FLOODS IN AMERCIA.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 272, 7 June 1889, Page 2

FLOODS IN AMERCIA.

' . rr — ♦ — " " '■ : . : . Terrible flood*, attended with gnat lam*"' of life, are reported from PenMtfvajila. A terriflo freshet in theCivenai^aghßjver 'i bant a reeervoir at Johmtowih near Pitta. ' burg. Tbit reeervotr it, tbrjfl |^| V Uogtb and ene mile *nd • Usffwidc Tha wa^er n»h«d into the toVo « ; Jon«k|W% whioh vu completely wiped oue; s «wf it {• ettimAied th^t fifteen penoot have been £r»wiMd Two thQauodT^ iba "T tridents were rwoaed frbm Wii^dS The bodies of to iMtMs i 1 Large namltien of the imforivn«£^akkbi* ' UnU, whenwaibedfrfiVliei^wiffln^ / were seen floatug about clinging ta- driffc* ' wood and tret a, and imploring halp, b«t < there wore no means ac h»nd. All Saa.. i Ploreaoe alone 80 pertou wets npnulit : i fii««iog ia an almwt taJHOwd ■(«<% ««4 <

feared that the villages tit Southpor*> Mineral Point, Govewttafcfth, and Wdodville hare suffer*^ a«d tnat 8000 peradna liave been drowned. Many wealthy families of Pittaburg reside in tire locality, I and there is intense exoitettent aa to their fate* The railway line from Baltimore to Ohio has been damaged by the rush of water, and sewn mileß are completely washed away. At Johnstown there ia a a pile of debris 40ft. higb which is emibankina; the floods. A. tremendous raiu Storm has deluged Pennsylvania. Maryland* and Virginia submerging many of the towns. 6. eat anxiety is felt for the safety of the residents, and this is intensified nwin* •to ■ the suspension of oummnnioatico. -by telegraph and railway. Communisatiou with, Jolmstowa has been resir.oretl. The distress from the flood is appalling iv the Connemaugh Valley, the farms, mills, hamlets and towns are a vast scene of desolaticn. y Thousands of people have been swept *w*y. The Cambrian ironworks, at Johnston, at which .7ooo men were cm- j ployed, bare been completely destroyed • The Baddenneas with which the disaster orertook tbe residents was something terrible. A waterspout broke the dam of tbe reterroir on Friday afternoon, and & torreut of water, forty feet deep, dtruck John;Bto"wn within half an hour, aabmergfag the tbwo. Only two roofs remained above water. The debris from the wooden hoaxes j at Johnstown, which bad been washed up by the flood iito an embsnktusnt three-4\|arterß of a mile long and 40ft Sligh, oatfgbt fi re and hundreds of tbe unfortunate people who had taken jefuge on ifwe'fe barnt to death. So far 1100 bodies have been recovered. Twenty foreigners who were detceted vobbidg the dead at Johnstown were ljnohea by, the mop. Seven others under 4r,e of revolvers were driven back into the flood until drowned. Two thousand bodies are being slowly cremated on the railway bridge at John. *town, which caught fire from the burning debris piled against it It is now •estimated that from 10,000 to 15,000 lives wete lost in Johnstown alone* In many instances the people committed suicide. The loss is estimated at 40, « 000,000 dollars; The »ite at which tbe town of John* fltown stood has at present tbe appear, anoe of a luke, with water 40ft deep. A large body of . military have been despatched to the, scene of the disaster to protect the wounded. A fond in aid of the sufferers has been opened. The iood is subsiding- The Pennsylvania Bail way Company estimate their loss at fifteen million dollars. Several thousand people have been rendered borne less, and it is ? ared tbat a pestilence flnay break out.