The story of Johnstown : its early settlement, rise ... - JohnstownCafe

'
St.
FATE or PASTORS A.\D ClIURCHES. 141
massive size and strength that we owe the prescr\ation of t!ic parsonage and probably our li\ es.
It stood directly in the path u£ the flood, which struck it principally in the rtar. But inside it
is very seriously damaged. The tloor has been broken up and the center fallen into the cellar.
The pulpit platform stands on end against the wall, the choir gallery is completely wrecked.
The pews, tossed in every direction, are many of them broken, the cushions water-soaked and
covned with mud, the windows so badly broken that new ones will be necessary, and the plastering
ruined as high as the water reached, which is about eighteen feet. Some of tlie buttresses
have been broken oil, but can be rebuilt. The lo\\er stf)r\- ^f the chapel is in a \er\- dilapidated
state, and the large Sunday-school room above much injured. It is estimated that
from S-'i.ooo to Sio.ooo w ill be required to restore the church to the state in which it was before
the flood."
This f^raml churcli. which was the cause of spHtting tlic preat both' of
water that mshed down the ConemauLjh. was doomed to destruction b\ d\naniil'-'.
Such was tire order issued b\' tire Citizens' Committee. The news
reached General HastinL;s. whoplacetl a L;uard around the building and warned
olf the vandals. The damage was repaired durini; the summer. Metliodists
in the Pittsburc^h conference coniributing the bulk of the funds for this laudable
purpose.
*
Cambria's turn no^^' !
Columba's church, built h\' dint of unflagging
perseverance and consecrated last vear. is invaded. Altar, jiictures. figures,
holy emblems, seats and walls are firoken and defiled.
Father Daxin. his heart
lacerated by tlie miser\' and ruin he canncu a\"ert. is at tlie pasioral residence,
to \\luch the Sisters in charge cf the parish achoi.ils had been ci.>nve\'ed. lest
their frame house prove insecure. The outpouring of the dam was not e.\-
p'-Cted tlien. but the rains had made the ConemauL;li uncomfortably neiehborb.'.
So Sister Raphael. Sister Fla\ia, Sister Rose Aloysia and Sister Rita were
sa\-ed for farther usefulness.
How the pastor labored with apostolic zeal these trving da\s ! His constitution
was undermined and lie reluctantlv consented to \isit Colorado. It was
a sore trial for Father r)a\in to leave his aftlicted people, but disease had
seized him and he mu^t seek a ditterent climate. He died at Denver in
September and his remains were brcuight to Johnsto\\n. The funeral was the
largest and saddest in the history of the ciimmunity. "Mankind had lost a
friend." One who knew the honored dead paid him this tributi.-
' On the 31st of May. that e\er-memorable day on which so many people were hurled into
eternity by the bursting of the Sout'n Fork dam, Father Davin sat in his office and watched the
waters rising. He said that he had been told that the dam was giving away, but the rumor was
circulated so often before that he paid no attention to it. He saw the Conernaugh swell and
overflow its banks, but this did not cause him to leave his post
" Finally the water rose to the parlor tloor and he began to think something unusual had happened.
Taking a man with him, he went to the Sisters' school in water up to his waist, and carried
the Sisters one after another to his own house. By the time this t.ask w.is d me the great
volume of water had reached Johnstov.n and Cambria City. The rumbling and crushing of
hcaiscs and trees v.arned the inmates of Father Davin's house to seek a place more secure, as
the water was ne.irint; the second storv of his handsome house.