LOCAL HISTORY: STOREY, Henry Wilson. HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY PA. Vol. 1 The Lewis Publishing Co., 1907. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Martha Humenik. There is an HTML version of this book, with page images, on the county web site: http://www.camgenpa.com/books/Storey/v1/ Copyright 2006. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm _______________________________________________ CHAPTER XX. THE GREAT FLOOD OF MAY 3l, 1889. The veterans of 1861 had reverently placed their tributes on the graves of their comrades that beautiful Memorial Day of 1889, a wise Providence withholding from them visions of the awful carnage which was to take place on the morrow. The rain began to fall early that Thursday evening, and "before midnight was coming down in blinding sheets, continuing with more or less severity until Friday morning. The incessant downpour had not been confined to the western slope of the Allegheny mountains, but had extended throughout western Pennsylvania, and in the rail-belt leading to the Conemaugh and Stonycreek rivers, a heavier storm had never been known. Both rivers rose eighteen inches per hour, and at 8 A. M., May 31, each channel was almost full to the top of its banks. Within a half hour the overflow from the dam had covered that portion of the town below Market street, and rising rapidly the water soon extended as far up as Jackson street. The South Fork dam, originally an old reservoir, was a beautiful little lake nestled in the hills sixteen miles above Johnstown, having a basin of thirty-two acres, being about three miles in extreme length, from one-fourth to a mile in width, and seventy-two feet high at the breast. It was fed by the South Fork of the Little Conemaugh which drains the Cedar Swamp, and the little mountain rivulets. Completely encircling it, beneath rows of grand old forest trees, was a delightful driveway, and overlooking it was a commodious club house and about eighteen quaint cottages, whither the members of the South Fork Fishing Club, who owned it, took their families for the summer months. The mills had closed early in the morning, and the stores, shops and street cars had shortly after followed their example, consequently most men were at home. About eleven o 'clock the Poplar street bridge was carried off its piers and seemed to float intact until it reached the new Franklin street bridge, when it went to pieces. An hour later the Cambria City bridge left its moorings. 458 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. At one o'clock in the afternoon all the people in the town were completely housed with the exception of an occasional Venetian who visited his neighbor on a rudely constructed raft. At half-past one the water was seven feet above the level of Walnut street at the Welsh church between Lincoln and Vine, and by four o'clock it had risen another foot. Dr. J. K. Lee, who resided at the corner of Main street and Cherry alley, telephoned at a quarter after two that he was then standing in thirty-four inches of water on the first floor of his home, and that he would not come down again until the water subsided. At two-thirty o'clock it was estimated that the flow of the current in front of the Tribune office was twelve inches, going from the Stonycreek towards Main street at the rate of six miles per hour. At 3:15 o'clock the Central telephone office was informed by Frank S. Deckert, agent of the Pennsylvania railroad, "that the South Fork reservoir was getting worse all the time, and that the danger of its breaking was increasing momentarily." In commenting on this startling news the Tribune expressed this opinion, "It is idle to speculate what would be the result if this tremendous body of water--three miles long, a mile wide in places, and sixty feet (ninety feet) deep at the breast at its normal stage--should be thrown into the already submerged Valley of the Conemaugh." At the moment the terrible force was passing through the break in the dam, and commencing its wild rush down the narrow valley, the declivity of which was 53 feet to the mile, at the rate of fifteen miles per hour. This is the substance of the warning received by the few people who had telephones. It was only a fear, not a certainty, that the long predicted break had occurred. In a few minutes telegrams were received along the line of the Pennsylvania railroad stating that the dam had broken, and the information quickly passed to those within reach, permitted a few to escape to the hills. Even had it been possible to warn all, nine-tenths of the people could not have escaped at that hour, with the water from two to ten feet deep everywhere. It was probably at 3:50 P. M. that the first wave of the flood struck the Stone bridge, being twice held in check on its downward course--first at the Viaduct and next at Bridge No. 6 of the Pennsylvania railroad at the deep cut. In both in- 459 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. stances the water ran over the tracks and through the cuts before the obstructions gave way. At 4:10 P. M. the great moving mass of water weighing 18,000,000 tons, reached the main portion of the town, and transformed into a seething lake, the little valley which had been so green and fair twenty-four hours previously. Was it to be wondered at that bridges, Gautier mill stacks, business blocks and houses toppled over as silently and quickly as straws, at the touch of this mighty current, which is estimated to have been moving at a rate of from twenty to thirty miles per hour at that time? The current of the wave known as the 4:10, seemed to keep in a reasonably straight line with the Little Conemaugh river until it touched Westmont Hill at the Stone bridge, when, instead of following the channel, it turned up the Stonycreek. This turn of the water caused the great weight behind it to make another break and open a channel from the Little Conemaugh to the Stonycreek, which on Main street extended from the Presbyterian Church to the residence of Frank W. Hay. This break was not sufficient to relieve the great force, and another channel was made between these rivers, which, with Main street as the point of measurement, reached from the Louther and Green building on the corner of Main and Clinton streets, to Jackson street. The effects were as terrible in these new-made channels as they were in the Little Conemaugh. At 4:15 P. M., houses, planing mills, and rinks were floating around the buildings. At Walnut street the great force seemed to have spent its fury for another onslaught on the people below the Stone bridge. Observers on the roofs of the few houses that remained standing, and those huddled together in the eddy between Walnut and Union, south of Main, could see men, women and children being carried towards the Stone bridge and Westmont Hill. With the giving away of the embankment of the Pennsylvania railroad from the Stone bridge almost to the passenger station, the angry waters made a new rush for victims below. House after house passed through the break, carrying people on their roofs to an almost certain death down the river. Some lives were even lost as they passed through the breach before the rails were torn asunder, it being wellnigh impossible for houses to be carried under without toppling over. Within three minutes after the first mighty rush, these 460 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. same arches were solidly filled with wreckage, which extended about four hundred and fifty yards up the Stonycreek to Main street. Many other buildings were carried up the creek almost to Grubbtown (Eighth ward) and back again, probably within twenty minutes, only to add to the congestion in the end. It is asserted by those who were at the Stone bridge that but one person, Mrs. Andrew Baker of Woodvale, passed through the arches of the bridge. She was taken from her home on the first wave, carried under the arch with terrible velocity, and rescued at Coopersdale. Although many succeeded in escaping over the wreckage [PHOTO] Pennsylvania R. R. Stone Bridge at Johnstown, 1888. to the hillsides, the bridge or the railroad, many lives were lost in the heroic attempt to save others or themselves. Those rescued in that portion of the town between the Presbyterian church and Clinton street, generally congregated at the Alma Hall, the John Thomas building or Dr. S. M. Swan's residence. From the aggregation of houses below Walnut street they gathered in the Morrell House and the residence of General Campbell, or remained on the roofs or in the third floors of their homes until the morning. Others carried over to the South Side generally succeeded in climbing over the debris to the Dibert street school house, the residences of S. Dean Canan and Benjamin F. Horner, and elsewhere. One little boy living in Woodvale, swept away on 461 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. the debris, floated towards the home of Rev. E. A. Fink, at the corner of Somerset and Willow streets. In passing the window on the second floor he succeeded in catching hold there. Looking into the room and seeing Miss Columbia A. Horne, he asked in an entreating voice, "Missus, Can I come in?" To these people and to those who had reached the hillsides all danger was passed by half past five o'clock, or as soon as the great body of water had moved through the break in the embankment, but to those in the mass of wreckage at the Stone bridge a greater horror was approaching. Clouds had hung heavy over the town all the afternoon; night dropped early, and darkness, the dreary companion of the miserable and distressed, revealed to the already frenzied people that another danger threatened them. The origin of the fire which broke out near the east end of the Stone bridge has never been fully determined. The fire may have been caused by the combustion of a car of lime or an upset stove in a dwelling. Efforts made to stop it in its incipiency were futile, as utensils in which to carry water were unobtainable. Very soon it became a raging fire that continued to burn until Sunday evening, June 2d, when it was extinguished by the Pittsburg Fire Department, which brought its apparatus for that purpose. At ten o'clock Friday evening the reflection from it was so bright that the print of a newspaper could be read in the part of town below Clinton street. It is not known nor is it generally believed that any living person perished in the flames, but more than seventy charred bodies were found there afterward. All through the night the town clock in the belfry of the First English Lutheran Church mournfully tolled the hours, and to the members of the family separated, it seemed as if the day would never dawn when search could be instituted for their missing ones whom they hardly dared to hope were not lost. But with its return the most horrible sights met their eyes in the chaos which existed around them. Little babes, alone or locked in their mothers' arms, were wedged in the wreckage; men, women and children who had been strong in life but twelve hours before, were now cold in death. Many veterans of the Civil war who had passed through that terrible struggle from Bull Run to Appomattox, and had fought in the Bloody Angle at Gettysburg, in front of Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg, 462 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. and in the terrible slaughter of the Wilderness, were simply appalled. No such scene of human sacrifice as presented itself on that fair morning of the first day of June had ever come to their knowledge. A family consisting of father, mother and six children were found in one little room, where all had died together, probably within a period of sixty to one hundred and twenty seconds. The strong, muscular father had been as helpless as the little child. This condition of affairs extended from the upper end of the Tenth ward to the Twentieth, while down the river as far even as Blairsville bodies were washed ashore among the debris, and a few even were found in the Ohio river below Pittsburgh. That morning 2,205 lifeless bodies were lying buried in sand or wreckage at Johnstown and its immediate vicinity, ninety-nine hundredths of whom had yielded their lives within a space of five minutes. Standing on any hillside, the oldest resident could scarcely have traced the slightest resemblance to his native town in the scene that lay before him that next morning. Water, water everywhere--buildings intact or partially wrecked stood like solitary sentinels, or little groups of them rose above the acres of wreckage which stretched in all directions. In that part of town below Franklin street, lying between the rivers, the eddy formed by the current caused the debris to settle between Main and Stonycreek streets. This debris consisted of logs, portions of buildings, freight cars, parts of locomotives, engines from East Conemaugh, lumber, the contents of dwellings, mills, shops and liveries, dead and living animals, all piled to the height of twenty feet. From Walnut street to the Presbyterian Church, between Main street and the Stonycreek, was the new-made channel, entirely clear of everything with the exception of the homes of F. W. Hay and General J. M. Campbell. From the Presbyterian Church to Levergood street in the Fourth ward, between Main street and the Stonycreek, the destruction was only partial. The buildings from the Christian Church to the Jordan and Hinchman store, inclusive, were standing, but were, of course, more or less damaged. Those on Franklin, Lincoln and Vine streets had suffered to the same extent and were surrounded with wreckage fifteen feet high. One particular incident worthy of note occurred at the 463 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. First National Bank. Dwight Roberts, the cashier, was in the teller's room on the first floor when the flood reached that building. Before escaping up the stairs, he saw the waters rapidly rise to a point above the lower sash, while there was still not a drop on the floor of the bank. This fact illustrates the swiftness of the destroyer, the water rising to a height of nine feet above the pavement in so short a space of time that not a drop had crept in through the inside cellarway or around the doors and windows. The Second ward was swept almost clean of the hundred and odd houses in it, the only ones saved from total destruction [PHOTO] House of John Schultz. being Dr. John Lowman's, Jacob Fend's, Isaac E. Chandler's, James McMillen's, and the double dwelling of C. T. Frazer and S. P. S. Ellis, the Club House, now the Capital Hotel, the office of the Cambria Iron Company, and the building of the Wood, Morrell & Co., subsequently that of the Penn Traffic Company, destroyed by fire recently. Very little debris lodged here, as it was in the direct channel of the current, which, however, almost leveled the vacant cellars with sand. With a few exceptions, all the buildings in the Third ward on the north side of Main street from Franklin to Clinton streets, back to Locust, were greatly damaged, but not destroyed. North of Locust to the Little Conemaugh every house 464 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. was swept away, save a few on the former street and two on the lower side of Clinton street. Above Clinton to Jackson not a house was left except one corner of the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, lying directly in the path of the second cut from the Little Conemaugh to the Stonycreek. It seems almost miraculous that it should have been saved, and not a human life lost in the building. The portion of the town, above Levergood street to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was entirely destroyed, and but little wreckage left thereon. Owing to the high elevation at Adams and Bedford streets the buildings were left intact. At this point were located the headquarters of A. J. Moxham, J. B. Scott and others who came to our assistance. The Carroll lot on the corner of Bedford and Baumer streets was used as a commissary, and the Adams street school house served as the principal morgue. Nearly all the homes in the Fifth ward were washed away excepting a few on Franklin street, between those of Joseph Morgan and S. Dean Canan, some between Haynes and Dibert on the northerly side of Napoleon street, and an occasional one on Napoleon below Haynes. Southwest of Napoleon street the loss was total and all the ground was covered with wreckage ten or fifteen feet high. While the Sixth ward suffered the complete destruction of many houses, the majority were damaged more by the water and floating debris. In the Seventh ward the conditions were about the same, and Sandyvale Cemetery lay beneath a new pall. The backwater from the Stone bridge reached its level in Grubbtown, below the corner of Franklin street and the Valley Pike, although the water ran into the houses on the upper side of Franklin street. With one or two exceptions, all the dwellings and shops north of Railroad street in the Ninth ward were totally destroyed, and even some on the upper side of the street did not escape. Lying on high ground, the major portion of the Tenth ward suffered little damage outside of the destruction of the Gautier mills and the buildings north of Railroad street, which included the public school house and the Conemaugh Fire Company house and apparatus. At that time Center street was not in existence, an irregular highway running by sufferance over the old canal basin, taking its place. 465 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. A relative comparison shows that more human lives were sacrificed and more property lost in Woodvale than in any other district of the valley. It had been a thickly populated residential borough, with Maple avenue, its principal thoroughfare, one of the most beautiful in this vicinity. After the water passed through there was not the slightest trace of a single dwelling, shop or mill between the hill and the river, except a wall of the old flouring mill. This solitary sentinel was all that remained of the once flourishing and prosperous borough, where had been the Johnstown works of the Johnstown Street Steel Railway Company, now the Lorain Steel Company. The Twelfth ward, situated on Prospect Hill, wholly escaped, and through it, over the Ebensburg road, assistance came from the east and west until the railroads were reopened. Every building in the Thirteenth ward below the Pennsylvania Railroad street, except the school house, was totally destroyed. It was here that the embankment between the Stone bridge and the station broke and let the pent-up waters flow onward. The Cambria Iron Works are principally located in the Fourteenth ward, and they, with many other buildings along the Conemaugh river, were greatly damaged, but not annihilated, as the force of the water had been much lessened by its temporary abeyance at the Stone bridge. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth wards, comprising the borough of Cambria, suffered severely in the loss of life and property. Lying as it did in the curve of the Conemaugh river, when the embankment at the bridge gave way the water naturally made a channel directly through the borough, sacrificing so many lives and leaving but few houses between Broad street and the river. The Seventeenth ward suffered no damage except that caused by a slight amount of backwater. This district belonged to Stonycreek township at the time of the flood, and became a part of Johnstown borough in the fall of 1889. It was not the Seventeenth ward of the city of Johnstown until 1891, there being but sixteen wards at the organization of the city in 1890. The portion of the borough of South Fork lying between the hills, about three miles below the dam, was, of course, washed away. Several lives were lost and much property destroyed, including the bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad, and a large part of the tracks to the viaduct. This bridge of the Vol. I-30 466 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Pennsylvania railroad over the Little Conemaugh was a beautiful piece of workmanship. It was a single-span stone arch, seventy-eight and one-half feet in height, erected by the state of Pennsylvania in 1832 for the old Portage railroad, and was in use to the day of the flood, intact and as magnificent as ever. The natural channel of the Little Conemaugh gave it a peculiar location. At this point the river is divided by a ridge about a hundred yards in width, and the channel carries the water around the ridge and down to the viaduct for the distance of almost a mile. The mass of logs and lumber blocked the single span, which checked the water and raised it 14 feet above the level of the bridge. Flowing from the upper side of the ridge, the water found its level, rushed through the cut in the rocks where the tracks of the Pennsylvania road were laid, and fell like a cataract over the splendid viaduct. The water was making a fall of ninety feet over the lower side of the structure, before it gave way. When it did, the second impetus was given. The little village of Mineral Point, lying between the northerly side of the Little Conemaugh river and the high hill, was a half-mile below the viaduct. The flood rushed on it with such rapidity that, although within few feet of high ground, many persons were drowned, and every house within reach of the water and the township bridge were swept away. No. 6 Bridge was situated where the curved stone arch crossing for the Pennsylvania railroad is now located, at the deep cut four miles above Johnstown. The channel of the river here is somewhat similar to that at the viaduct, the ridge only being longer and the river curving at greater length. This channel was also blocked by the logs and the water forced to come through the cut, before that iron structure with heavy stone piers was washed away. Of the old Portage roadbed, used as a driveway from the foot of Plane No. 1 almost to Franklin borough, not a vestige remained to locate what had been at one time the beautiful drive, except one or two pieces of stone cribbing found here and there at the foot of the high hill. The four main tracks of the Pennsylvania road from a point three-fourths of a mile above Conemaugh, to and opposite the Gautier works, with all the sidings, the roundhouse containing several engines, the station and coal tipple were completely torn out. 467 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. The log cribbing filled with stones in the Little Conemaugh above Conemaugh station was built after the flood and used for several months to protect the trestle whereon the tracks of the road were laid. This cribbing will probably remain there for a long period. All the houses from Front street to Greeve, in the eastern part of the borough of East Conemaugh, and those back beyond Chestnut in the lower part, were carried away. Prior to the flood the principal business street of the village was Front street, facing the railroad, with its center of trade where the [PHOTO] City Hall, Destroyed In the Flood. stone pier of the overhead bridge is now located. But since that time Greeve has become the principal business street and the lower portion of the town has only recently been rebuilt. The ill-fated day express was standing just above the overhead bridge when the water struck it, snuffing out the lives of many of its passengers. After the flood the Pennsylvania railroad purchased one hundred feet or more on the southerly side of the river, and moving the channel of the river south, widened its right of way to that extent. Engineer John C. Hess, residing at Conemaugh, was on his engine a few miles above that place when he saw the flood ap- 468 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. preaching. With the whistle opened to its full limit, he started immediately for Conemaugh as fast as skill and steam could carry him. Stopping the engine in front of his home he barely succeeded in getting his family away before both home and engine had disappeared. Although many lives were lost in this village, Engineer Hess's alarm was the means of saving many others both here and at Franklin. The borough of Franklin lies on the southerly side of the Little Conemaugh, and all that thickly inhabited portion of it, between the old Portage roadway and the river was entirely destroyed, together with a large number of its residents. The earth was simply scooped out many feet deep, and a well eighteen feet in depth was washed to the bottom. A small portion of this locality was refilled eight years after the flood, that is the land now owned by the Cambria Steel Company, formerly the property of the old Highland Agricultural Grounds. Passing through Franklin, the channel entered the Eleventh ward, or Woodvale, to which we have already referred. The boroughs of Morrellville and Coopersdale, now the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first wards of the city of Johnstown, were divided by the Conemaugh river, therefore those sections lying close to the banks were slightly damaged. From this point onward in its course, to Blairsville Intersection, the water carried the wrecked buildings with their human freight, strewing the debris and the bodies all along the shores of the river, and especially at Dornoek Point and Roger's Mills were so many found that a temporary cemetery was located at the bend in the river below Nineveh. Subsequently these were reinterred in Grandview Cemetery and elsewhere. By reason of the watchfulness of the people of Bolivar, many people floating down the stream were rescued by means of ropes thrown over the side of the West Penn railroad bridge, which had not been demolished. FIRST ORGANIZATION FOR RELIEF. The only means of access to the main part of town from the south side was by way of the Moxham bridge, and this fact together with the six feet of water which at this time was flowing through the channel between the Presbyterian church and the residence of F. W. Hay, made it very difficult to ascertain who was living and who could help. 469 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. However, a sufficient number of citizens agreed to meet at the Adam Street school house at three o'clock in the afternoon of Saturday, June 1st, to organize relief committees, and at the appointed hour the meeting was called to order and Arthur J. Moxham elected chairman. After some discussion as to the best way of giving prompt relief, it was decided that Mr. Moxham should remain in general charge, and the following committees were appointed: On Local Distribution of Supplies: John Thomas, Father Tahaney, Louis von Lunen, Charles B. Cover, Charles Shields, and D. J. Duncan. On Finance: James McMillen, George T. Swank, W. C. Lewis, John D. Roberts, Dwight Roberts, and Cyrus Elder. On Teams and Messengers: James A. McMillan, John H. Waters, and B. W. Welch. On Information and Transportation: Robert S. Murphy, and Cyrus Brown. On Commissary: Captain H. H. Kuhn, John Masterton, and William Boyd. On Removing Dead Animals: Charles Zimmerman, Jr. On Morgues: Rev. D. J. Beale and Rev. H. L. Chapman. On Removal of Debris; Tom L. Johnson. On Time-keeping and Books: John S. Tittle. On Removal of Dangerous Buildings: John Coffin, Richard Eyre, George Gocher, and William F. Carpenter. On Police: Captain James H. Gageby and Alexander N. Hart, the latter of whom was made chief of police. On Fire Department: William Ossenberg, who was made chief, with headquarters on Main street. On Employment: Howard C. Evans. On Sanitary Affairs: Dr. W. B. Lowman, Dr. W. E. Matthews, and Dr. Benjamin E. Lee. On Registration: Dr. McConaughy and Dr. McGann. The same day the Committee on Information located in the building on the southwest corner of Adam and Main streets, and all persons were requested to make a report of those who were known to be living, and those who had been lost. It will be observed that the organization covered every essential point for prompt relief. Within twenty-four hours the survivors had organized to help their fellow-citizens, while the munificent aid coming in from the outside was taxing all man's ingenuity to get it across the rivers to those in such distress. 470 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. The citizens had appointed a committee to remove the debris. Even the thought was pluck, but it would have taken years to accomplish it without the help which the world gave. Thousands of workmen came on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, many with picks and shovels, promising to remain for one week and help the living bury the dead and clean the town. On Saturday a rope bridge was constructed from the Stone bridge to a point near the Steel Works, and thereafter until Sunday evening all supplies, coffins, workmen and helpers crossed here. At the company office a wire was stretched across the Little Conemaugh, and with a small skiff a ferry was the means of gaining access to the town. Wednesday following the flood, Redfield Proctor, secretary of war, located two pontoon bridges across the Stonycreek, one near Poplar street, and the other at the Beulah fording, near Franklin street. These rendered excellent service until June 27th, when temporary trestle bridges were constructed at these points, and the pontoons taken to Washington City. Postmaster Herman Baumer immediately began to place the people in communication with the outside world, and on Sunday, with some store boxes, equipped a temporary postoffice in the brick building on the northwest corner of Main and Adams street. His only supplies were a few envelopes he had picked up here and there, blank leaves of books which sufficed for letter paper, and a few postals and glueless stamps rescued from the old postoffice which had occupied the lower floor of the Tribune building. For the first few days all mail-- incoming and out going--passed over the Baltimore & Ohio road, after which time postal agents carried the pouches between Johnstown and Sang Hollow, and eastern mail was hauled to Ebensburg to be from there forwarded over the Pennsylvania Railroad. Early on Saturday morning the representatives of the great daily newspapers began to arrive. The Western Union lines were broken in several places both east and west of the town, but the Pittsburgh office succeeded in getting a wire through to the Stone bridge early on Sunday. An office was established in one of the A. J. Haws buildings at the cement works, which remained the headquarters for the newspaper men until it was moved up to the freight warehouse. Very soon quarters were procured for them in town. Many of the dailies kept their men 471 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. here until October, and rendered, as they always do, an invaluable service to those in distress. Robert Pitcairn, general agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with some of his assistants, happened to be along the line of that road near Johnstown the day of the disaster. Not being able to get any nearer than Sang Hollow on Saturday morning, he immediately returned to Pittsburg, interviewed some members of the board of commerce, and informed them of the situation. A meeting was held that afternoon, and the subject of relief considered. Owing to the destruction of the telegraph wires, full information of the appalling event was not known by the general public. Committees were appointed to make inquiry of the first needs, and to report at a special meeting to be held on Sunday. At this time Mr. Pitcairn entered the chamber, and said: "Gentlemen, it is not to-morrow you want to act, but to-day; thousands of lives were lost in a moment, and the living need immediate relief." This was sufficient. Thousands of dollars were handed in so rapidly that there was a delay in keeping an account of it. Baskets and other receptacles, marked for the "Johnstown Sufferers," were placed on the highways. Dollar after dollar was thrown in. The newspapers printed hourly editions containing the latest news; the Pennsylvania road ran train after train down Liberty street, where merchants and commission men, owners and workmen, quickly filled the cars with provisions and clothing. During the first week, the cars not being able to come further than the Stone bridge, all provisions, coffins, etc., that came by the Pennsylvania for use on the south side, were unloaded at Morrellville and hauled by wagons over Yoder Hill to South street. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was more greatly impaired along its main line than at Johnstown and on Sunday morning succeeded in getting a car of provisions through from Somerset, which was soon followed by train after train bearing markers, "For the Johnstown Sufferers." That same day the tents belonging to the Ohio militia, which Governor Foraker sent, arrived. Mr. J. V. Patton, superintendent at Pittsburg, came here and rendered great service, by bringing help to the people and furnishing transportation to all persons among the survivors who wished to leave the town. 472 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Miss Clara Barton, president of the Red Cross Society, left Washington City the night of Sunday, June 2d, and came to Johnstown on the first through train which passed over the Baltimore and Ohio Road, arriving here on Wednesday morning. She established headquarters near the Poplar street bridge, and soon had her assistants out searching for the sick, the wounded, the poor and the needy. The emblem of the red cross on the arm was sufficient authority to go unheeded, as the wearer was on a mission of mercy and charity. Subsequently Miss Barton changed her headquarters to Walnut street, where she remained until late in the fall. During this time she provided without limit, food, clothing, house utensils and homes to those who were worthy. The relief organization of Saturday, June 1st, continued in force until Wednesday, June 5th, when Mr. Moxham stated to the committee that he deemed it best that some other person should be elected to take charge. With one accord, James B. Scott, of Pittsburg, was appointed, with absolute power and no appeal thereto, except reason. Mr. Scott was a faithful friend to Johnstown, and, engaging thousands of workmen of Booth & Flynn, a contracting firm of Pittsburg, he began the herculean task of cleaning the town. This organization continued for one week. At this meeting some changes were made in the committees, as follows: On Transportation, Fred J. Heinz and Irvin Rutledge: on Time-keeping, etc., John S. Tittle and Richard Eyre; on Information, H. A. French. At a conference held the second Sunday after the disaster, between Governor Beaver, Captain William R. Jones, James B. Scott, Adjutant General Hastings and other prominent citizens of the state and town, it was unanimously decided that the undertaking entered into by the people of the country to clean the town and prevent an epidemic was too great for unorganized relief; that some better plan should be adopted. The laws were carefully consulted and it was determined that the sanitary provisions of the commonwealth were ample for the state to assume control of the situation. There being no sufficient appropriation to meet this crisis, William H. Kemble, of Philadelphia, placed a half million dollars in the hands of Governor Beaver to carry on the work for the state. In the session of the Assembly for 1891, the money was refunded to Mr. Kemble. 473 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. In pursuance of the above conference, on the 12th of June, the James B. Scott organization was succeeded by that of General Daniel H. Hastings, who represented Governor Beaver. Booth & Flynn had been making great progress and were paying their men two dollars per day, but when the state assumed control, the wages were fixed at $1.50. This reduction caused some discontent among the workmen, and on the 17th when they were all paid, most of them left town. But General Hastings had immediately gathered together a force of two thousand men whom he had removing the wreckage at the Stone bridge, and on the 17th twenty-seven hundred men and two hundred teams were at work. Two days later the road under the Stone bridge was opened to travel. Col. Norman M. Smith with the 18th Regiment of the National Guards of Pittsburg, Captain Lohr's company from Mt. Pleasant and other companies of the 10th Regiment with almost all the Staff Officers from the different parts of the state were brought to Johnstown within the first week and rendered efficient service for more than two months. When General Hastings assumed control the town was practically under martial law for several weeks, and a card like the following was issued to responsible persons: [PHOTO] THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION. On June 27th the organized method for relief and protection was as follows: Chief of Operations: General D. H. Hastings, Colonel Thomas J. Hudson, Lieutenant-Colonel William J. Elliott. Department of Public Safety: General J. A. Wiley, Major Samuel Hazlett, Major W. W. Greenland, Major Frank K. Patterson, Major Wilson T. Braden, Captain George C. Hamilton, Captain James D. Murdock. Quartermaster's Department: Colonel S. W. Hill, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Potter, Jr. Commissary Department: Colonel J. Granville Leach, 474 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Spangler, Captain J. A. Loehr, Lieutenant W. H. Bean, Lieutenant J. P. Albro, Lieutenant Chas. E. Brown. Receiving Depot, Commissary No. 1. Pennsylvania Railroad Station: Major William J. Horn. No. 2, Baltimore and Ohio Station: Major J. S. Singer. Surgeon General's Department: Major J. E. Silliman. Accounting Department: Colonel J. H. Gray. Bureau of Information: Colonel John I. Rodgers. Distributing Department, Johnstown: Lieutenant J. M. Baker and Lieutenant G. M. Burnett. South Side and Grubbtown: Major Austin Curtin. Conemaugh Borough: Lieutenant S. H. Williams. The work of clearing the debris was carried on by divisions, with an engineer and a contractor for each. The general engineer was Colonel H. T. Douglass, of Baltimore, whose headquarters were in a car on the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The first and second districts included all the territory below and about the Stone bridge. Contractor, James McKnight; engineer, Major William M. Phillips. Third district, the section between the rivers east to Franklin street. Contractor, J. W. Coburn; engineer, G. T. Keenan. Fourth district, the territory above Franklin street. Contractors, McLain & Co.; engineer, H. F. Lafland. Fifth district, South Side, upper section: Contractor, James McKnight; lower Section, Patrick Ridge; engineer, Eugene Cunningham. WORLD-WIDE RELIEF. Money for relief poured into the state from all parts of the world and was principally held in Pittsburg, Philadelphia and New York. The contributions were so munificent that a system had to be created to take care of it. Therefore Governor Beaver appointed the following committee to distribute it: Mayor Edwin H. Fitter, Thomas Dolan, John Y. Huber, Robert G. Ogden, and Francis B. Reeves, of Philadelphia; James B. Scott, Reuben Miller and S. S. Marvin, of Pittsburg; John Fulton, of Johnstown, and Judge H. H. Cummin, of Williamsport. Mr. Fulton declined to serve, and at a meeting of the citizens held June 14th Colonel John P. Linton was selected as his successor. 475 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. TEN DOLLAR HEAD MONEY. On June 25th, the finance committee, through its chairman, issued the following circular and also advertised in the papers: RELIEF. "The Finance Committee of Johnstown for the relief of sufferers in the Conemaugh Valley by the late flood, desires to distribute money to all of them, and for that purpose competent persons have been selected in each district to register such persons and make report. "All sufferers are requested to appear before the Register in their proper district. The office for registering will be opened from 8 a. m. until 8 p. m. on Thursday and Friday, June 27th and 28th. "Any person absent from the city can register the same as if present by sending the following information to H. W. Storey, Chairman Finance Sub- Committee, at room No. 10, Alma Hall, Johnstown: Giving the district in which he resided, and place of residence by street and number, the name of each surviving member of the family, and present postoffice address. "Also the names of those lost. Each sufferer, or head of the family if the same, must register in the District in which he or she resided at the time of the flood." Then followed the districts and places for registering between South Fork and Morrellville. Friday, June 28th, the chairman of the committee reported the result of the two-days registration as follows: Heads of Families. Survivors. Lost. South Fork and Viaduct 43 190 4 Mineral Point 30 126 15 East Conemaugh 1ll 341 9 Franklin 45 174 10 Woodvale 253 835 197 Conemaugh- First ward 172 696 25 Second ward 281 1,032 88 Johnstown- First ward 640 2,031 121 Second ward 318 916 214 Third ward 259 782 153 Fourth ward 158 438 31 Fifth ward 381 1,455 25 Sixth ward 276 1,204 9 Seventh ward 212 926 7 Millville- First ward 206 689 94 Second ward 78 308 1 476 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUXTY. Heads of Families. Survivors. Lost. Cambria- First ward 194 670 116 Second Ward 356 1,478 67 Coopersdale 114 641 2 Morrellville 33 171 Grubbtown 57 244 Upper Yoder 4 25 Stonycreek township 4 20 1 Moxham 11 46 2 Nineveh 1 6 West Taylor township 3 11 ------ ------ ------ Totals 4,240 15,455 1,194 This inquiry, made almost a month after the flood, was the first systematic effort made to ascertain the number of lives lost, which at that time was reported to be 1,194, but subsequent investigation disclosed the fact that at least 2,205 people had been drowned. The absence of many families from the scene of horror and the total annihilation of others left no one to report their loss. It was ordered that ten dollars be given to the head of the family for each surviving member, and the first money distributed was given under this registration on the 5th of July. The problem of housing the people that summer was a perplexing one; homes which had withstood the flood were overcrowded, many built for a family of five were sheltering twenty persons. On the 20th of June a sub-committee of the local finance committee consisting of Messrs. H. W. Storey, B. F. Speedy and Thomas Matthews, was appointed to arrange for the location and construction of the Chicago portable houses known as the "Oklahoma." These were one-story dwellings of two sizes, sixteen by twenty-four feet, and ten by twenty feet, painted inside and out, and fully equipped with household furniture and utensils. The price of the larger was $180 each, and the smaller $75, or $250 for both, which cost was deducted from the amount of relief granted. At four o'clock on the following day two hundred applications for "Oklahomas" had been made, and S. S. Marvin, of Pittsburgh, informed the finance committee that twenty-four of them would arrive on Sunday. But the situation was still unsolved until Miss Clara Barton constructed on the Episcopal Church lot on Locust street a 477 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Red Cross apartment house, which was finished about the last of July. The building was two stories in height, one hundred feet in length and fifty in width, and contained thirty-five bedrooms, a dining-hall, laundry and two bathrooms. The "Oklahomas" being so small made them quite unsatisfactory, therefore Hoover, Hughes & Company, of Bellefonte, offered to erect two-story, four-room houses, balloon frames and without cellar walls, for $260 each. The proposition was accepted, and the first order for two hundred was completed on the 14th of August, with two hundred more in process of construction. At a meeting of the State Commission held in Harrisburg, on June 27th, the following declaration was made to the public: "That the donors of the funds in the hands of the Flood Relief Commission may know how their generous gifts are to be disposed of, and that the expectant recipients of the same may not, from erroneous views of, foster improper expectations for the same, it is now officially declared and announced that the following principles shall govern the distribution of relief: "1. That the said fund is in the nature of a charity to the needy, and not as a general indemnity for losses sustained. "2. That a distribution per capita would be manifestly unjust, as it would go alike to the rich and the poor and alike to all sufferers, no matter what their needs or the extent of their suffering. "3. That a distribution by percentage on the amount of losses would be manifestly unjust, as it would result in giving the largest sum to the person having lost the most, without regard to the value of the remaining estate of such person. "4. That this fund cannot be used for the benefit of any private or public corporation. "5. That the fund must go only to the most needy sufferers from the flood in accordance with the spirit of the trust imposed upon it by the donors." On July 5, 1889, after Judge Cummin had investigated the situation in and around Johnstown, he said: "Finding that we cannot use the relief fund for any other purpose than to relieve the distress of individual sufferers by the flood, and finding, also, that the Governor has no power to use the public money except insofar as it might relate to the health of the public, under such circumstances as require immediate relief, beyond what the municipality may be able to do in time--the question arises: How shall our municipalities, as such, be helped? "As has been said, no relief funds can be applied to them, and no State aid can be given them under our new constitution; 478 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. therefore, we must look to the General Government for such relief. "In many places in Pennsylvania the expense of repairing the highways and reconstructing the bridges is far beyond the taxing power of the municipality. There are townships in the state where miles of not only the road, but the roadbed, together with a large number of bridges, have been totally destroyed. If in such places they had the authority and could borrow the money to restore the highways, the townships would be loaded with a debt that could not be paid by the tax payers in, a lifetime. In the Borough of Johnstown and the other Boroughs in the vicinity, the repairing of the highways and the rebuilding of the bridges will burden the people beyond endurance. "The General Government has unlimited power to help us. They have heretofore made appropriations of like character; for instance the earthquake at Charleston, help to the sufferers by yellow fever, and other like subjects, and, while these visitations were terrible indeed, they were in no sense as overwhelming as the one that has prostrated this community. For these reasons, and for others that might be mentioned, the people here are perfectly justified in expecting, and should not hesitate in asking, relief from the National Government." However, in reply to this request, Redfield Proctor, Secretary of War, addressed a letter to Mr. E. Y. Townsend, enclosing one from E. MacFeely, Acting Secretary of War, to Governor Beaver, in which he said: "The method pursued under the law for the improvement of rivers contemplates the aid and benefit of navigation, and only those examinations and surveys of rivers have been undertaken that have been ordered by Act of Congress. Under these circumstances it is not seen how the Secretary of War can direct the formation of a project for preventing the Conemaugh from overflowing its banks, with a view to presenting this project to Congress for adoption, as suggested by Governor Beaver." On July 6th Colonel Henry T. Douglass, chief engineer in charge of the forces clearing the rivers and town of the wreckage, issued the following order to the contractors: "You will relieve all your forces on Saturday, July 6th, on which date your contract with General D. H. Hastings, acting for the State of Pennsylvania, will terminate. You will return, on forms furnished you, a statement of the time of your forces from June 28th to July 6th, both inclusive, and your money will be paid on Monday, July 8th." Colonel Douglass retired after thirty-six days of faithful work for the people of Johnstown, and was succeeded by Cap- 479 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. tain Hamilton, of Warren, Pennsylvania. Colonel Douglass returned to his home in Baltimore that evening, but before taking his departure he gave a resume of the work that had been done, the condition of affairs at that time, and the course to be pursued in the future. He said: "In the district of Johnstown, south of Franklin street and east of Stonycreek, the thoroughfares have been generally cleared of both mud and debris, and in a large portion of this district the cellars have been cleaned, and such buildings as remain standing have been removed from the streets, and where it has not been practicable to restore them to the lots from which the flood removed them, they have been torn down and the material either moved away for the construction of other buildings or destroyed. So this district may be considered as practically cleaned of all material which the Board of Health has considered necessary to be removed. "In the district of Kernville or the South Side, the streets nave been entirely cleaned, and the majority of cellars cleaned, and there remain only a few broken buildings, and those that have been left in the street, by the flood, which are few in number, to be removed. The debris has been burned where it could not be used for construction hereafter. Now, little remains to be done in Kernville to put it in good condition. "In Cambria the streets have been cleaned, and a majority of the cellars have been cleaned out, so that little remains to be done at this point. "In the Conemaugh and Stonycreek the raft which obstructed these streams has been removed, and either taken out and burned or passed down the river to points below. There still remain some logs and other materials in the Stonycreek and Conemaugh rivers to be removed. They will be cut up and dragged out where it is practicable, and where not practicable, they will be destroyed by the use of explosives. "In the district west of Main and north of Franklin there remains some work yet to be done in the clearing of the streets, and quite a large amount of work in the removing of broken houses and other debris from the streets and lots. To do this work in the future a contract has been made with Messrs. McLain & Co., of Philadelphia, who have been among the best contractors we have had at Johnstown, to continue to remove all the material which the Board of Health may consider necessary. This firm will employ a force of from five to six hundred men, and such a number of teams as may be found necessary. I do not think it will take more than two weeks to complete this work. "Bridges have been built across the Stonycreek at Poplar street, and a bridge is under construction at Franklin street. These are of course trestle bridges of a temporary character, 480 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. but unless carried away by some extraordinary freshet, may be relied upon to last for a considerable length of time. A temporary bridge has been constructed across the Conemaugh at the junction of Walnut and Washington streets, which will be replaced, of course, by a permanent structure. A bridge has been ordered to be constructed across the Conemaugh at Woodvale, and another has been very nearly completed across the river at Cambria City. "Captain Hamilton, who will assume charge of the work in Johnstown, has also been directed to construct a levee so as to deflect the water into the channel of the Conemaugh, at the eastern limits of Woodvale, and prevent the overflow which a rise of from two to three feet would cause with the ground remaining in its present condition. "This work will be constructed at once, and will tend to very much relieve the Conemaugh Valley and Woodvale of the effects of floods. "The amount of work that has been done in Johnstown can scarcely be estimated from its present condition, from the fact that much of the material has been removed away and destroyed which obstructed every avenue in the city. The contractors have labored with zeal and energy in the discharge of their duties; and I think that the citizens of Johnstown may congratulate themselves upon the result thus far obtained. "My duties require me to return to Baltimore, and the work will hereafter be conducted by Captain Hamilton, of General Wiley's staff. General Hastings will leave Johnstown, temporarily, next week, as he is obliged to visit the encampment of the National Guards, but he will return as frequently as possible. "It is proposed to continue the use of the troops for the present at least. "The cost of all the work done since the 13th of June to the 16th of July, inclusive, under the direction of General Hastings and myself, will amount to not quite $100,000. "In relieving the contractors there will be discharged only about four hundred men, and but very few teams." At Cresson, on July 9, 1889, at the conference of Governor Beaver with the several members of the commission, finance committee, and board of inquiry, Colonel Hill, quartermaster-general, made a report of the money expended to July: Disbursements for Relief. Commissary Department $29,397.98 Bureau of Information 637.86 Adjutant General's Office 262.00 Medical Department 1,038.67 Department of Public Safety 6,166.80 481 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Quarter Master's Department 36,133.24 Department of Valuables 537.30 ---------- Total $74,173.85 Disbursements for Work in Reopening Rivers and Streets. Quarter Master's Department $155,525.39 Adjutant General's Office 2,518.02 Accounting Department 1,219.55 Department of Public Safety 178.50 State Board of Health 7,220.70 Medical Department 5,607.18 ---------- Total $172,269.34 Amount Received by Each Contractor. R. O'Donnell $ 1,475.64 McLane & Co. 34,667.10 Patrick Ridge 9,388.47 Coburn & Co 25,745.43 James McKnight 41,911.49 Chas. H. Suppes 2,067.23 J. H. Benford 242.10 On June 12th, Cyrus Elder presided over a meeting of the citizens held in Waters' plumbing shop in the Alma Hall, to formulate plans to ascertain the names of those who were lost, and the amount of property of each individual destroyed. The Committee selected on this occasion was Tom L. Johnson, Henry H. Kuhn, John H. Brown, Samuel Masters, John Hannan, and Rev. E. W. Trautwein. This committee was approved by the Finance Committee, General Hastings, and the State Flood Commission. It was the recognized authority in the distribution of the fund held by the state commission of which Judge Cummin of Williamsport, was the first official representative. He came here July 3d, and died within a few weeks and was succeeded by Mr. J. B. Kremer of Carlisle. All the members of the Board of Inquiry, excepting John H. Brown. John Hannan and Samuel Masters, declined to participate, and the committee was really composed of, and the work performed by these three gentlemen, whose services were not concluded until January, 1890. The principle upon which the Board of Inquiry acted was as follows: A day was fixed upon which the board should visit each district, and before whom in conjunction with three citizens of the district, each resident should then present his cause. On Monday, July 8th, the board had completed their in- Vol. I-31 482 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. vestigations in the several districts and presented their report to the State Commission, which met at Cresson. On July 9th, the grand total of property loss, as disclosed by that committee, was $8,655,114. The report was as follows: "The Board of Inquiry consists of a Chairman, Tom L. Johnson, of Cleveland, Ohio, and five members, representative citizens of Johnstown and neighboring boroughs. The Board appointed and advertised eighteen meetings, which so far have been well attended. At each meeting a local committee of citizens, consisting of three or five was selected by the Board from a number of persons chosen by the meeting. "This Committee examined carefully the statements of loss prepared by the clerks of the Board in the presence of the person claiming to have lost friends, relatives, or property; each statement being made in "the name of the head of the family. The estimate of the loss of property made was modified and changed as in the judgment of the local committee it became necessary. The Committee's estimate is the estimate of record. The present condition of each applicant was considered, and finally the best judgment of the Board was exercised in recommending the family for assistance in the various classes, on the basis of its present needs, rather than upon the extent of its loss. "Class I. Is the class to which the committee assigned the most needy; generally, a woman who had lost her husband or son and was left with a large family to support and scarcely any property saved. A few men whose physical condition was such that they were unable to earn a living, and who had a large family and no property, were assigned to this class. "Class II. Is that class to which the committee assigned the next most needy families; following the same general rules as above; being people who had lost some of their family, but having more property whose physical condition in the judgment of the committee was somewhat better. "Class III. Is the class to which the committee assigned the next most needy after class two; generally families who had recovered something from the flood, but to whom a small amount of money was a great present need. "Class IV. Is the class to which the committee assigned families generally small in number having some member of the family able to work, and either had very little or no property saved from the flood. In some cases the parties owned a lot which had no present value, but on which they could possibly borrow some money to help them erect a building. This together with any assistance received would put them in a shape to become self-supporting very soon. "Class V. Is the class to which were assigned those requiring assistance promptly but of smaller amounts; generally 483 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. men, who having a small family dependent upon them, had lost heavily, but to whom a small amount of money would result in great present good in providing the family with some of the necessaries of life. "Class VI. Is the class to which were assigned all other cases, no matter how severe their losses, but in whom the Board considered the present value of property such that the persons were not objects of immediate charity. This class contains a great many who should be considered and assisted after the first five classes have been taken care of and provided for. In other words, this class, it is considered, can wait, while, all the others are cases of great pressing need. "The foregoing are the rules established by the Board of Inquiry and which have been fairly well carried out by local Committees, always acting with the assistance of at least one member and sometimes two or three members of the Board of Inquiry. "Respectfully submitted, "TOM L. JOHHNSON", "Chairman Board of Inquiry." A supplemental report was also made at the same time giving the figures and estimates of the board, as follows: "Hon. H. H. Cummin, Cresson, Pa. Dear Sir: "As per your request I send you at this earliest opportunity a recapitulation of our first report, which shows: 205 cases in class 1, at $1,000. $ 205,000 237 cases in class 2, at 600. 142,200 372 cases in class 3, at 400. 148,800 1,168 cases in class 4, at 300. 350,400 1,698 cases in class 5, at 200. 339,600 ----- ---------- 3,680 $1,186,000 "The amount recommended in each class has been carefully considered, both by the Board of Inquiry and the Finance Committee of Johnstown, and in view of the classification of the cases a statement of which I gave you-the amounts above stated are considered to be as near right as can be got. "If the above recommendations meet with your approval, it is the desire of the Board of Inquiry and the Finance Committee that steps be taken at once to make the payments to the first three classes, viz.: 1, 2, and 3, amounting to $496,000, and that provision be made immediately thereafter by which classes 4 and 5, aggregating $690,000, be paid under any system of payment that the Commission may suggest, so that it may be done quickly. "The payments to classes 1, 2, and 3, are considered as 484 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. final payments, while many cases in classes 4 and 5 should receive additional sums. Class 6, which represents the heaviest losers, has as yet been recommended for no amount. "The Board is making a further classification of classes 4, 5, and 6, and will be prepared shortly to make a recommendation as to what would be done in those cases. . . . . . . . . . . . "The aggregate loss of $8,655,114 as classified, amounted in classes 1, 2, 3; 4, and 5 to $4,791,747; the total number of these cases being 3,364; the average loss to each family therefore was $1,424. "The total loss in class 6 was $1,112,192." Governor Beaver, State Commissioner Edwin H. Fitler, Robert C. Ogden, Samuel H. Beeves, H. H. Cummin, Reuben Miller, James B. Scott, S. S. Marvin, W. Horace Rose, with General Hastings and his staff as advisory members; James McMillen, president of the finance committee; Cyrus Elder, secretary; W. C. Lewis, treasurer; John D. Roberts, assistant treasurer; A. J. Moxham, member of the committee, and Tom L. Johnson, chairman of the board of inquiry, were present at the conference at Cresson on Tuesday, July 9th. The report of the board of inquiry as presented and considered, was practically approved, and furnished the basis for the distribution of the entire fund. A half million dollars was appropriated to be paid on account to the first five classes. Judge Cummin prepared a blank for relief, of which the commission approved and directed that a copy be furnished each sufferer, who should be required to fill out the same before payment would be made. The blank was as follows: Made by .................... a sufferer by the floods of May 31 and June 1, 1889, in the Conemaugh Valley, State of Pennsylvania, County of Cambria, ss. Before me, personally appeared the undersigned ........, who being duly sworn according to law, made the following statement: First. My name is ..............., age ...... years; at the time of the flood I resided in .......... Cambria County, Pa., at No. ..... Street. I have lived in ............ Cambria County, Pa., for the past ........ years. My occupation or business is ........... At the time of the flood I was employed by ............ as ............; my monthly earnings averaged $....... Present condition of my health is ........ Second. I own no real estate, except as follows: ........ 485 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. ......., worth before the flood, $....... My real estate within the flooded district was injured in the following manner, ................. Third. At the time of the flood I owned household goods, moneys, debts due from solvent creditors, and other personal property, as follows: $........ worth before the flood, $......... which was injured by the flood in the following manner, ..................... Fourth. At the time of the flood the stock in my store consisting of .......... was worth, at cost prices, $......., which was injured by the flood in the following manner, ............ Fifth. My family dependent upon me consists of ....... aged ........ years. Sixth. Members of family lost by flood ......... Seventh. My property has been injured or destroyed by the flood as follows: Real Estate to the amount of ........ Household goods to the amount of ........ Tools, etc., to the amount of ........ Stock of goods in my store to the amount of ........ Total, ........ Eighth. I have received no aid since the flood, except as follows: ...................... Sworn to and subscribed before, the day of July, 1889. In pursuance of the Cresson meeting, on Monday, July 15th, the Board granted orders to residents of the Seventh ward, thus: Four at $400: five at $200; forty-eight at $125; and one hundred and twenty-three at $80 each; making a total of $18,000. The $500,000 was quickly awarded. Thursday, July 18th, W. E. Thompson, treasurer of the Pittsburg fund, came to Johnstown with a half million dollars in money, and opened a bank in the temporary building on the northwest comer of Market Square, where he paid the orders issued. Saturday, July 13th, Governor Beaver announced that $1,595,000 had been expended at Johnstown. His estimates were: Out of the governor's fund and the fund for the abatement of nuisances, $905,000; by the Pittsburg committee, $250,000; by the Philadelphia committtee, $200,000; Johnstown fund distributed by the local committee, $250,000; contracts for the construction of houses, $150,000; transportation expenses, $100,000; military expenses, $31,000; Chicago houses, $14,000. On the 17th of July an estimate was made public of the 486 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. probable amount held in trust, as follows: Governor Beaver, $250,000; Pittsburg committee, $522,000; due Pittsburg committee from the State for tools, etc., $127,000; State Commission, $150,000; Judge Cummin's fund, $500,000; Philadelphia committee, $150,000; Chicago committee, $66,000; New York committee, $300,000; Boston committee, $300,000; other cities, $200,000. Total, $2,665,000. On Wednesday, the last day of July, Governor Beaver, James B. Scott, Reuben Miller, S. S. Marvin, Robert C. Ogden and Francis B. Reeves, members of the State Commission, held an open meeting in the office of Dick & Murphy. An invitation was extended, to the public to present any matter deemed proper for their consideration. At three o'clock in the afternoon an executive session was held in a tent at Camp Hamilton, in Peelorville, when Secretary J. B. Kremer announced that the amount of money received by the Commission, and expected to be received, was $2,394,415.47; that it had expended $840,396.60 in Johnstown, and $157,226.27 in other parts of the State, principally at Williamsport; that it had ordered two hundred more Hughes houses' at $260 each, and, with other liabilities, there remained a balance of $1,342,801.82, which would be distributed on the basis decided upon at the Cresson meeting. On Thursday, August 15, Francis B. Reeves and Robert C. Ogden, members of the State Commission, and Secretary J. B. Kremer, met the members of the local Finance Committee and Board of Inquiry, in the rooms of the Finance Committee in the Public Square. It was agreed that the first three classes should be paid in full-i. e., $1,000, $900 and $500, respectively; in class 4, thirty per cent of the losses; class 5, twenty-two per cent, and class 6, fifteen per cent, which made an estimated sum of $1,149,614. But on September 2d the State Commission reconsidered the apportionment, and appointed a committee to make another investigation and report. On Friday, September 1st, the Commission met at Harrisburg and decided to distribute the remainder of the fund, amounting to $1,600,000. Messrs. John H. Brown and John Hannan, members of the Board of Inquiry, were present and presented their report, which noted that the losses ranged from $5 to $165,000, and that one hundred and ninety persons had suffered a loss of $10,000 each. In pursuance thereof, J. B. 487 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Kremer, secretary, announced that the Commission had received $2,605,114.22, having in cash on that day $1,666,456.50, and that the remainder should be distributed on the following basis: "Resolved, That the sum of $125,000 be and is hereby appropriated to the payment of classes 1, 2 and 3. Class 1 to consist of widows and orphans, made so by the flood, and who have no property or other means of support. "Class 2, to consist of widows and orphans not made so by the flood, and aged and infirm persons, who have no property or other means of support. "Class 3, to consist of same character of persons as in classes 1 and 2, but who are not entirely without property. "Resolved, That the sum of $1,200,000 be and is hereby appropriated to the payment of class 4, the sum of $10,000 to be the maximum paid to any single claimant; class 4 to consist of persons other than those in classes 1, 2 and 3, whose losses have been practically total. "Resolved, That the sum of $275,000 be and is hereby appropriated to the payment of class 5, the sum of $5,000 to be the maximum paid to any single claimant. Class 5 to consist of persons who have sustained partial losses, whose circumstances are such that they are not wholly dependent upon this charity for a fresh start in life, but who are unable to make such a start without assistance. "Resolved, That class 6, composed mainly of such persons possessed of such ample means that they are not to be regarded as in need of relief, shall be omitted from the distribution list, except that all whose losses are not in excess of $1,000, shall be transferred to class 5." The final payments were made by checks drawn on the First National Bank, which on October 10 opened an additional paying teller's window in the old room formerly occupied by John Dibert & Co., and the whole fund, with the exception of a few cases held under consideration, was paid out by December 10, 1889. The Commission decided that the funds due the orphans should be invested in annuities, payable yearly until the ward should become sixteen years of age, fifty dollars per year being allowed to each. This system was carried into effect, and the payments were regularly made on the first of November each year until 1905, when all the wards had arrived at the age determined upon. The largest sum paid to one family for the use of orphans was $3,375, together with $1,150 to the mother, making a total of $4,525. 488 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. The balance of the fund the Finance Committee decided to appropriate toward the rebuilding of the Franklin street and Walnut street bridges, and the purchase of four new steam engines for the volunteer fire companies. In the distribution, in the first, second and third classes, property losses were not considered, and awards were made on the needs of the people. In the three other classes, it was based on property loss, as follows: In the fourth class, on losses less than $500, the average amount awarded the claimant was, on the committee's estimate, 85 per cent, and on the claimant's estimate, 66 per cent; on losses of over $500 and under $1,000, on the first, 72 per cent, and on the latter 56 per cent; on losses over $1,000 and under $2,000, 55 per cent of the former, and 47 per cent of the latter. In the fifth class, on $500 or less, 69 per cent, and 50 per cent on losses over $500 and under $1,000, 52 and 50 per cent; on losses over $1,000 and under $2,000, 55 and 47 per cent. In awarding the amounts to the persons in the fourth and fifth classes, many questions were considered: age, health, ability for work, and number in family. The largest amount received by any individual in either of these two classes was $5,000, which was given to but two. There being but few store rooms available for business purposes, and both merchant and consumer being anxious to have business resumed as quickly as possible, General Hastings was informed of the situation, and on Thursday, June 20th, he made arrangements with W. V. Hughes, of the firm of Hoover, Hughes & Co., of Bellefonte, to erect a row of temporary store rooms and offices on the four sides of the Public Square. One week later the merchants held a meeting in the Moses building, when it was reported that nine members of the Merchants' Association had been drowned. Of the twenty-three present each had been planning to open as soon as a room could be procured. Therefore the applications to Judge Masters, chairman of the committee, for places in the buildings on the Public Square were numerous. On Thursday, July 4th, under the supervision of Colonel John P. Linton, the allotments of names and numbers of rooms were drawn from a box by a boy. The following were the persons who occupied the buildings at first. Beginning at the corner of Main and Franklin streets, on Main, they were: Kredel & Farrell, druggists; J. W. Owens, grocer; Mrs. M. S. Maloy, groceries and shoes; Seth E. Phillips, dry 489 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. [PHOTO] The Principal Part of Johnstown After the Flood. 490 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. goods; J. M. Fodder, millinery; George Keiper, dry goods; E. T. Schoff, dry goods; Emil C. roth, dry goods; Mrs. A. Danges, millinery; E. C. Lorentz & Co., shoes; and H. T. de France, druggist. Park Place: W. A. Kraft, jewelry; J. A. Larkin & Co., jewelry; J. W. Stevenson, jewelry; Mrs. Susan Young, jewelry; A. Luckhardt, jewelry; Irvin rutledge, stationery. Locust Street: E. H. Pike, tinware; George K. Shryock, tinware; Herald Printing Company, printers; J. D. Edwards, shoes; T. E. Morgan, music; Singer Sewing Machine Company; W. W. Porch, organs; J. P. Daily, groceries; E. P. Miller, groceries; Simon Young, butcher; W. B. Tice, druggist. Franklin Street to Main: G. A. Zimmerman, druggist; T. D. Davis, grocer; Charles Brown, grocer; J. M. Young, grocer; Chas. B. Cover, grocer; Louis Baumer, grocer; C. Kingan, grocer; J. B. Statler, druggist. On the second tier fronting on Main street, at the corner of Franklin, was Dr. W. F. Hanna, dentist; William Rauch, M. D.; J. M. Murdock, lumber; J. M. Goughnour, office; I. E. Roberts, insurance; Joseph Booser, tailor; Dr. J. C. Duncan, dentist; D. G. Reese, tailor; W. H. Fentiman, umbrellas; Alex L. Black, tailor; F. J. Overdorf, M. D.; M. W. Keim, real estate; E. T. Felt, insurance; G. M. Greene, photographer; H. W. Storey, law office; the Finance Committee; Alfred Heslop, painter, and John Stenger. On Park Place: Dr. H. C. Hinchman, dentist. Locust Street: H. F. Tomb, M. D.; Robert Parsons, tailor; Joseph Marchi, tailor; Thomas Edwards and D. W. Smith, barbers. Franklin Street: Farrell & Co., safes; E. L. Miller, M. D.; W. H. Gordon, M. D.; Miss Spitzgart, dressmaker; Miss Hettie Lininger, dressmaker; C. H. Suppes, ice; John von Alt, barber; W. A. Moses, tailor. The buildings on the northwest corner of Main and Market were reserved for municipal offices, and those on the southwest corner were occupied by S. L. Stuver, milk dealer; William Stremel, confectioner; George Kurtz, butcher, and S. C. Bailey, plumber. An immense quantity of lumber having been donated from many parts of the country, on June 28th the following committee was appointed to distribute it to those who desired to 491 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. rebuild a dwelling or store-room: Messrs. Joseph Masters, Herman Baumer, Colonel John P. Linton, Alexander Kennedy and John Thomas. This committee then transferred the lumber to the sub-finance committee, in charge of D. H. Kinkead, who had succeeded B. F. Speedy when the latter became ill. THE COMMISSARIES. The water having effected no serious damage on Napoleon street above South, the Committee on Safety there swore in the policemen and issued passes to residents and strangers to enter the line of danger. Here, too, were located the morgue and Commissary for the South Side, the latter in charge of the Americus Club of Pittsburg until June. 12, when General Hastings assumed control. The system for providing food and clothing to the sufferers was very interesting. The rich were on an equality with the poor; money was of no use, because there was nothing to buy. Men, women and children were required to form a line and pass in front of the Commissary building, where food or clothing was given them by kind and sympathetic hands. On the 27th of June, Colonel J. L. Spangler, in obedience to the order of the Department, began reducing the number of Commissaries. The one at Morrellville was abandoned and consolidated with Cambria City. Those at Brownstown, Minersville, Rosedale and Coopersdale were attached to the Commissaries in Cambria and Prospect. Those at East Conemaugh and Woodvale were consolidated with and continued in Franklin borough. Those at Walnut Grove, Grubbtown and Moxham were supplied from Johnstown and Kernville. Conemaugh borough was continued, there being no falling off in its work. On Monday, July 2, the Commissary Department was transferred to Captain H. H. Kuhn, and Colonel Spangler and his principal aides retired, whereupon a sword and belt was presented to Colonel Spangler for his efficient services. The following table shows the location of the Commissaries, the number of cards out, one being given to each family to be presented when desiring food or clothing; the number of people supplied at the first report soon after the flood, and those on June 26, 1889: 492 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. (1) Cards out, 1st report (2) Cards out, June 26 (3) People supplied, 1st report (4) People supplied, June 26 Stations (1) (2) (3) (4) Morrellville 504 209 2,694 1,046 Cambria 500 345 2,461 1,674 Prospect 432 427 3,068 1,484 Woodvale 179 159 861 750 East Conemaugh 228 19 324 56 Franklin 155 50 667 212 Minersville 300 200 1,425 1,000 Rosedale 90 407 50 Johnstown 1,500 536 4,340 3,522 Kernville 660 291 3,969 1,800 Conemaugh 654 700 4,500 5,131 ----- ----- ------ ------ Total 5,202 2,936 24,716 16,725 On July 22 all the Commissaries for the supply of food, clothing and furniture were closed, except the one at the Pennsylvania railroad station. At this date the number of persons receiving assistance was 1,321, which in five days was reduced to 800. But on October 5th, this, too, ended its work, although 464 beneficiaries were still on the list. Subsequently all people desiring household goods were notified to apply to the Conemaugh Valley Relief Association, and upon the approval of the ladies of that association, Clara Barton, president of the Red Cross, or Captain H. H. Kuhn, chief of the Commissary, furnished the same. On Saturday, October 13, Cyrus Elder presided over the meeting held at the Red Cross building on Walnut street, at which time the Union Benevolent Association of the Conemaugh Valley was organized, to continue the work of the Red Cross, which was then preparing to leave. On the following Tuesday the association was in active operation. Thursday evening of the same week, a public reception was held in the Morrell Institute in honor of Miss Clara Barton, who had done such noble work for the sufferers. On behalf of the Woman's Branch of the Union Benevolent Association, the president, Mrs. Arthur J. Moxham, presented Miss Barton with a gold pin and locket, set with diamonds and amethysts, as a testimonial from those who had been with her while in Johnstown. 493 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH. The moving power in clearing the flooded district were the laws of the state relating to the public health, which were carried into execution by Governor Beaver and Dr. Benjamin Lee, secretary of the board. The state board was in annual convention at Pittsburg on the day of the flood, when Dr. Lee and Dr. George Gr. Groff immediately came here to take charge of the situation. The first official act of Dr. Lee was to send the following message to the sheriffs of Indiana, Westmoreland, Allegheny and Armstrong counties: "Nineveh, June, 1889. "The State Board of Health hereby directs and empowers you to immediately summon a posse to patrol the Conemaugh river, tear down the drift heaps and remove the dead bodies, both human beings and of domestic animals. "This is absolutely necessary to protect your county from pestilence." Dr. Lee, on his arrival at Johnstown, made a thorough investigation of the situation, established hospitals, and ordered disinfectants. The disaster was so much greater than the organization then was that he returned to Pittsburg to make further arrangements to prosecute the work, in order to prevent impending diseases, here and elsewhere along the Conemaugh, Allegheny and Ohio rivers. One of the first acts was a request to Governor Beaver to have four thousand men to clear the blockade at the Stone bridge, as it was impracticable to break up the drift by fire, and it would necessarily require removal. The Governor acquiesced in the request, and gave Dr. Lee authority to borrow all the money necessary to continue the work of the board. They did continue the work of clearing the rivers of all decomposed matter and wreckage, as well as the highways and cellars, and on October 12th they officially declared the nuisance abated. The federal government gave all its assistance to the people of Johnstown. The following telegram was sent to Dr. Lee: "Washington, D. C., June 5, 1889. "Have shipped copperas and bichloride of mercury; all available in town today and send more from Baltimore this afternoon. It is suggested by the President who is much inter- 494 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. ested in the matter that the temporary depopulation of Johnstown be encouraged as much as possible. "JOHN B. HAMILTON, "Surgeon General." By reason of the following order, the officers of the Board of Health had authority to appropriate any article or thing needed by them in aiding the work: "Johnstown, June 5, 1889. "The bearer is hereby authorized to enter any hardware or furnishing store and select such articles as may be useful for handling and transporting disinfectants, and for the work of disinfection. All articles thus appropriated will be noted and paid for." On June 7, in his detailed report to Governor Beaver, Dr. Lee said: "After a careful personal inspection of the entire situation, by virtue of the authority conferred upon the State Board of Health, by the Act of June 3, 1885, and delegated to me as its executive officer in regulation, I declare the conditions existing at Johnstown and neighboring boroughs, and especially those of the drift heaps above described, and of the waters of the Conemaugh and Kiskiminitas to consitute a nuisance dangerous to the public health, and, inasmuch as the extent of this nuisance is so great that the local authorities cannot abate it; I call upon your Excellency, as the chief executive of the Commonwealth, to at once employ such force as may be necessary to remove and abate the same." The early organization of the board was as follows: Benjamin Lee, M. D., secretary and executive officer; George G. Groff, M. D., member of board; chief deputy inspector, Dr. W. E. Mathews; deputy inspectors--Dr. J. C. Sheridan, southern part of Johnstown; Dr. W. B. Lowman, northern part and Hornerstown; Dr. George W. Wagoner, Grubbtown, and Kernville; Dr. H. F. Tomb, Woodvale, Nineveh and Sang Hollow; Dr. W. N. Pringle, South Fork, Franklin, East Conemaugh and Mineral Point; Dr. D. G. B. Porch, Cambria City; Dr. B. E. Tomb; Morrellville and Sheridan; Dr. F. Schill, "Walnut Grove and Moxham; Dr. E. L. Miller, Peelorville, Millville and Minersville, and Dr. J. M. Cooper, Coopersdale and Ten Acre. Deputy inspector of camps, Dr. Campbell Sheridan; clerk, F. D. Jolly. (See chapter, "Medical Profession.") On June 10th, Dr. P. M. Carrington, P. A. Surgeon United States Marine Hospital, Pittsburg, and Dr. C. 0. Probst, sec- 495 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. retary of the Ohio State Board of Health, made an examination of the reservoirs, etc., of all the water supplies, and concluded a detailed report thus: "This report covers the territory surveyed today, and we are convinced the water supply is as pure as before the flood. We would add, that our inquiries in these districts showed that but little sickness and no cases of contagious diseases were to be found." In the same report a memoranda was made thus: "A messenger for the Water Company says that the supply is gaining during the past three days, and their Mill creek reservoir is running over. The company are supplying all parts of town at present, except in the lower portion of Main street, and on the Point. * * * they request that all pipes be hammered shut to stop the outflow." The following correspondence is worthy of reproduction, as very few know what was done, and how removal of debris and the care of the public health were accomplished during the early days. "Washington, D. C., June 9, 1889. "Dr. Benjamin Lee. "A free contribution of twenty-five hundred dollars' worth of Quibell's disinfectant from Newark, England, for Johnstown, will be admitted free of duty if you want it. You must also name some United States Officer to whom it can be assigned. Answer. "WYMAN, Surgeon." "Johnstown, Pa., July 6, 1889. "Messrs. Quibell Brothers, "Newark, England. "Gentlemen: In the name of the burgess and citizens of this stricken town, and of the State Board of Health of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, allow me to thank you most sincerely for your very acceptable gift. No one firm in this country has made so liberal a contribution in either money or material. As an expression of sympathy from brethren in a distant land its value is greatly enhanced. It has arrived at a fortunate time. After a month's incessant labor, often by night as well as day, resting only on the Lord's day, we have just succeeded in clearing the streets of that portion of the town which was not swept away, of the tangled mass of debris consisting of houses, passenger coaches, freight cars, locomotives, furniture, trees, bridges, corpses and carcasses--which encumbered them up to the very roofs of the houses, and once more converting them into thoroughfares. We shall be able therefore to use a street sprinkler to great advantage and your dis- 496 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. infectant will come into play very acceptably in that way. Fortunately we have been able up to the present time to maintain a very fair condition of public health, but the fervid heats are yet to come and it will require unremitting care to prevent some serious outbreak of disease. Should we succeed you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have contributed materially to this happy result. Allow me to add my personal thanks for your generosity and for your kindly expressed sympathy. "Yours very respectfully, "BENJAMIN LEE, "Secretary of State Board of Health." On June 16, the second Sunday after the flood, Mr. E. T. Elder made this report: "This being Sunday, the matter of work was left entirely with the men; and it was intended to give them a general day of rest. In view of being away from home and having no place to go to, a number volunteered to work. One gang was sent out to Sandyvale cemetery and vicinity, under Mr. West. "One gang, under Mr. Bainbridge, went to Camp McKnight and removed a dead horse, and entirely consumed the carcass, which was partly consumed before. "From there to the Merchants hotel, where he represents he would have burned a dead horse but the force was too small. So he reports, he completely destroyed a horse in rear of Swanks' Hollow. "At headquarters, two car loads of lime were unloaded--137 bbls. One car load of rosin, contents, 80 bbls. * * * ." Dr. Lee sent the following letter to President Harrison, showing the reasons for asking federal aid: "Johnstown, July 27, 1889, "To His Excellency, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States. "Dear Sir: The extreme urgency of official duties in connection with the disaster which has befallen this town, has prevented my earlier acknowledgment of your kindly expressed interest in my efforts to prevent an epidemic, as a result of the flood. Your suggestion of temporary deportation of women and children was most timely, and was acted upon as far as possible. I take the liberty of enclosing, my health bulletins up to the present time, which will show that the efforts of our Board have not been unsuccessful. A problem now confronts me of grave importance, which, owing to the provisions of the State constitution, I am powerless to meet. The Conemaugh and Stonycreek rivers have been so filled with sand and debris, and at the same time, their banks have been destroyed to such an extent, that the whole plateau on which Woodvale and Johns- 497 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. town stood, is in danger of inundation from a very moderate rainfall. The temporary structures which the homeless survivors are erecting, may at any moment be washed away. Congress will be applied to, and I presume successfully, to dredge and dyke the streams. But, in the mean time, immediate protection is needed. It occurred to me that you might perhaps see your way clear to assign me a portion of the contingent fund placed at your disposal, to be used in emergencies affecting the public health in the several States, to be used for this purpose. This would enable me to tide over the danger, until such time as more permanent improvements can be made. "I have the honor to be, "Your Excellency's most obedient servant, "BENJ. LEE, "Secretary." To this letter President Harrison replied thus: "Deer Park, Md., July 30. "Dr. Benjamin Lee. "My dear Sir: The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th instant, with the inclosures, which has had his attention. The fund to which you allude is expended under the suggestion of the Surgeon General, Dr. Hamilton, to whom your letter will be referred. The President, however, is of the opinion that no fund would be available under the special appropriation, for the purpose you indicate. He is much obliged to you for your kindly interest. "Yours truly, "E. W. HALFORD." The subject matter was referred to Dr. Hamilton, who decided that the fund could not be used for the purpose named, inasmuch as the law only authorized the President to use it, "in case of a threatened or actual epidemic" * * * to aid, "in preventing and suppressing the spread of the same." "Official Health Bulletins. "State Board of Health. "Johnstown, Pa., June 9, 1889. "The general condition of health in Johnstown and vicinity is excellent. No epidemic disease of any kind prevails, nor is it expected that any will arise. * * * ." Owing to the fund under Governor Beaver's control becoming limited, however, on Saturday, September 28, the state forces were ordered withdrawn. While the sanitary condition of the city was fairly good, many places had not been thoroughly examined for bodies yet missing; therefore, on the following Monday, a deputation of citizens called on the governor to pre- Vol. I-32 498 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. sent the situation in reference to the search for bodies and the condition of the rivers. In pursuance thereof Dr. Lee was directed to continue the work, and four hundred men were again put to work in the streams, and on October 8th four bodies were found in the Stonycreek. Saturday, October 13, the state forces were withdrawn, although many places in which bodies were believed to be buried, had not been thoroughly examined. Therefore the citizens took the work upon themselves and within a few days $12,233 was collected for that purpose. Every nook and corner which had not been satisfactorily looked into was again tested, and between Johnstown and Nineveh, twenty-six bodies were recovered eleven of which were identified. During the first week after the flood it had been difficult to obtain enough coffins to bury the dead, and at that period it was impossible to estimate the number that would be needed thereafter, consequently a large number were sent, and on July 15th there were at the Millville morgue one thousand coffins of all sizes and kinds. Two weeks later this morgue, which had been opened June 1st in the Iron street school building, was closed. The records kept by Mr. W. S. Reed showed that 426 bodies had been taken there, of which 177 had been identified. The last record was that of an infant found near the blow-house of the Cambria works on the preceding Saturday. Thereafter all bodies found were interred by John Henderson, from his Main street office and morgue. On Wednesday, September 4, while search was being made for a hydrant on the premises occupied by William Given on Iron street, the body of a woman was found beneath a foot of earth. The following description illustrates the care with which all bodies were noted, to aid if possible in their identification: Female; weight, 120; height, 5 feet 5; brown hair; blue calico basque, figured in half- moon and stars; pearl buttons; wine colored underskirt; black dress skirt; brown knit hose, button shoes; one band ring, engraved; one plated ring, initials either I. P. or J. P.; also ear-rings." For months the finding of bodies were almost daily events, in cellars, sand piles, and even on thoroughfares where paths were made by continual passing to and fro. The contractors for the stone bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad west of New Florence as late as August, 1906, found bodies which could not be identified. 499 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. A few days after the flood Coroner D. W. Evans empanelled a jury, which, after a thorough investigation, including a visit to the reservoir, rendered this verdict: "We, the undersigned jury empanelled to investigate the cause of the death of Ellen Hite, on the day of May 31st, after hearing the testimony, find that Ellen Hite came to her death from drowning, and that the drowning was caused by the breaking of the South Fork Dam. "We further find from the testimony and what we saw on the ground, that there was not sufficient waste weir, nor was the dam constructed sufficiently strong, nor of proper material to withstand the overflow, and hence we find that the owners of said dam were culpable in not making it as secure as it should have been, especially in view of the fact that a population of many thousands were in the valley below, and we hold that the owners are responsible for the fearful loss of life and property resulting from the breaking of the dam. "Witness our hands and seals July 6, 1889. "JOHN COHO. "ABAHAM FERNER. "H. B. BLAIR. "JOHN H. DEVICE. "JOHN A. WISSINGER. "F. W. COHICK." A number of citizens consulted Colonel John P. Linton and W. Horace Rose in reference to the liability of the stockholders of the South Fork Fishing Club for the loss of life and property. These gentlemen gave the subject much consideration, and, while their opinion has never been made public, it was practically admitted that the stockholders were not liable. This opinion has been verified in the case of Tarbell vs. Pennsylvania Railroad, which was tried in Pittsburg before a jury. The issue was definite--to fix the responsibility for the death of plaintiff's wife and children. Able lawyers were engaged on both sides, and the jury rendered a verdict for the defendant on the principle that the disaster resulted from an act of God, for which mankind could not be held responsible. Another point of law which the disaster revived was that relative to the descent of property in cases similar to that of Christian Kimpel and his wife, who were drowned without leaving issue. By his will Mr. Kimpel had given to his wife all the personal property absolutely, and the use of the real estate during her life. The value of the real and personal property was placed at $9,000 each, and to this estate the heirs of each 500 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. decedent laid claim. If Mrs. Kimpel died first, her estate would have become vested in her husband, and would descend to his heirs; if Mr. Kimpel died first, the heirs of the wife would have inherited that part of the estate which by will had been given to her. However, there was no obtainable proof of the priority of death and the heirs made an amicable settlement of the estate. Humorous and tragic events relieved the monotony and increased the strain of life to those who were doing their utmost to help Johnstown rise above its ruins that summer. Lieutenant Richardson, who had charge of the Commissary at the Pennsylvania depot, slipped into General Hasting's tent one day, leading a six-year-old boy, whose clothes were ragged and whose face, hands and feet very much needed soap and water. The lieutenant had found the boy in a box-car, and the lad had told a pitiful tale of being without home or friends, his father and mother having been lost. The general cross-examined the young Arab, and believing his story, said, "I'll take that poor little fellow home with me." That night the adopted Hastings slept in the tent of his foster father, and the next morning was bathed and clothed in a brand new suit, which made him a young prince among the National Guard. One of the officers was taking him through the camp, when suddenly a woman rushed out upon them, snatched the boy, saying, "Where on earth have you been? I've been looking for you for a week." Thus unceremoniously ended the military life of General Hastings' waif. It is a rare occurrence, east of the mining camps in the far West, that a man who kills a human being is acquitted with honor by a coroner's jury and nothing more heard of it. Such was the condition of affairs in Johnstown during the days of reconstruction after the dreadful catastrophe that action of that character was deemed proper. Many bad people had come into the town, and for several days prior to Monday, August 5, a stranger had been loitering around saloons and the camp occupied by the carpenters of Hoover, Hughes & Company, north of the Baltimore and Ohio depot. He was notified to keep away from the camp, and for this reason harbored a grudge against Harry Moyer, of Morristown, who was in charge. About nine o'clock that night, with two companions, the stranger entered Moyer's tent, holding a revolver in his hand 501 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. and threatening to kill him. The men began to beat Moyer, and in the struggle the light was put out. By some means Moyer got hold of a revolver and fired. One of the intruders, crying out "I am shot!" died almost instantly. Moyer gave himself to the police, who locked him up. The following day Coroner Evans empanelled a jury consisting of James J. Milligan, William Strauss, McClelland Liggett, Isaac Harris, Herman Oyler and Charles E. Lout, who heard the testimony of the defendant and all the witnesses to the affair. The jury, satisfied that Moyer had acted in self-defense, promptly acquitted him; he was then and there discharged, and no further proceedings were ever taken. The stranger was a large man, called by some James McCormick, but the name of M. Nolan was tattoed on one of his arms. The influx of workmen that summer gave opportunities for imposters to prey upon the sympathy of the people. The greatest attempt to defraud the several committees was made by one known as Abram G. West, who went to Pittsburg on August 6th and there told a very pathetic story of the loss of his wife and children, and property to the value of $16,200, besides other financial losses. Before James Bryan, a notary public of Pittsburg, he swore to the truth of the following statement, every material fact of which was false. It read: "My name is Abram G. West, 31 years of age; I resided at No. 44 Wilson street, Conemaugh, at the time of the flood; I lived in Johnstown and Conemaugh for eighteen years; my occupation was upholstery, carpets and furniture; my monthly earnings were from $125.00 to $250.00; at the time of the flood I owned personal property to the amount of $16,200, which was lost. My property consisted of carpets, furniture and materials. At cost price was worth $6,000, which was swept away. The members of my family lost in the flood were my wife, Caroline, my son, William, aged nine years; my daughter, Mary, aged four; and Adeline, aged two years. My property injured was household, $4,000, piano and household goods, $1,700 tools, etc., $500, stock of goods, $6,000, cash owed by John Dupont, $3,750, small debts, $250. I have received no aid except some clothing from Red Cross Hospital, one dollar in cash for ticket to Pittsburg." West was treated royally by the Pittsburg committee, and money, clothing and transportation to his friends furnished him that he might recover his shattered health. The truth was that 502 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. he and his brother had come here in June or July after the flood and secured work, but both being detected in swindling had been discharged. But it is not strange that a few should seek to take advantage of the heroism and self-sacrificing spirit of the many who gave of themselves, their time and their means to assist in bringing order out of chaos those few summer months. To these the gratitude of the people of this valley can never be fully expressed. To openly manifest their gratitude to one who had so courageously and successfully burdened himself with their distresses, the people of Johnstown tendered a public reception to General D. H. Hastings and Mrs. Hastings, at the residence of Mrs. Mary Campbell, Saturday evening, February 8, 1890. Three thousand persons called to pay their respects to the General, and at the conclusion of the reception he and the invited guests and the newspapers representatives were banqueted at the Windsor Hotel. Although the losses to corporations had been great, they immediately set about to repair what could not have been avoided, and about the first of July the Cambria Iron Company succeeded in getting a portion of their mills in operation. Saturday, July 13th, marked its first pay-day, when $40,000 was distributed, whereas its usual pay roll had been $800,000. Two weeks later the entire works were in running order, temporary sheds having been erected on the site of the Gautier mills for the purpose of making rake teeth, tires, rods, billets, etc. The Pennsylvania railroad had suffered very heavily in the damage to its road bed, the tracks having been washed away from some distance above Conemaugh to the lower end of Woodvale. Although work was commenced as soon as possible, the repairs were not completed until about March 1, 1890, the Philadelphia express east, February 27th, being the first train to pass over the new viaduct. The company's loss was about $2,000,000. The aggregate loss to the various life insurance companies by reason of the flood was something over $250,000.00, apportioned as follows: Providence Life and Trust, $7,000; Fidelity Mutual, $3,000; New York Life, $42,000; Home Life, $2,000, American Life, $10,000; N. B. Mutual Aid, $6,000; Aetna Life, $9,000; Travelers', $4,000; United States Life, $18,500; Equitable, $25,000; Mutual Life, $33,000; New England, $2,000; Penn 503 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Mutual, $11,000; Washington Life, $8,000; Pacific Mutual, $3,000; Standard Accident, $5,000; United States Mutual Accident, $7,500; Peoples' Accident, $15,000; and various assessment associations, $20,000. A remarkable instance was that of one company which having over one thousand policies in force in the valley had only three losses. Summary. Loss of claimants by sworn statements $9,674,105 Estimate of losses to borough property 164,630 Estimate of losses to school property 48,607 Estimate of losses to fire companies 37,151 Estimate of losses to churches 215,450 Estimate losses to Street Railway 44,142 Estimate losses to Penn. R. R. 2,000,000 Estimate losses to industries, 287,520 That of the Cambria Iron Company not included ----------- $12,471,605 Contributions. Sent to Governor Beaver 1,172,133.35 By the Philadelphia Committee 666,671 By the Pittsburg Committee 831,295.62 By the New York Committee 505,634.76 Sent to the State Commission 427,853.25 Sent to the Johnstown Finance Committee 357,092.64 -------------- $3,960,680.62 ___________ On "Washington street, from Clinton to Walnut streets, in a space of less than three squares, the greatest havoc was wrought, the number of deaths being 138. At the home of ex-Sheriff John Ryan, at the comer of Washington and Park Place (as it is now called), twenty-one people were drowned, among whom were Gottfried Hoffman, his wife and nine children. The Hulbert House, a hotel conducted by F. A. Benford, was situated on the easterly side of Clinton street, north of Main. Being on high ground many families had been taken there for safety during the day, and of the sixty persons there-in at the time the waters came down, death claimed forty-eight as his toll, four of whom were the mother, brother and two sisters of the proprietor. THE FATE OF SOME FAMILIES. Squire John H. Fisher, residing on Main street, near Market, had cheerfully conversed with his neighbors from the up- 504 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. stairs windows until a few minutes before the fatal moment. With him were Mrs. Margaret Fisher, his wife; his daughters, Emma K., aged twenty-three; Minnie, twenty-one; Ida, nineteen; Madge, ten; and his sons George, twelve, and Frank, the baby of nine months. They were not seen afterward, and on Sunday afternoon the bodies of all were found in the Stonycreek, near the foot of Water street and the Millcreek road. It is believed that they had all gone into the bath room, which was a frame addition to the brick house, hoping to find safety there. Two children, Edward 0. and Luella, who were not at home that day, were the only members of the family left to mourn this terrible loss. John Fenn, a tin and stove dealer, in business on Washington street, resided on Locust street. His wife and seven children--John Fulton, aged twelve years; Daisy, ten; Genevieve, nine; George Washington, eight; Virginia, five; Bismarck S., three; and Esther, eighteen months; were at home. Mr. Fenn tried to reach them by way of Franklin street, but, finding the water too high, he returned to Washington and attempted to get home by Clinton street. Within two hundred feet of his residence, the first wave caught him and carried him away. All his family perished except, his wife, who was carried through the channel below the Presbyterian church, and then up the Stonycreek to a point near the Franklin street bridge, where she was rescued. Mrs. Agnes Parke, the widow of John Parke, with her son William, and her daughter Mrs. William Rainey and child, were in their brick residence at the corner of Bedford and Levergood streets. The building was destroyed, and their bodies were recovered near Fisher's Slaughtery on Water street, on June llth. James M. Shumaker resided on Locust street, and his family consisted of his wife, Mrs. Lena Shumaker; John S., aged eleven; Edith M., seven; Irene G., five; Walter S., two; and his father-in-law, John Stream, sixty-three years old. When the flood came Mr. Shumaker was preparing a raft to take his family away to a place of safety. Observing the approach of the great wave he bade his family run up-stairs. While he was endeavoring to lock the door, some obstacle struck the house, which was a brick structure. It was immediately crushed and Mr. Shumaker was forced through the shattered ceiling to a top floor. When he regained consciousness he was floating on 505 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. wreckage near Franklin street, then passing through the break below the Presbyterian church he was carried up the Stonycreek. On Saturday he was found on Somerset street, his flesh badly torn, almost blinded by sand and lime and otherwise seriously injured. By reason of rings and jewelry found in the morgue it is certain that Mrs. Shumaker's body was recovered, but it is not known where it was buried. Although every body in the unknown plot was disinterred, none proved to be hers. Mrs. Levergood, relict of Jacob Levergood, Sr., aged seventy-eight years, her daughter Lucy, and Mrs. Buck, a lady over seventy years of age, were in the Levergood brick residence at the corner of Bedford and Vine streets, in the direct [PHOTO] Unknown Dead. channel of the second break from the Little Conemaugh to the Stonycreek. The house crumbled in an instant and all were carried away. Mrs. Levergood's body was found in Sandyvale cemetery, sitting in the same chair in which she had been at the moment the flood reached her; Mrs. Buck's was also found at Sandyvale, lodged in a tree; while Miss Lucy's body had been recovered and taken to Prospect Hill, where it was identified. In the case of these three bodies from the same house, two were found up the Stonycreek and the third near the Stone bridge. During the first four or five days it was impossible to estimate the number of people lost by the flood, although the daily papers had rated it as high as 15,000 souls. The first ef- 506 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. fort to establish a system to ascertain this fact was made by the Moxham committee on Saturday forenoon, when they opened an office on Adam street and requested every person to report those saved and lost. Other methods were soon improvised to facilitate the undertaking, and within a week it was generally admitted that the loss would not exceed 5,000 people. The committee on inquiry, the committee on $10 a head distribution, and the department under General Hastings made other canvasses, and by July decided that the loss would not exceed 2,500, although the bureau of information organized by Colonel John I. Rodgers, of Philadelphia, closed its work on the 24th of July, reporting that 6,131 people were unaccounted for of whom at least 6,000 had perished. This statement, made almost two months after the flood, as the result of careful, intelligent and earnest work, was far from being correct. It is a fact that the exact number of lives lost will never be known, for the reason that some families, especially of the foreign element who were not well acquainted, were entirely wiped out, and the number reported in the same, although procured from the best sources, was at the best guesswork. There were also strangers and visitors here unaccounted for. But there are two statements which are believed to be as near correct as it is possible to make it. The first one was prepared by J. B. Kremer, secretary of Governor Beaver's Flood Commission, which is as follows: MORTUARY REPORT OF THE FLOOD AT JOHNSTOWN, MAY 31, 1889. Found and Found and not Missing. Lost. identified. identified. Males 923 498 252 173 Females 1,219 617 340 262 Sex unknown 44 Less 44 ----- ----- ---- ---- Total 2,142 1,115 636 391 THE LOSS BY DISTRICTS. Johnstown 1,114 Franklin borough 17 Cambria City 360 East Conemaugh 13 Woodvale 272 Hotel guests, visitors,} Conemaugh borough 167 etc., railroad pas- } 63 Millville 115 sengers } South Fork 5 ----- Mineral Point 16 Total 2,142 507 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. AGES. Males. Females. Total. Under 1 20 29 49 From 1 to 5 75 61 136 From 5 to 30 102 109 211 From 10 to 20 141 202 343 From 20 to 30 98 215 313 From 30 to 40 83 126 209 From 40 to 50 72 102 173 From 50 to 60 71 64 135 From 60 to 70 44 58 102 From 70 to 80 17 19 36 From 80 to 90 1 5 6 Over 90 1 3 4 ---- ----- ----- Ages known 725 992 1,717 Ages not known 198 227 425 ---- ----- ----- 923 1,219 2,142 Widows by the flood 124 Widowers by the flood 198 ---- Half orphans, under 21 years, lost father 311 Half orphans, under 21 years, lost mother 156 Orphans, lost both parents 98 ---- Total 565 ---- Whole families lost 99 BURIED IN THE PUBLIC PLOT OF THE COMMISSION AT GRAND VIEW CEMETERY. Unknown. Known.Males 249 Males 53 Females 342 Females 60 Sex unknown 46 ---- ---- Total unknown 637 Total known 113 After Mr. Kremer's report had been made other names were found to be among the missing, when the Tribune undertook to make another canvass of those lost on the principle of procuring the name of every one who had been lost. Under this system there were 2,205 names of persons who had lost their lives, but many of them were not found, and many of them were found but were not identified. The result of this inquiry is as below: 508 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY. Those buried in family lots in Grandview Cemetery 441 Those buried in family lots in Sandyvale Cemetery 78 Those buried in family lots in the old Catholic graveyard 23 Those buried in family lots in Lower Yoder Cemetery 128 Those buried in family lots in St. Mary's Cemetery 71 Those buried in family lots in the German Catholic Ceme- tery 47 Those in the Unknown Plot, but were identified 114 Those in the Unknown Plot not identified 663 ---- Total in the Unknown Plot 777 Those who have no cemetery record 206 Those buried elsewhere than at Johnstown 95 Those lost on the Day Express 38 Those not known to have been found 301 ----- 2,205