
to-day over the site of the former village. As has been often stated,
nothing is standing but the old woollen mills. The place is swept bare
of all other buildings but the ruins of the Gautier wire mill. The
boilers of this great works were carried one hundred yards from their
foundations. Pieces of engines, rolls and other machinery were swept far
away from where they once stood. The wreck of a hose carriage is
sticking up out of the mud. It belonged to the crack company of
Johnstown. The engine house is swept away and the cellar is filled with
mud, so that the site is obliterated.
A German watchman was on guard at the mill when the waters came. He ran
for the hillside and succeeded in escaping. He tells a graphic story of
the appearance of the water as it swept down the valley. He declares
that the first wave was as high as the third story of a house.
The place is deserted. No effort is being made to clean off the streets.
The mire has formed the grave for many a poor victim. Arms and legs are
protruding from the mud and it makes the most sickening of pictures.
General Hastings' Report.
In answer to questions from Governor Beaver, Adjutant-General Hastings
has telegraphed the following:
"Good order prevailed throughout the city and vicinity last night.
Police arrangements are excellent. Not one arrest made. No need of
sending troops. The Mayor of Johnstown and the Sheriff of Cambria
county, with whom I am in constant communication, request that no troops
be sent. I concur in their judgment. There is a great outside clamor for
troops. Do not send tents. Have nine hundred here, which are sufficient.
I advise you to make a call on the general public for money and other
assistance.
"About two thousand bodies have been rescued and the work of embalming
and burying the dead is going on with regularity. There is plenty of
medical assistance. We have a bountiful supply of food and clothing
to-day, and the fullest telegraphic facilities are afforded and all
inquiries are promptly answered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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