USA > Pennsylvania > Cambria County > History of Cambria County, Pennsylvania, Volume I > Part 43
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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 inval- uable service to those in distress.
Robert Pitcairn, general agent of the Pennsylvania Rail- road, with some of his assistants, happened to be along the line of that road near Johnstown the day of the disaster. Not be- ing able to get any nearer than Sang Hollow on Saturday morn- ing, 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 Sun- day. 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. Dol- lar 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 cloth- ing. 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 un- loaded at Morrellville and hauled by wagons over Yoder Hill to South street.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was more greatly im- paired 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 bear- ing markers, "For the Johnstown Sufferers." That same day the tents belonging to the Ohio militia, which Governor For- aker 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 Bal- timore 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 pro- vided 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 per- son 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 con- tinned for one week.
At this meeting some changes were made in the commit- tees, 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 disas- ter, between Governor Beaver, Captain William R. Jones, James B. Scott, Adjutant General Hastings and other prominent citi- zens 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 unorgan- ized 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. Kem- ble, 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 Gen- eral Daniel H. Hastings, who represented Governor Beaver.
1
Booth & Flynn had been making great progress and were paying their men two dollars per day, but when the state as- sumed 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 :
Countersigned, D. H. Hastings.
JOHNSTOWN SUFFERERS.
Guards and Police will admit within the limits of Johnstown for the purpose of work- ing for the benefit of sufferers.
JAMES B. SCOTT, Director.
THE MILITARY ORGANIZATION.
On June 27th the organized method for relief and protec- tion 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. Pat- terson, Major Wilson T. Braden, Captain George C. Hamilton, Captain James D. Murdock.
Quartermaster's Department : Colonel S. W. Hill. Lieu- tenant-Colonel Thomas Potter, Jr.
Commissary Department : Colonel J. Granville Leach,
474
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Spangler, Captain J. A. Loehr, Lieu- tenant W. H. Bean, Lieutenant J. P. Albro, Lieutenant Chas. E. Brown.
Receiving Depot, Commissary No. 1, Pennsylvania Rail- road 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 Grubb- town: Major Austin Curtin. Conemaugh Borough: Lieu- tenant S. H. Williams.
The work of clearing the debris was carried on by divisions, with an engineer and a contractor for each. The general en- gineer was Colonel H. T. Douglass, of Baltimore, whose head- quarters 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 Mc- Knight; engineer, Major William M. Phillips.
Third district, the section between the rivers east to Frank- lin street. Contractor, J. W. Coburn; engineer, G. T. Keenan.
Fourth district, the territory above Franklin street. Con- tractors, MeLain & Co .; engineer, H. F. Lafland.
Fifth district, South Side, upper section : Contractor, James McKnight; lower Section, Patrick Ridge; engineer, Eu- gene Cunningham.
WORLD-WIDE RELIEF.
Money for relief poured into the state from all parts of the world and was principally held in Pittsburg, Philadel- phia and New York. The contributions were so munificent that a system had to be created to take care of it. Therefore Gov- ernor Beaver appointed the following committee to distribute it : Mayor Edwin H. Fitler, Thomas Dolan, John Y. Huber, Robert C. Ogden, and Francis B. Reeves, of Philadelphia; James B. Scott, Reuben Miller and S. S. Marvin, of Pittsburg; John Ful- ton, 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 suc- cessor.
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 be- tween 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
111
341
9
Franklin
45
174
10
Woodvale
253
835
197
Conemaugh-
First ward
172
696
25
Second ward
281
1,032
SS
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
T
Millville-
First ward
206
689
94
Second ward
78
30S
1
476
HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
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
1
Stonycreek township
4
20
3
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 in- vestigation 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 dis- tributed was given under this registration on the 5th of July.
The problem of housing the people that summer was a per- plexing one; homes which had withstood the flood were over- crowded, 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 furni- ture 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 applica- tions 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 Bar- ton 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 bed- rooms, a dining-hall, laundry and two bath-rooms.
The "Oklahomas" being so small made them quite unsatis- factory, 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 con- struction.
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 un- Just, 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 re- gard 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 suf- ferers 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 imme- diate 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, to- gether with a large number of bridges, have been totally de- stroyed. 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 Bor- oughs in the vicinity, the repairing of the highways and the re- building 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 visita- tions were terrible indeed, they were in no sense as overwhelm- ing 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, Secre- tary of War, addressed a letter to Mr. E. Y. Townsend, enclos- ing one from R. MacFeely, Acting Secretary of War, to Gov- ernor 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 wreck- age, 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 re- turned 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 pur- sued 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 re- main 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 ob- structed 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. Mc- Lain & Co., of Philadelphia, who have been among the best con- tractors 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 tem- porary 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 Wood- vale, 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 re- maining 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 con- tractors 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 Gen- eral Wiley's staff. General Hastings will leave Johnstown, temporarily, next week, as he is obliged to visit the encamp- ment 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 Hast- ings 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. John- son, Henry H. Kuhn, John H. Brown, Samuel Masters, John Hannan, and Rev. E. W. Trautwein. This committee was ap- proved 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 rep- resentative. He came here July 3d, and died within a few weeks and was succeeded by Mr. J. B. Kremer of Carlisle.
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