JUNE <8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORK** 
HOME NEWS. 
Saturday, June 8, 1889. 
As was feared, the flood in Conemaugh 
Valley, Southwestern Pennsylvania, on 
Friday May 81, was far more disastrous than 
even the most woeful of the first telegrams 
announced. A week ago the deaths were es¬ 
timated at from 200 to 500; now it is known 
that they cannot be less than 10,000 and may 
be over 15,000. It was the most terrible dis¬ 
aster that has ever occurred in this country. 
The population of the desolated valley—about 
30 miles loDg by from a half a mile to over a 
mile broad, is put at about 50,000, and of 
these 12,000, mostly women and children, 
are dead, a greater loss than in any battle of 
the late war and a vastly greater proportion¬ 
ate loss than in any battle of modern times. 
Conemaugh Lake, the cause of the disaster, 
was 3>^ miles long by 1 % broad, and was an 
artificial formation made,first,by the State to 
supply the Pennsylvania Canal. After this 
was bought by the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
the reservoit was emptied and used as » 
grass farm for some years, then purchased 
and refilled by an association of Pittsburg 
sportsmen who used it for fishing purposes 
The embankment shutting it in was about 
1,000 feet long, 90 feet thick at the base and 
30 at the top and 70 feet high, and the water 
it contained at the time of the flood would 
have taken 26 hours to pass over Niagara at 
the ordinary rate, though it passed out 
of the reservoir in about an hour. 
It was supplied by the Conemaugh river, 
and was situated 14 miles above Johnstown, 
the scene of the greatest disaster. Before the 
bursting of the dam five inches of rain fell in 
the surrounding country and swelled all the 
emptying creeks into torrents, and a high 
wind along the lake gave impetus to the 
swollen waters. Twenty-five feet high the 
rolling, tossing wave swept down the narrow, 
winding valley carrying everything before 
it. It first struck and shattered South Forks 
(2,000 inhabitants); then Mineral Point (800 
inhabitants); then Conemaugh (2,500 inhabit¬ 
ants); then Woodvale (2,000 inhabitants); 
then Johnstown, which with Cambria City 
and two adjoining towns, contained nearly 
30,000 inhabitants. On the waters rushed 
down the valley laden with wreckage of all 
kinds and thousands of human beings, dead, 
or alive awaiting death or rescue. Sheri¬ 
dan (800 inhabitants) shared the fate of the 
upper towns, while all the farm-houses and 
farms between the towns contributed horri¬ 
bly to the general ruin. Live stock of all 
kinds in vast numbers, added to the 
floatage of the dead and the dying. House 
tops, trees, all kinds of floating supports were 
burdened by human beings of all ages, compar¬ 
atively few of whom were rescued or escaped. 
The floating houses and other wreckage of 
the upper valley, on striking the fine, solid 
stone bridge of the Pennsylvania railroad just 
below Johnstown, were stopped and piled up 
45 feet high over an area of 65 acres. The 
mass caught fire from over-turned stoves and 
it is thought that from 1,500 to 2,000 people 
were cremated. Some were dead, many 
caught in the ruins and others free but unable 
to escape except by plunging to death into 
the flood, which many did. The mass is still 
smouldering and hundreds of workmen are 
breaking it up; but it will probably require 
dynamite or fire to get rid of it and its con¬ 
fined hundreds of festering corpses. The ac¬ 
tual number of the dead can never be ascer¬ 
tained. Some have doubtless been carried 
down along the Alleghany and Ohio rivers 
even as far as the Mississippi. Hundreds were 
cremated in the awful jam, buried deep in 
sand, or washed into inaccessible nooks and 
crevices,never to be seen by human eye. Pes¬ 
tilence threatens the valley from festering 
human corpses and animal carcasses. About 
3,500 dead bodies have already been 
buried, and the work goes steadily on. 
Mud flats represent the sites of the greater 
portion of all the destroyed towns. Factories 
and workshops have gone with houses and 
farm homesteads. The whole section must be 
rebuilt. The Cambria Iron Works alone lost 
$7,000,000 in plant and material. Six or 
seven thousand men are now hard at work 
hunting for bodies, burying the dead, clear¬ 
ing away wrecks and preparing for rebuild¬ 
ing. While some of the most glorious ex¬ 
amples of heroism brightened here and there 
the gloom of the disaster, numerous cases of 
selfishness and cruelty added to it. Ghouls, 
chiefly Hungarians and Italians, at once 
flocked from the neighboring country to rob 
the dead. Many of these have been lynched— 
shot, hanged or driven into the river and 
drowned. Thieves and idlers have been flock¬ 
ing in from all sides, but they are being ar¬ 
rested or driven out again. None are per¬ 
mitted to stay, except the workers and those 1 
who are known to belong to the place. Several 
regiments of State militia are on the ground, 
and more are ready to move there at once. 
Terrible rain-storms and disastrous floods else¬ 
where would have caused a tremendous sensa¬ 
tion throughout the land were it not for the 
overwhelming nature of the Conemaugh ca¬ 
tastrophe. All Virginia east of the Blue 
Ridge, the Potomac Valley, the mountain 
region of Eastern Maryland, all middle Penn¬ 
sylvania, and the lake region of Western New 
York have grievously suffered from severe 
ram storms which ravaged villages, mills, 
railroads, and farms, causing the loss of 
millions of dollars’ worth of property and 
hundreds of lives. At Williamsport, Pa., 65 
people watching the awful floods of the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna, perished with 
the bridge on which they stood. There also 
$5,000,000 worth of timber and lumber was 
swept away, and enormous damages inflicted 
on the town and surrounding country. The 
total of human deaths in that section varies 
from 100 to 200. The deaths in Maryland and 
Virginia, singly or in twos and threes, are 
put at about 100; while those in Western New 
York are variously estimated at from 25 to 125. 
The.losses in damages or destruction of .mills, - 
canals, railroads, bridges, houses, crops, live 
stock, etc., etc., are undoubtedly high among 
the millions. May has been the wettest 
month in the East in the records of the 
Signal Service... . 
A big fire, Thursday, destroyed the lower 
part of Seattle, Washington Territory, and a 
good deal of the rest of the town. Estimated 
loss, $15,000,000.The National White 
Lead Trust, an offshoot of the Standard Oil 
Companv, has just purchased the plant of the 
Collier White Lead Company of St. Louis, 
for $4,500,000. This enables the oil monopoly 
to control absolutely the output of white lead 
in America.The base-ball war 
goes merrily on. Yesterday morning the 
records of the two great national organiza¬ 
tions were as follows: 
Clubs. 
LEAGUE. 
Won. 
Lost. 
P. Ct. 
Boston. 
.24 
7 
.774 
Philadelphia... 
.21 
13 
.618 
Cleveland. 
.21 
14 
.611 
New York. 
.18 
15 
.545 
Chicago. 
20 
• 42c) 
Pittsburg. 
.13 
19 
.405 
Indianapolis..., 
22 
.313 
Washington ... 
. 8 
20 
.286 
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION. 
Clubs. Won. Lost. 
P. C*\ 
St. Louis. 
.31 
12 
.721 
Athletic . 
15 
.605 
Brooklyn .. 
.23 
17 
.575 
Baltimore. 
.20 
19 
.513 
Kansas City.... 
.21 
20 
.572 
Cincinnati_ 
_22 
23 
.500 
Columbus. 
.15 
25 
.375 
Louisville. 
. 8 
23 
.258 
After paying the freight over a much long¬ 
er journey, steel rails from Chattanooga were 
sold the other day at Cleveland, Onio, at much 
lower figures than those at which similar 
goods made in Ohio or Pennsylvania could be 
put on the market without a great loss. 
Northern iron works are ruthlessly cutting 
down wages on all sides to meet this Southern 
competition, but in vain it is hoped and fear¬ 
ed.The Michigan Central road was 
discovered last fall granting to a Chicago 
firm a rebate of three cents per 100 pounds on 
eastern shipments of wheat, which gave the 
firm so much of an advantage over its com¬ 
petitors and of course constituted a case of un¬ 
just discrimination under the law. The 
freight officials of that road will be prosecut¬ 
ed by the Inter-State Commerce Commission¬ 
ers.Wyoming Territory is now 
clamoring for admission as a State. Delegates 
to a Constitutional Convention to meet on 
September 2, will be elected on July 8. It 
has already population, wealth and intel¬ 
ligence enough to entitle it to admission. 
The Canadians, the other day, seized the 
American fishing schooner Mattie Winship 
for poaching within the three-mile limit, off 
Cape North. She is to be released, however, 
on furnishing bonds in the sum of $3,500 to 
await the decision of the Courts. 
There may be trouble in the Behring Sea em- 
broglio. The Canadians say their vessels will 
hunt seals as usual, and that if they are cap¬ 
tured by U. S. naval vessels, British vessels 
will recapture them. Our Government, how¬ 
ever, expresses no alarm... A con¬ 
vention is to be held at Chipley, Fla. on 
July 4, to concert measures for the annexa¬ 
tion of Northwestern Florida to Alabama ... 
_ .. The memorial monument erected at 
Chicago by citizens in honor of the police¬ 
men who were killed by Anarchist bombs in 
the Haymarket riot, May 4, 1886, was unveil¬ 
ed the other afternoon... 
The Northern Pacific Railway has just pur¬ 
chased the Northwest Central. This is look¬ 
ed upon as leading directly to the opening 
up of the entire Canadian Northwest. 
Eighteen St. Louis breweries have applied 
to the State to be organized into one corpora¬ 
tion. This is one result of the new anti-trust 
law, which seems to be forcing rather than 
breaking up monopolies . It is esti¬ 
mated at the Treasury Department that there 
has been a decrease of $8,000,000 in the public 
debt during the month of May, notwithstand¬ 
ing the disbursement of nearly $12,000,000 
during the month on account of pensions. 
The Treasury surplus is now stated at 
$54,000,000.A new compulsory educa¬ 
tion law has been enacted in Illinois, which 
seems to be generally regarded with favor, 
save only by the private schools that teach 
in a foreign language.•. 
The whole country is responding to the cry of 
distress from the Conemaugh valley with glori 
ous generosity, and several European coun¬ 
tries are forwarding liberal contributions and 
collecting more. Down to Thursday evening 
the following cash contributions for the 
Johnstown sufferers were made: 
Philadelphia and vicinity... .$515,212 
New York and vicinity.513,000 
Pittsburg . 275,000 
Through Governor Beaver ... 210,000 
Chicago.. 90,000 
Boston. 5o,000 
Cleveland, O.- 42,000 
Massachusetts Legislature. .. 30,000 
Washington, D. C. 30,000 
Columbus, O . 23,000 
Baltimore, Md. 16,000 
Bethlehem, Fa. 15,100 
Lancaster, Pa. 13,169 
Cincinnati, 0. 12,000 
New Hampshire Legislature.. 10,000 
Scranton, Pa. 9,500 
Paris, France. 9,000 
Wilmington, Del. 6,700 
Chester, Pa . 6,000 
Allentown, Pa. 5,500 
Wilkesbarre, Pa. 5,000 
Easton, Pa. .. 4,000 
Indianapolis, Ind. 3,500 
Chattanooga, Tenu. 2 721 
Denver, Col. 2,500 
Toledo, O. a,000 
Savannah, Ga. 1,700 
Kansas City, Mo. 1,500 
Charleston, S. C. 1,500 
Chambersburg, Pa. 1,000 
Carlisle, Pa. 1,000 
Total.... $1,908,112 
The Massachusetts grant is said to be un¬ 
constitutional and therefore unavailable. 
Nearly all the above sums are the results of a 
spontaneous movement. Churches, theaters, 
etc., etc., are preparing to contribute liberal¬ 
ly. and the Pennsylvania legislature, and per¬ 
haps those of other States will probably make 
special appropriations for the sufferers. The 
money loss throughout the valley is estimated 
at all the way from $35,000,000 to $60,000,- 
000, and as there was no insurance against 
water, the loss is a total one.... 
It is charged that execution by electricity is 
against the Constitution which forbids “cruel 
and unusual punishment.'’ The Supreme 
Court in this State having decided that it is 
constitutional, an appeal is to be taken in the 
case of William Kemmler now awaiting exe¬ 
cution in Auburn Prison.A fed¬ 
eration of the associations of locomotive 
engineers, railway brabemen, and firemen 
has just been effected in Chicago. Conduc¬ 
tors and other railroad employees are expect¬ 
ed to join ere long.Negotiations are 
now being carried on at the Rosebud Ageucy, 
South Dakota, between the Sioux chiefs and 
the U. S. Commissioners with regard to the 
purchase of those 11,000,000 acres of the Sioux 
reservation by the General Government for 
the purpose of speedy settlement. The reports 
that squatters are occupying the country are 
officially contradicted. Numbers are, no 
doubt, secretly going through the territory to 
find out the best locations so as to be able to 
seize upon them at once when the country is 
thrown open to settlement, but no consider¬ 
able number will “squat” there. 
From the first opening of spring there has 
hardly been a working day which has not 
witnessed the Inauguration of one or more 
strikes among workmen in various parts of 
the country. These have been most numer¬ 
ous in the strongly “protected” industries, 
and in nearly all cases they have been due to 
attempts to cut down wages and consequent 
resistance by employees. Machinery in this 
country now does the work of 500,000,000 
men, we are told, and with the large natural 
increase in our population and the enor¬ 
mous immigration it is hardly surpris¬ 
ing that there should be slackness in human 
employment, especially as the annual increase 
in machine-power greatly transcends the in¬ 
crease in hand power from all causes. 
Both houses of the Connecticut legislature 
have passed a bill forbidding railroads to issue 
free passes to members of the legislature, and 
ordering the Controller of the State to furnish 
railroad tickets to every member of the legis¬ 
lature who may make him an assignment of 
his mileage.The Massachusetts Sen¬ 
ate has passed a bill authorizing the Bell 
Telephone Company to add $10,000,000 to its 
capital. Judge Gray, of the U. S. Su¬ 
preme Court and Miss Jennie Mathews, daugh- 
tee of the late Stanley Mathews, were mar¬ 
ried at Washington Tuesday afternoon. 
... The Illinois Legislature has passed a bill 
designed to restrict the circulation in that 
State of “flash” papers. It makes it unlaw¬ 
ful to sell, lend, or give away or otherwise 
distribute to any minor any book, magazine, 
pamphlet or newspaper devoted to the publi¬ 
cation of criminal news, police reports, or ac¬ 
counts of criminal deeds; or pictures and stor¬ 
ies of deeds of bloodshed, lust or crime. 
Senator Brown, of Georgia, is seriously ill. 
In case of death, Governor Gordon is sure to 
succeed him. Jacksonville, Fla., is 
again unfortunate-60 buildings were burn¬ 
ed Wednesday morning: loss about $200,000.. 
Governer Hill, of New York, has vetoed the 
Vedder Bill taxing sales of intoxicants, and 
the Crosby High License bill. Great discon¬ 
tent among those who want a legal check on 
indiscriminate rum-selling.The Massachu¬ 
setts House has rejected a bill for the abolition 
of the poll tax as a prerequisite to voting..... 
Three arrests have been made in Chicago in 
connection with the murder of Cronin. It is 
supposed that the actual assassins were im¬ 
ported from other sections, but the men 
arrested, and others to be arrested had a 
guilty knowledge of the crime, or aided in 
one way or another in causing it. One of the 
“clans" or branches of the Clan-na-gael, a 
“physical-force” secret society founded in 1872 
as the successor of the Fenian Brotherhood, 
appears to have passed sentence of death on 
the man,ostensibly on the ground that he was 
a British spy, but really because he persisted 
in charging some of the leaders with the 
misappropriation of $84,000 or so. The 
society, of course, indignantly denies any 
connection with the murder. 
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McConnelsville, O., September 14,1886. 
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Portsmouth, O., June 8. 1887. 
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Timothy Calver. 
Ashland, O., May, 29, 1897. 
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FOREIGN NEWS. 
Saturday, June 8, 1889. 
In England, the Pamellite trial still drags 
uninterestingly along. Nearly all interest 
ceased with the proof of the forgery of the 
letters on which the charges of the Time3 were 
mainly based, and since Parnell himself left 
the witness-stand there has been little public 
interest in the matter. The court, which has 
evidently been all along againt the accused, 
as its organization originally indicated, ap¬ 
pears determined to drag the case out till the 
public shall have forgotten the Pigott fiasco. 
Gladstone is “stumping” the country now in 
favor of Home Rule, and says he is confident 
of ultimate success. There’s a good deal of 
doubt, however, as to the scope of his Home 
Rule at this moment. Labor troubles are 
prevalent in every industrial center. Conti¬ 
nental countries are competing closely with 
English manufactures in the markets of the 
world, and while the manufacturers are un¬ 
willing to cut down their own large profits in 
the least, they insist that the business situa¬ 
tion demands the cutting down of their work¬ 
men’s starvation wages from 10 to 25 per 
cent. Hence strikes,lockouts, etc., etc., etc.! 
.Last Wednesday the Duke of Port¬ 
land’s three-year-old colt, Donovan, bore off 
the “blue ribbon of the turf” by winning the 
Derby race of Epsom, 12 miles from London, in 
2.44 2-5. He was the favorite since February. 
He had already won $165,000 as a two-year- 
old, so that he has now cleared about $200,000 
in winnings alone, and he stands to win a lot 
more. The Duke is “a very good young man” 
who has just contracted a marriage engage¬ 
ment with one of England’s most beautiful 
daughters. He is also one of the 
richest men in the country. 
In France the great International Exposition 
still holds the field. All other movements 
are subordinated to its success. Political agi¬ 
tation is temporarily silent and oven Gallic 
vaporings for “ revenge ” are for the moment 
hushed, lest the number of visitors should be 
diminished, for every one of them must leave 
behind a rich profit to French and especially 
Parisian hotel and shopkeepers, etc., etc., 
and no nation on the globe is more covetous 
of the Almighty Dollar than the French. 
Hitherto the show has been a brilliant success. 
The daily visitors have been fully twice as 
many as at any previous exhibition of the 
kind, and the receipts have been correspond¬ 
ingly large. The present session of the 
Chamber of Deputies will end in a few days, 
and the general election will not take place 
until after the close of the show, in October. 
Then Boulangerism will probably once more 
become rampant, and the various other fac¬ 
tions will enter into fierce and vociferous 
conflict. 
Of late years the Argentine Republic, South 
America, has been making great efforts to in¬ 
duce immigration by offeripg free homesteads 
and free or assisted passages to all new-com¬ 
ers. Last year fully 400,000 immigrants re¬ 
sponded to these tempting offers and now the 
Republic is forced to put a check on the in 
rush, as all the eligible public land is being 
rapidly taken up and there is a great amount 
of compulsory idleness in the country. The 
immigrants have been chiefly from Italy, but 
within the last few years Great Britain, 
France and Ireland have contributed liberal¬ 
ly.The Venezuela government, too, of¬ 
fers to pay the expenses of laborers going 
from Italy to that country for the purpose of 
cultivating the ramie plant. For each adult 
laborer it will pay $23.08, and $11.54 for each 
minor laborer. Following the exam¬ 
ple of the anti-dressed beef movement in this 
country, the butchers of Paris are asking the 
French government to stop imports of dressed 
beef and mutton from Germany and Belgium; 
and the French Chamber of Deputies has vot¬ 
ed to legislate on the matter at once. 
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WILLIAMS BROTHERS, 
ITHACA, NEW YORK. 
