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

DJSP(1S.!I. OF TflK PK.in. 205
'I'hu coffin-^ ortlertci wero mn cheap affairs. ICcoiuunical citizens acU isinl that
the CDininissioiuTs buy an acri; ol marsh hind liy the ii\ci. which cnulii he hail
for a few doHars. hul these irenth'nien ^lech'ned the niiserl\- prnixisition and
secnritl a desirable plot. Three trenches were du;.,' two hundrid feet Ioiil;,
se\en feel wide and fiiur teet deep. The Cothns were packed in \er\ much
as grocers' boxes are stored in a warehouse. Of tlie hndies i 1
7 w ere unidentihui.
Twenty-tive were shipped U' relativts at outsuli' jxjints. In several
instanc-s friends of those recoi^'ni/.ed were too poor to do ^.nxthiuL; to pre\ent
their con'-iL;nnient to tile trenches.
The scheme to aboli--h all the niorijues. e.\cept the one at the Millvdle
school house, was accomplishei.l liy June Joth. Tin- l\iurth-\\ ard. the l'resb\-
terian -church, the Miners\ die and the Peelorx-ille nicir;^ties w ere Llnsed earlier and
tliose in Cambria and ^blrrellvilie virtually so. leas Iul; one in .MilUiUc' and one
on the South Side the only ones reall}' open. John Henderson, the imdertaker,
was placed in char:j;e of the morL;nes. Ili-^ place of business hail been
destroxed and his jiartner drowned. Uy the end of June he had crc-cled a
new buildin;,;', on the east side of which he placed a portable frame structure of
one stor\' and one room, known as an •Oklahoma." This constituted tlie last
niorijue. and the directors jin.iceeded to prepare the schoobhouses for the fal'
term. The (.irticial report shows the follc)wing bodies handled at each of the
regular morgues and at one place used leinporarih :
. ..301
Morgue .\. Fourth ward ',
Morgue B. I'resl)\ terian church 02
Morgue C, MilKille and I'tniis) liania railroad station 344
Morgue D, South Side •
'43
Morgue E, Carahria City
S75
Morgue F, Morrellville 23S
Morgue G, Xineveh (both sides\
z^^
Morgue H, Dibert's oap {.nctory 12
Total
^.-iSj
This is probably as nearly correct as is possilile umler the circumstances
in every district e.xcept Cambria. Though this was closed the middle i>f June
S75 are said to ha\e bt en recened there, wdiile the .MilKille ^bir'_;ue, which
was in continuous operation, has a record of onh 344. The error, if there be
one. was made b_\- those havini; charge of the Cambria MorL;ue, who ga\e no
descriptions or names ol fully one-third the entire number. When bodies were
first reco\ered the descriptions were necessarii\- recorst and 111 others
possibly repeated, and thus it is ne.xt to impossible to obtain an accurate
list
of the dead.
The l)odies recovered below Xew I'lorence. those never found, the number
tlestroM-d at the liridge and the dead not taken ti3 an_\- of the morgues, will