The Aiken recorder. [volume] (Aiken, S.C.) 1881-1910, June 21, 1889, Image 3
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V
THE GREAT CALAMITY.
jLate Details of the Sitiiation of
^Affairs In the Flooded Region.
question was: ‘'Where are the people? Here
are about 10,000. Where are the rest?’
Searching For the Dead and Be
lieving the Living.
The situation of affairs in Johnstown a
■week after the terrible flood is summarized
in the following dispatch from the stricken
city: A summary of the situation shows that
the work of clearing away the ruins is rapid
ly progressing under the direction of an
organized committee, and considerable pro
gress has been made. Seven thousand men
are at work with oOO teams. The debris is
being burned, and while this wa.-. in progress
yesterda3' tire was started from flying sparks,
causing a loss of over $50,000 on property
that had escaped the flood.
Relief is being distributed under the aus
pices of the regular relief committee and the
Ked Cross Society. Much care has to be ex
ercised in this, a* man}' undeserving people
endeavor to secure the supplies no ?ded tor
sufferers. One hundred carloads of food are
■arriving daily, but twice as much is needed,
and especially clothing and shoes.
How the Darn Croke.
The Pittsburg Commercial prints the fol
lowing account of the breaking of the dam.
from the lips of John G. Parke. Jr., a civil en
gineer who was engaged on the grounds of
the South Fork Club:
"On Thursday night the dam was in per
fect condition, and the water was not within
seven feet of the top. At that stage the lake
is nearly three miles long. It rained very
hard Thursday night I am told, for I slept
too soundly myself to hear it, but w hen I got
up Friday" morning I could see there was a
flood, for" the water was over the drive in
front of the club-house, and the level of the
water in the lake had risen until it was only
four feet below the top of the dam. I
rode up to the head of lake and saw that the
woods were boiling full of water, {south Fork
and Muddy Run, which emptied iuto the lake
were fetching down trees, logs, cut timber,
and stuff from a saw-mill that was up in the
woods in that direction. This was about
7:30 o’clock. When 1 returned. Colonel Un
ger, the President of the club, hired twenty-
two Italians and a number of farmers joined
in to work on the dam. Altogether thirty
men were at work. A plow was run along
the top of the dam. and earth was thrown in
the face of the dam to strengthen it. At
the same time a channel was dug on
the west end of the dam to make
a sluice way there. There was about three
feet of shale rock through which it was jsjs-
sibie to cut, but then we struck bed rock that
but a few rods distant. Mrs. Halford
scampered with her fellow travelers to a
hill about 100 feet away. Miss Halford re
turned to the car for her mother's medicine
ca.-e. This might have resulted in her death.
When she again left the car the water was
up to her waist.
Miss Halford wasovercome by the flood be
fore she reached the hill, and, had it not been
for the gallantry of PostofEee Inspector
Sprangler. must have succumbed. Sprangler
lifted her in his arms, and at the risk of his
own life carried her to a place of safety.
"The words: ‘To the hills! To the hills!’ are
ringing in my ears yet,’’ said pretty Miss
Halford to a newspaper man.
Mr. Halford, who suffered keenly from sus
pense and anxiety, was elated as may be im
agined. "I am the happiest man in Ain erica,”
he said to a correspondent.
Fears or an Epidemic in Johnstown.
HIS MOUTH CLOSING UP.
The Strange Affliction of a Wealthy
Resident of Wisconsin.
Richard Chandler, a prominent resident of
the town of Irving, Wis., is on the verge of
the grave as the result of an affliction that
has puzzled the doctors and which stands
unique iu the records of medical history.
For several years Chandler's mouth has been
gradually growing together until now the
orifice is" only about the size of a small mar
ble. All efforts to check the strange growth
have been unavailing. Chandler is now nn-
able to take sufficient nourishment to satisfy
the demands of his system, jit is proposed to
cut his mouth open and present its further
closing by artificial means, and the patient
says his affliction is a forwarning of his ap
proaching dissolution and will not allow his
SWEPT BY FLEE.
A Washington dispatch savs that Surgeou- proac „
General Hamilton, of the Marine Hospital physician to operate upon him. Chandler
^J • v*. \>
'■a %
m
VIEW OF FLOOD IX JOHN’ST OWN—TEE OPEN SPACE WAS IKON STREET.
There are grave fears of infection and
those in charge are doing all in their power
to get the dead bodies under ground. The
dead bodies of many animals are being found
and they are buried at once. The stench is
said to be almost unbearable. Estimates of
the loss of life vary from ten to fourteen
thousand. Subscriptions are still coming in
generously from all sections of the country.
The gorge caused by the embankment of
floating debris against the Pennsylvania
railway bridge, sixty acres in extent and
■forty ieet in height, is supposed to contain
hundreds of bodies, and the work of three
days has hardly cleared a space as big as a
ball room floor.
So little effect has the work of the past
■week made upon the wreck that one viewing
it for the first time to-day would suppose that
it was exactly as the flood left it, and with
the force now at work on it a month will be
consumed iu cb-aring away the debris.
The ruins, filled with dead bodies,menace
the people who have survived the hardships
and exposure of the past week, and the fear
of pestilence is spreading in the minds of the
people. Indeed, the situation here is very
gloomy from every point of view.
Ten thousand men have been gathered here
{from all over the country. This has been
made the Mecca of the tramp, the idler and
the thief, and a nameless fear of the rioting
land disorder which experience in other scenes
fortells must result from this gathering is
.taking possession of every mind.
; The whole city is surrounded by a guard
(of militia and very strict regulations are en
forced, while efforts are made to cut off as
■far as possible, the means of entrance to the
;city, and tickets are not sold to Johnstown
^except on a permit from the Relief Commit
tee at Pittsburg. More troops stand under
lorders at Pittsburg, ready^to
it was impossible to get into without blast
ing. When we got the channel opened, the
water soon scoured down to the lied rock, and
a stream twenty feet wide and three deep
rushed out on that end of the dam. while the
weir was letting in an enormous quantity on
the other end. Notwithstaaiug these outlets,
the water kept rising at the rate of about ten
inches an hour.
"By 11:30. I had made up my mind that it
was impossible to save the dam. and getting j
on my "horse I galloped down the road to '
South Fork to warn the j>eople of their
danger. The telegraph tower is a mile
from the town, and I sent two men there
to have messages sent to Johnstown and
other points below. I heard that the lady
operator fainted when she had sent off the
news and had to be carried off. The people
at South Fork had ample time to get to the
high grounds anti they were able to move
their furniture too. Iu fact only one person
was drowned at South Fork and he while
attempting to fish something from the flood
as it rolled by. It was just twelve o’clock
when the telegraph messages were sent out,
so that the people of Johnstown had over
three hours' warning.
"As I rode back to the dam I expected al
most every moment to meet the lake coming
down on me, but the dam was still intact, al
though the water had reached the top. At
about 1 o’clock I walked over the dam: at
that time the water was three inches deep on
it, and was gradually eating away the earth
on the outer face. As the stream rolled
down the outer face it kept wearing down
the edge of the embankment, and I saw it
was merely a question of time k I then went
up to the club-house and got dinner, and when
I returned I saw that a good deal more of the
outer edge of the dam had crumbled away.
Service, has received several telegrams from
Johnstown. Penn., concerning the situation
there. Oueof them is from Passed Assistant
Surgeon Carrington, iu which he says that
he had conferred with Dr. Lee. the Secretary
of the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania,
and had looked the situation over. He adds:
‘•There is danger of sickness unless active
sanitary measures are taken. Corps are now
being organized, dead animals are l>eing
burned as rapidly as possible, and disinfect
ants used freely." The work will require con
siderable time.”
Another is from Dr. Lee, dated Johnstown,
and says: "The situation here is very seri
ous. A large sanitary corps will be needed
with Carington. to remain as long as his ser
vices are needed. Make arrangements for at
least a month.”
Dr. Hamilton sent a telegram to Dr. Lee,
saying that Dr. Carrington can remain as
long as his services are necessary, and that
disinfectants had been shipped. Dr. Lee
acknowledg^l the receipt of this telegram,
and said further that “temporary depopula
tion is being urged.'’
The Loss of an Express Train.
So many conflicting reports have been pub
lished concerning the loss of passengers and
datnage to the trains overtaken by the flood
at Conemaugh that General Manager Pugh,
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was asked to
furnish the Associated Press with an official
statement of the exact number of persons
knowu or presumed to have been drowned
from the two sections of the day express, and
also a statement as to what became of the
trains. Superintendent Pitcairn, at Pitts
burg. who has had the matter under investi
gation. was communicated with by telegraph,
and these facts were elieited:
As near as can be learned, nineteen lives
were lost. Two cars, a passenger coach and
a baggage car were washed away. The bag
gage ear has been found. The missing coach
may have been carried down to the debris at
the" Johnstown bridge. Some hours after
the flood struck the train three Pullman
sleepers came in contact with a burning car
of lime, and were destroyed.
is worth $500,000, and he has only one heir,
an idiot son. now in an asylum.
NEWSY GLEANINGS.
ssia.
jnals.
med.
;-clads.
: scarce,
klahoma.
jng schools,
s of wheat.
by storm,
jiska, is 1500.
;o be abundant,
about $54,000,-
ity-one in mini-
Icyclones in six
lia will be im-
Germany next
Fare in circulation
fice all over the
> in the Eiffel Tower
In doing great damage
' week
caics
(inents resH^^P^^^PTwealcened condition,
overwork, improper, irregular and scanty
nouiishment and exposure are developing on
every hand.
: There is a small army of physicians here,
gathered from everywhere, and the sick are
being cared for in fairly good order.
All roads leading to Johnstown are crowded
.with cars and wagons bearing provisions and
.clothing for the sufferers. Freight trartie
'within miles of the stricken city is paralyzed,
(and the merchants of the surrounding towns
have almost exhausted their stocks. "Orders
Tor goods of every description have been sent
'into Pittsburg, hut unless they are for surviv
ors of the flood they will not be shipped. The
differenteommissionary departments are con
stantly crowded with applicants for food and
clothing.
The subscriptions from all parts of the
United States, and from the capitals of
Europe, on the seventh day after the flood,
reached the munificent sum of $1,850,000.
Funds continued to pour in for the relief of
the mfferers, and besides the money con
tributions large amounts of clothing and
provisions were forwarded to Johnstown bv
the sympathizing people of other cities.
come, bure at The dam did not givtf ay. At a rough
ople, but now p-ui e of that mass of water was increased by
floods from two streams pouring into it, but
the dam would have stood it could the level
of the lake have been kept below the top of
the dam. But the friction of the water pour
ing over the dam gradually wore it away
from the outer face until the top became so
thin that it gave way.
“The break took place at three o’clock. It
was about ten feet wide at first and shallow,
but now that the flood had made a gap, it
grew wider with increasing rapidity, and the
Brave Unselfishness of Two Children.
Frank Fraunheiser, during the flood at
Johnstown, tried to save his wife, little son
and two daughters, by dragging them up to
the roof of his house. His wife and eldest
daughter were carried away, but he managed
to cling to the two small children until the
house was crushed. The children were buried
beneath the ruins, and the father'worked foil
hours to get them out. When he reached the
children, the boy said:
" Don't try to save me, papa. I'm fast here,
Get Katie out.”
The little girl's leg was broken, apd she
cried out to her father that it was useless to
try to save her, and begged him to rescue
her brother. The father succeeded in drag
ging both children from the ruins, and when
he took the little girl in his arms, her face
was white with the pain of her broken limb.'
As she was carried into a house she looked
up suddenly and said, with a smile: ‘‘Don’t
look so sad," papa, I will cheer you up.”
Wreckage Floating Down the Ohio.
A large quantity of wreckage from Johns
town has been pick up at Portsmouth, Ohio.
At SciotovUle a pocketbook containing $5.26,
a set of silver spoons marked “S. Y.,” a bank
book of the First National Bank of Johns
town containing a credit to Nathan Dyer,
and two locks of hair wer ? found.
Portions of wreckagn^om the Conemaugh
tt ■jxey’Lo»w j/asseA
of Police ordered a patfbl"oi sklilK to searci
for dead bodies among the wreckage.
Noble Clara Barton.
Miss Clara Barton, President of the Red
Cross Society, is now at Johnstown. The fol
lowing cable" message, addressed to her, has
been received from the Grand Duchess of
Baden:
“Carlsruhe, June C.
‘‘To Miss Clara Barton, Washington:
"God bless your work iu floods disaster.
"Grand Duchess.”
Leprosy is increasing i
Fran ce has three new
A satinet trust has
France has thirty-six
^Bengal tigers are L
Iron has been discov
There are ten Indir
We export 95,000,
Swindlers have.
The popula
The tobac
The treasj
000.
Our In
ber.
Kansas
years.
The hay
mense.
Barnum’s sho
winter.
Counterfeit g
in Iowa.
Cheese is low
country.
It costs a dollar n
at Paris.
Forest fires havi
this year.
There are.80,000,000 sheep in the Argen
tine Republic.*
There are twenty-eight saloons in Guth
rie, Oklahoma.
There are 25,000,000, acres of virgin pine
forest in Texas.
The crop prospects out in Dakota are
something unprecedented.
There are 156 applicants for a single con
sulship iu South America.
Nearly 400,000 Italians will land this year
in the Argentine Republic.
The Government Planting Office at Wash
ington is said to be unsafe.
Small-pox is raging among the Okanagou
Indians on the Pacific coast.
There are 2272 British soldiers of the
height of six feet and upward.
Libby prison building has disappeared en
tirely from sight at Richmond, Ya.
One of Buffalo Bill’s Indians has lieen
gored to death in Paris by an infuriated bull.
The Mormons of Uijb and Idaho are emi
grating in large numbers to British North
America.
The longest railroad line in the world ex
tends from Chicago to Tacoma, Washington
Territory.
On application of the London Times the
Parnell libel suit has been pospoued until
November.
King, has
The Entire Business Portion of Seat
tle, Washington Territory, in Ashes.
The business portion of Seattle, the largest
city in Wa-hington Territory, is in ashes.
Every bank, hotel, place of amusement, all
the leading business houses, all the newspa
per offices, railroad depots, mills, steamboat
wharves, coal bunkers, freight warehouses
and telegraph offices are burned down.
The fire began at the corner of Front and
Madison streets in the candy factory of Mr.
Penteus, at 2:30 p. M„ by some turpentine
catching fire, and before midnight had con
sumed the whole business section of the city
northward to Stetson and Post's Mill along
Front and Second streets to the water front,
involving a loss estimated from $10,000,000 to
$15,000,000.
The city is literally wiped out. except the
resident portion on the high ground.
A stiff breeze was blowing from the north
west when the fire began and it soon got the
best of the fire department. The water sup
ply gave out within two hours after the fire
began and then the flames had a clean sweep.
Giant powder was used to blow up buildings
in the hope of staying the flames, but with
no effect.
The fire was not stopped by human efforts,
but was driven south by the wind aud burned
until nothing was left" within reach to feed
upon.
The greater portion of the insurance is
placed with foreign companies. California
companies lose about $300,000 aud Oregon
companies $250,000. Not a single business
house of importance is left standing.
Seattle is the largest citv on Puget Sound,
thirty-eight miles from Tacoma, and has a
population of about 20.000. It is charm
ingly situated on high terraces which rise
above the shore of Elliot Bay. The city has
grown with great rapidity, its business
blocks were large aud handsome, aud its
private houses are constructed with every
modern comfort and convenience. It has
many schools and churches, several daily
newspapers, a number of hotels and bank
buildings, and many mills and factories. The
streets were lighted by gas and electricity,
aud the water service was constructed on a
most extensive scale. The increase in
the number of wharves aud docks
has been incessant, showing the ad
vancing prosperity of the town. The
suburbs are very beautiful aud contain a
number of luxurious country homes. The
chief business of the community is in
coal aud lumlier. the coal mines being
especially valuable. There is also avail
able an immense extent of rich farm
ing land. The coal is shipped by rail and
water to San Francisco. The harbor of
Seattle is large and well sheltered, with a
depth of water sufficient to float the largest
steamers. The port does a great trade in
salmon, and iu manufactories of wood, flour
and iron.
Spreckles, the,
secured the cont
tralian mails.
There will 1
didates for Gov
lican Conve
The Unit
det
grrymg
again
the Aus-
linent can-
)hio Repub-
gartment has
Js with
JUSTICE GRAY'S MARRIAGE.
He Weds a Daughter of the Late
Justice Matthews.
Justice Gray of the United States Supreme
Court and Miss Jeannette Matthews, daugh
ter of the late Justice Stanley Matthews,
were married a few evenings ago in
Washington at the residence of the
bride. The house was elaborately deco
rated with flowers, aud the bridal
couple, during the performance of the cere
mony, stood in the front parlor, surrounded
by st semicircle of palms. The Rev. Dr.
Leonard of St. John's, assisted by the Rev.
Dr. Hamlin of the Church of the Convenaut
officiated, and read the service of the Episco
pal Church.
Those present were Mrs. Stanley Matthews,
Paul ami Eva Matthews, Justice and Mrs.
Miller, Mrs. aud the Misses Wood, Justice and
the Misses Strong, Justice and Mrs. Field,
Mr. and Miss Waite, and Miss Lucy Corkbill.
The ushers were Wm. C. Endicott, Jr., and
Blair Lee.
After the marriage supper was served in
the dining-room and late in the evening the
bridal couple left for a country place in tha
neighborhood of Boston, where they w : ll re
main until July, when they go to Europi.
Ik,
Estimated Loss of Life aud Property.
The loss of life by the floods in the towns of
Mineral Point, Franklinborough, East Cone-
niaugh, U oedvale, Keriuvilk-, Cambria.
Minersvillo, Morrellvillo. Sheridan end
C'oopersdale, which, with Johnstown, consti
tute the string of communities in the direct
path of the great flood, is about 2IIO0, and the
Joss of property about Johns
town proper will probably add about 7000 to
the death list and about $18,000,000 to the
iinaucial lo.-s. The Pennsylvania Railroad's
loss will lie about 0<H making the
total loss, as near as can mow be figured, over
8000 lives and more than $34,000,000 of
property.
The loss of life at Johnstown proper is but
little more than a guess, and may go far
higher. It was too large a place for anybody
to know everybody, ami the survivors are so
scattered that the registration of the living,
which has reached 12,000 in the district, itiui-
cates nothing. The loss in the smaller towns
is obtained from leading men in each, who
have in a measure got their heads again, and
are able to think with some coolness. In de
tail the loss falls as follows:
— * ;
• '
y X-
'’Mafit
T —-— d Press cross
Johnstown, Penn.just a?Wi' the flood, in^T
basket, suspended on a rope.
The outcome of the Samoan Conference
virtually was that Germany conceded every-
thing aud America nothing.
The Valkyrie, which is to contend for the
America s Cup, appears to better advantage
in light breezes and smooth water than in a
fresh wind and sea.
A cyclone has swept through Lamar
County, Texas, doing great damage to crops,
. lev elu-g fences, unrooting houses and barns,
and injuring a number of people.
Up to June this year the total number of
hogs slaughtered in the West amounted to
1. .45,000, against 1,510,000 a year ago. This
would make a string of hogs 1200 miles long.
Of the 396,355 disabled men on the pension
roll more than 100,000 receive from three to
fourteen cents per day, and the remainder
from fourteen to twenty-six and two-third
cents a day.
The growing wheat crop, the Agricultural
Department informs the public, is likely to
be the largest ever known in the United
States.larger than that of 1884,which yielded
513,000,000 bushels, ani is the biggest on
record.
PROMT]
jOPLE,
•s
The King of Italy is a total abstainer.
WANAMAKER's first salary was $1.25
week.
The Russian Czar is in constant fear of
death.
Queen Victorlv. has reigned fifty-two
years.
United States Minister Egan has sailed
for Chili.
The Hotchkiss gun-maker left a fortuue of
$12,000,000
Walt Whitman, the poet, has attained
the age of seventy.
While Prince Bismarck was at college he
fought twenty-eight duels.
John Bright's first public speaking was
for the cause of temperance.
Rosa Bonheur still vigorously wields the
brush at nearly seventy years.
Minister Lincoln was given a special
train from Liverpool to Loudon.
Senator Allison is soon to be married to
a charming young lady of Washington.
Whitelaw Reid, our Minister to France,
began life as a newspaper correspondent at
five dollars a week.
DRIFTWOOD ABOVE THE BRIDGE, SHOWING VIEWS OF THE CAMBRIA IRON CO.
lake went roaring down the valley. That
three miles of water was drained out "in forty-
five minutes. The downfall of those millioiis
of tons was simply irresistible. Stones from
the dam and boul lers in the river bed were
carried for miles. Trees went down like you
might cut a mullein stalk with a swish of
your cane. It was a terrible sight to see that
avalanche of water go dow n that valley al
ready choked with floods. Colonel Unger
j was completely prostrated by it and was laid
up at the club house sick f rc m his experieuces.”
BRIDGES DESTROYED.
Minera Point
East Conemaugh and
Franklin
Wi 'dvale
Johnstown
Nernvitle
Cambria
ilmersville
Morrellvillo
Sheridan and Coopersdr.le
Pennsylvania Kailroad....
Proptr'y,
$100,000
120.000
300.000
750.000
35.000
10.000
75.090
10.060.000
Heavy Losses on AH Lines Running
Through the Flooded Districts.
A list of the principal railroad bridges de-
; stroyed or damaged by the recent floods has
j been prepared by the Railroad Gazette.
; Among those named are the following:
On the Pennsylvania road are the
Granville bridge, on the Juniata four
spans washed away. and the
Mayer and Manayunk bridges, also on the
Juniata, completely wrecked; Petersburg
bridge, Shafer's Creek, completely wrecked;
MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.
Composer Gounod will visit America next
winter.
"The Brigands” is a solid success at th«
New York Casino.
Coquelin and Hading, the French artists
are playing in London.
Robert Hilliard will be Helen Dauvray’i
leading man next season.
Tragedienne Julia Marlowe has closed
her successful road season.
Osmund Tearle is to do Hamlet and Rich,
ard III. at the Standard Theatre, London.
A concert is to be given in Paris in whicl
only compositions by Amrrican authors will
be rendered.
It is said that the last season has been tl*
most successful divcrc^season ever known in
theatrical historv.
ۥ32,890,000
who built
. Total 9,(
P. E. Chapin, of Washing
the Gautier Steel Works, and up to January ,
was genera! sutH i iutendent of the Cam- i
bria Iron Works at Johnstown, said: "The !
loss sustained in round numbers, I should ■
think, would reach *30.000.000. I doubt if )
twenty years will enable the V.-»l!
cover from the sh.x'k.”
W. S. Steele. So ivtary of the Westmor
land and Cumbria Natural Gas Company, i now or the old dam.
said: "Our company a one cannot replace
its plant, which has been w ashed out, for less
than $175,000.”
Postmaster Bauman, of Johnstown, who
knew every buihiisig in it. and is a stock
holder in a large number of manufactories
mid mercantile concerns in the Valiev, said:
"I think that $20.0ov'.ooo will be found"a verv
low estimate of Johnstown's financial loss, j
am a tru.-tee for the largest estate in Johns
town. and know what i am talking about
■when I make this estimate.’’
Out of a total population of 1030 at Wood-
vale tY»7 are known t<> have been saved, mak
ing the less of life about 50 per cent, of the
submerged portion of the village. It is esti
mated that the number of orphans in the
■Conemaugh Valley will be about 500. Thev
are being removed to central points, where
they can be found in case they are inquired
for. Sit. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church
lost 27 < of a membership of 150. Rector
■A. P. Hiller, wife and two children were
drowned. Their new church building has
■disappeared.
The absence of former residents and of a
■fixed and familiar population is most striking
in Johnstown. There are thousands of strang
ers and workmen from a distance there, but
tor the three first days the one perpetual
An Insecure Dam.
Two expert engineers, A. M. Wellington
and F. F. Burt, the latter associate editor of
the Engineering yews, of New York, have
_ made an examination of the dam at South
isonortno' Forks which was tha cause of the disaster.
I" i k ' H ■ Mr. Wellington states that the dam was iuev- No. O.'entirely destroyed.
ery respect of very inferior construction aud The Philadelphia and Erie Road lost the
ot a kind w holly unwarranted by good engin-! Montgomery bridge, on the Susquehanna
wring practices of thirty years ago. Both j and the Leechburg and Hyndman bridges. , on
tiie original aud reconstructed dams were the Bedford branch. Mount Dallas bridge
of earth only, with no heart wall, but ' was undermined and is impa-sable. Bolivar
only riprapped on the stopes. The ' bridge, on the Conemaugh, and Linden
original dam. however, was made in bridge, on the Susquehanna, were swept
ramm^i aud watered layers, which still show | away, while the Williamsport bridge lost
distinctly in the wrecked dam. The new i three spans.
end greatly added to its stability, but it , Of the twenty bridges south of Ralston
was to all appearance simply dumped in , on the Northern Central five are washed
like an ordinary railroad fill, or if rammed, away and all the rest are badly damaged
shows no evidence of good effect from \ with one exception. North of" WiUiams-
it. Much of the old part is standing | port four or five small bridges across
iutact. while adjacent pares of the new work Lycoming Creek have been swept away,
are wholly carried off. There was no cen
tra! wall of puddle or masonry either in the
It has been theinvaria-
Buffalo Bill':-
enormous businessjl
The Indians hav<
A COMMEMORAT
on the house oceiql
Stradivarius. the ct
ailev to re-
i ble practice of engineers for thirty or forty
j years to u-e one or the other in building high
j dams of earth.
j It is doubtful if there is a single ot!i«r dam
or reservoir iu any other part of the United
States of over t'uty feet high which lacks this
<• ntral wall. The reconstructed dam also
bears the mark of great ignorance or careless
ness in having been made nearlv two feet
mw. r in the middle than at the ends. It
should rather have crowned iu the middle,
which would have concentrated the over
flow if it should occur at the ends instead of
in the centre.
Miss Halford's Narrow Escape.
Mrs. and Miss Halford, wife and daughter
of President Harrison’s Private Secretary,
have reached ashington. Both were occu
pants of the day express on the Pennsylvania
road, which w as supposed to have been lost
with all on board. Their train was stopped
at Conemaugh station from 11 a. m. until 3
P. M. on the fatal Friday. Then the conductor
heard the roar of the coming waters aud
rushed through the train and shouted: "To
the hills; to the hills for your life!”
Mrs. Halford and her "daughter sprang to
the platform with many other passengers.
By that time the great volume of water 0 was
| All the railroad bridges above Blairs-
; ville were carried away. Martinsburg
: high bridge over the Potomac River
! is partly gone, and the remainder is insecure.
J At Williamsport Aid. ) a new iron bridge over
t’ue Pot'mao River was destroyed. Sinnema-
honing bridge ami Keating bridge, both cross
ing Sinnemahoning Crock, are gone. Several
others have been lost, but their names are uot
given.
On the Philadelphia and Reading road.Sun-
bury bridge. <>a the Williamsport branch,
h -t three spans, and the Milton and Muncy
bridges, on the Susquehanna, were cei.:-
pletiy destroyed. The Erie road lost several
bridges near Hornellsvilie and Andover, N.
Y.. and the bridge at Elmira. A large bridge
on the Delaware. Lackawanna and Western
road was swept away at Waverly, N. Y.
The Fall Brook Coal Company lost two
bridges.
On the West Virginia Central and Pitts
burg two bridges were swept away, and the
total loss of that road is estimated at $250,000.
The Long Bridge across the Potomac, at
Washington, D. C\. was overflowed and the
draw span with one fixed span adjoining it
floated down stream.
Ships of war and ironclad instructions are :
to be sent to the Behring .Sea to maintain the
rights of the United States in that quarto-.
kWest is doing at
Paris Exposition.
?e French,
tas been placed
remona, Italv. by
fed violin maker.
Colonel Maple^on is organizing a new
Italian <»pera company iu London in which
1 Marie Titieus will debut as a prima donna.
Gilbert, it is reported, is alreadv well ad-
ranceti upon another libretto, for which Sii
Arthur Sullivau will shortly start the music
James C. Duff is to revive all of the sue-
co—ful Gilbert and Sullivan operas durina
the summer season of his company in Phila
delphia.
Robert Buchanan has just arranged
Scott's poem. "Marmion,” for stage repre
sentation, preserving the measure of the
original.
The success of Von Suppe's “Clover” at
Palmer's. New York city,is the greatest ever
known in the history of the McCaull Opera
Company.
An exhibition of moukevs was recently
opened at Alexandra Palace "in London. At
least a thousand monkeys from various t arts
of the world were show n.
At the roc nt Artists' Ball at the Paris
Opera House, Mme. Bernhardt was the con-
iluctor of the orchestra and the younger M.
Coqueiin first violin player.
Charles Lauri. Sr., the famous clown
and pantomimist, die'i in London recentlv.
He was the lather of the Lauri family, w ho
have often appeared in this country.
Aiter forty weeks of the most phenomen
ally profitable run ever known to the local
stage "The Old Homestead” ended its season
at the Academy of Music, in New York citv.
A common expectation in the theatrical
profession iu England is that a knighthood
for Mr. Irving should be the reward of the
performance before the Queen at Sandring
ham. °
Mr. Abbey has guaranteed the tenor
Tomagno #100.000 to sing fifty nights during
the four months of Mme. Patti's American
season. Tomagno is not to sing on the same
nights as Patti.
An unfinished libretto, "The Saracen
Woman.” by Wagner, has just been discov
ered, the widow of Herr Greith, of Munich
cathedral, having presented it to Frau
Secretary Noble has accepted the resig
nation of Indian Commissioner Oberlv to
take effect on July 1.
General eaver, of Iowa, once the
leading Green backer of the West, has onened
a law office in Oklahoma.
It is sad to learn that the Sandwich King.
Kalakau, is so bad off that he can’t borrow
$10,000 for a trip to Europe.
King Tamasee, of Samoa, enjoys the mu
nificent royal salary of #20 a week. But then
he has no tailor s bills to pay.
The Pope recently fainted it, his chair dur
ing a meeting of the Consistory, and his
health is said to be seriously affected.
Amelie Rives-C’hanler,the author of the
‘'.Quick or the Dead.” and Louise Michel, the
Nihilist, have struck up a friendship in Paris.
Secretary Windom is said to work harder
than any other man in Washington. He is at
his desk day and night and indulges in no
known recreation.
Gladstone at the age of eighty is said to
be good for a tramp of twenty miles. And
why not? At the same age’ Aaron Burr
could outwalk any youngster in New York.
The monument in honor of Inventor John
j Ericsson, for which the sum of $12,000 was
j appropriated by the New York State Legis-
! lature, is to be set up in Central Park, New
York.
Marshall Field, the Chicago millionaire
drygoods merchant, employs a man at a reg
ular salary to see that his charities are
worthily bestowed. H<- spends $25,000 a
year in charity.
Hadji Hassein Khouli Khan, Persian
Minister, says that the reason the Shah <,i
Persia does not extend his present trip to this
country is that there is no one here uf equal
rank to receive him.
Hon. A\ ilt.iam C. Endicott. ox-Secretarv
of ar. and Mr. Sigourney Butler, ex-
Controller of the Curr.-ncy. have formed a
partnership for the practice of law and will
open an office in Boston.
Amasa Sprague, elder brother of ex-
Governor William Sprague, who has ac
cepted an el c-tion to the office of Sh-riff of
Kent County. R. I.—an office worth #9<) j or
bl'JU a year—was once the owner of
$10,000,090.
Mrs. Cleveland's mother, Mrs. Perrine.
has returned to Buffalo. She and her hus
band went as far West as Nebraska on their
wedding trip. Mr. Perrine has resumed
his duties as Secretary of the Buffalo Ceme
tery Association.
DEATH BY ELECTRICITY.
The Method to lie Used in Punishing
Murderers in New York.
Electrical Engineer Harold P. Brown, of
New York, is superintending the electrical
apparatus to be used in the execution of the
convicted murderer, who will be the first
man to die under the new law in New York
providing that hereafter in the State the
death penalty shall lie administered by elec
tricity instead of by hanging.
z
A.
7?
the death cap.
A Westinghouse dynamo with an alternat
ing current will be used. The victim will be
seated on a raised platform in a reclining
chair to the back of which he will be fastened
by straps around his body. A rubber cap
that will cover all of his "head but the face
will then be slipped on the condemned man.
In the centre of this cap at the base of the
brain, is a metal cone, perforated, to which
the electric wire will be fastened. While at
tendants are fixing on this cap and attaching
the wire, ol hers will remove the prisoner's
shoes and socks replacing them with sandals,
'ii
the fatal moment.
the soles of which are of metal. Then the
condemned man’s feet v. ill be fastened to a
metal foot-rest to inch other wires will be
■attached. While these arrangements are be-
'ing made the electrician will, by the aid of
an ingenious contrivance concealed in the
chair, learn the maximum resistance of the
prisoner and so be able to tell just how many
volts strong the current must be to destroy
liim.
Previous to being led into the death
chamber the prisoner will be allowed what-
tever opportunity he desires for religious con
solation and farewell. When placed in the
chair only the officers and physicians allowed
by law will be present. The dynamo and
apparatus will be concealed in an adjoining
room. There will be a loojffiole through the
A
that the engineer can view^^PEZ
greSS'bf the proceedings and be ablea^lne
proper moment to turn oq, the death-dealing
current should there, through nervousness or
Other cause, bs any mistake in signaling. At
the last moment a black cloth will be laid
over the condemned man’s face, and an in-
fetant later will follow the signal for the
current to be turned on. It is estimated that
these arrangements will occupy at least
five minutes’ time—long enough for the
prisoner to experience the agonies of a hun
dred deaths. When the current is turned on
death is expected to follow instantaneously.
CAYE DWELLERS.
Explorer Schwatka Among the Wild
Tribes ol’ Mexico.
Lieutenant Schwatka arrived at Doming,
New Mexico. In Southern Chihuahua his
party found cliff ar,d cave dwellers, wild as
any of the Mexican tribes that Cortez encoun
tered. The abodes they live in are exactly like
the old abandoned cliff dwellings of Arizona
and New Mexico. Upon the approach of.
white men the people climb to their caves or
cliffs by the aid of notched sticks if the cliffs
are too steep. They can, however, ascend
vertical stone faces if there are the slightest
crevices for their fingers aud toes.
The cliff dwellers are sun worshippers.
They expose their new-born children to the
full rays of the sun, and show in many other
ways their devotion to the great luminary.
Thev are usually tall, lean and well formed.
Their skin is of a black-red color, more like
the African’s than the Indian’s.
Lieutenant Schwatka says that nothing
has heretofore been known about these peo
ple except by the half-Indians of the Mexi
can mountains. He estimates the cave and
cliff dwellers to number from 300J to 12,000.
They are armed only with bows, arrows and
stone hatchets.
The fastest day's run on record on a tran 1 --
itlantie voyage—515 miles—was made by th •
City of Paris on a recent trip over.
The Two Poets.
"I would not weight,” one poet said,
"The wing of Fancy soaring high
Up the blue dome of boundless sky;
Or part the downy plumage spread t
Above her breast, even by a strand
Cf silken service, wrapping there.
To send across the summer 1 md.
Sue'', messages through the golden air
As humbler pinions deign to bear.
‘‘My realm is Beauty's large domain:
My service. Art. for Art s pure sake,
That does not ask. and will not take.
The low rewards of u-e or gain—
That owns no duty in a song—
No Epic call that shall avail
To urge the right, or chide the wrong,
Or hearten hoj>e when hope would fail—
1 sing as sings the nightingale.”
"If through my verse,” another sang,
"A throb is felt, whose human l>eat
Reveals a purp- se, strong and sweet,
To anodyne some deadly pang.
Or help some halting soul to reach
Firm foothold on the path that leads
Starward, through what my verse may
teach.
Or heal the hurt that inwar 1 ble. di,
Or spur some life to loftier deeds—
“I leave content the rarer height
Of Art to such ethereal souls
As Beauty's finer air infolds
In atmospheres too keen of light
For earth-born vision.* While they soar.
Let me keep warm within my breast
The heart-throb—and I ask no more!”
Men praised the Poet; for the rest,
God loved the lowlier singer best.
—Margaret J. Preston.
HUMOROUS.
Worth lots of rocks—A baby.
A swallow may not make a summer,
but a frog makes a spring.
The long and the short of it—The
measurements bath ways.
A theatrical company is charitable
when it plays to a poor bouse.
There arc different ways of showing
wrath; the tea-kettle sings sweetest
when it is hottest.
Miggs: ‘‘I hear a policeman was
killed yesterday in the discharge of his
duty.” Bliggs: “He probably didn’t
know it was loaded.”
Returned traveler: “Mr. Richmau
could draw his check for a million when
I left. How much money has he by this
time?” Citizen:
“Eh? Wha—
he died. ”
“He hasn’t
Did he fail?”
any.”
“No;
A 11 liman Almanac.
Brown county, 111., has a prodigy in
the shape of a ten-ycar-old boy with a
talent for days and dates. Roy Oden-
weller, son of S. P. OJcnwellcr of In
dustry township, is the infant wonder.
Give him any date in any month of thi»
year, last year or next year, and he can
at once tell you the day of the week
upon which it falls or has fallen. For
example, ask him on what day of
week will October 17, 1889, fall,
Iu- will nromptlyanswer
diich is corrifet. And so
l^st year or the year to come, ^fow ha
at the solution he does riot V
— %vnow.
tha
and
rsday,”
en of undoubtr^
tested his
arnv
Numerous gen
acity have repeated^
power. The little fellow ~ is a
youngster, but does uot exhibit
ver-
strango
bright
any un
usual precocity beyond this peculiar
gift. He says that beyond the three
years—the current, the last and the
next—he cannot give correct answers.
Next year he will lose all power over
1888 (with which he is now conversant),
and his mind will grasp that of 1891, of
which he now knows nothing. He has
no rule or method, nor does he know
how he arrives at the true answer, but it
is certain that be is correct
answering. — Chicago Tribune.
when
THE MARKETS.
23
Beeves..
NEW YORK.
common to prime.,
President Harrison devotes about an
hour a day to newspapers. He reads the ed
itorial comments < ut out for him by Private
Secretary Halford, spends a few moments on
the telegraphic news and always looks over
the baseball scores.
Benjamin Shively. Representative in
Congress from the South Bend (Ind.) District,
has had an interesting career. Some years
ago. when.very young, he was editor of a
small newspaper in South Bend. Bv a politi
cal compromise he was elected to ‘Congress
for a short term. While in Washington i.e
lived economically, saved a large part of his
salary, and when his term expired went to
Ann Arbor University, Michigan, to com
plete his education. He studied law and hung
out his shingle in South Beud. Acain. by a
party compromise, he was elected to Con
gress. He married a daughter of ex-Soficitor-
General Jc-nks recently.
Calves,
Sheep
Lambs
Hogs—Live
Dressed
Flour—City Mill Extra
Patents
Wheat—No. 2 Red
Rye—State
Barley—Two-rowed State...
Corn—Ungraded Mixed
Oats—No. 1 V nite
Mixed Western
Hay—No. 1
Straw—Long Rye
Lard—City Steam
Butter—Elgin Creamery...
Dairy, fair to good.
West. Ini. Creamery
Factory
! Cuesse—State Factory
Skims—Light
Western
| Eggs—State and Penn
BUFFALO.
j Steers—Western
i Sheep—Medium to Good....
j Lambs—Fair to Good
■ Hogs—Good to Choice Yorks
! Flour—Family
i Wheat—No. 2 Northern
; Com—No. 3, Yeliow
! Oats—No. 2, White
Barley—No. 1 Canada
I
BOSTON.
Flour—Spring Wheat Pat's..
Corn—Steamer Yellow 46 (h 47:^
. Oats—No. 2 White 32 w 41
Rye—State 65 («. 70
WATERTOWN (MASS.) CATTLE MARKET.
Beef—Dressed weight 4 (a
Sheep—Live weight Z z <ur 4'-'
Lambs., 43<a 6>|
liogs—Northern — (<£ 58^
PHILADELPHIA.
Flour—Penn, family
i Wheat—No. 2, Red. June...
Corn—No. 2. Mixed. June..
Oats—Ungraded White
Potatoes—Early Rose
, Butter—Creamery Extra...
' Cheese—Part skims
3 75
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35
How tlic President Spends His Day.
The President divides his time so as
to have ample opportunity for rest, rc-
creition and work. He generally rises
about 7 o’clock iu the morning and
breakfasts with his family at 8.31)
o’clock. He usually leaves the building
by the south door and indulges in'a
stroll of half an hour about the grounds
south of the mansion. lie then returns
to his office and by 9.3) o’clock is en
gaged in looking over papers aud ar
ranging Ids work for the day. At 11
o’clock .Senators and Representatives be
gin to arrive and they are received with
the utmost courtesy, patience aud con
sideration.
At 1 o’clock the President, except ou
cabinet days, descends to the east room,
where he always finds hundreds of per
sons, men and women, who are stran
gers in the city, waiting to pay their
respects. After dispersing this crowd
with many pleasant remarks, he takes
his luncheon and then returns to his of-
ffee, where he begins the real work of
the day, undisturbed by caller*, except
by special appointments, as these threo
hours are devoted to audiences granted
*0 cabinet ministers to submit the busi-
ness of taeir ucp irtmonts and receivo
directions. At 3 o’clock he usually
takes a long walk in the northwestern
section of the city, or a drive with Mrs.
Harrison and the ladies of his family.
At 7.30 o'clock the President joins
Mrs. Harrison and the ladies at dinner
in the family dining-room. Frequently
he invites some iriend or official whom
he desires to meet in the less respected
and more leisurely surroundings of
miorn^il hospitality. Ei.er iu tho
evening tne President passes his timo
with his family, or receives visitors who
are entitled to call socially.—Pittsburg
Clouuurcial Gazette.
4 00
ft. •
4 25
87
ft
89
41
ft
41
—
ft
33
30
ft
40
i~y,cc
IS
6
ft
8
A Great Iiulncement.
Cora. ‘‘What induced you to
Mr. Merritt I went to the party
night with George?'’
Little
Jlxzar. '
Johnny. “A quarter.’