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

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THE STORY OF Ji'>/fXSrOU:\'.
maugh made its way. \vrinL;in^' his hands and nioanini;. Mc was W. J.
Gilmore,
who liad H\ed at llie cuiiur of CoiiemaiiL;h and Main >tri.L-ts. The liouse
was flooded liy the fust ru--ii of water, and the family, consisting; of Mr. Gilmore,
his biuther .\lirahain. liis wife, four children and motlierMnda\s', r;in to
the second story. Tluy wire joined by Frances, the little daughter of Samuel
Fields, and Grandniotlier Maria Prosser. The side of the house ^\as torn out
and the water pourtd into the second floor. Mr. Gilmore scrambled upon some
floating debris, and his brother attemjited to pass the women antl children out
to him. Before he could do so. the buildiuL,' sank, and Mr. Gilmore's wife -and
family were swept from his side. His brother tlisappeared for a moment under
the water, but came to the surface and was hauled upon the roof. Both brothers
reached the shore. Mrs. Ciilmore's bod\ was found, bloated by the water.
Two of the children were liurne(.i to cinders, their trunks alone retaining
something of their original shape. It w as recognizing one of them that caused
the father's outburst of grief.
Writing ixoni Ne^s Floreiice on Saturda\' morning, a young bride narratetl
some interesting circumstances. One paragraph of her letter said:
'
"Oh, the horrors of io-da\ I have had only one pleasant Sunday here, and that was the
one after we were married I have had a very busy day, as I have been through our clothes,
and rnutint' out everything possible for the sufferers and the dead. The cry to-day for linen
was something awful I have siven away all my underclothes, exceptinsj my very best
things— and all nn old-ones I m.ade into face-cloths for the dead. To-day thev took five little
children out of the water, who had been playini; 'Ring around a rosy T-lieir hands were
clasped in a clasp which e\en death did not loosen, and their faces were still smiling
'
A girl of eight stimmers. whose life was sa\'eu bv a neighbor who took her
from the roof of her father's house, wrote about the flood to a _\oting acquaintance
in Harrisliurg. The words were "printed," the child not h.iving yet
mastered the intricacies of chiro£;raphy. There could not be an\thing more
artless and touching tlian this passage from the tear-stained epistle :
"We haven t no home, no ba:>y. no 'orother any more Mv papa tried to save the baby,
but he had to let go. Mamm.i has no shoes, and I was so hungry the day after the flood. I
can't tell you how much we all cried when we found baby was lost He was the sweetest, cunningest
little thing house is all gone, and we don't have no clothes to change with
'
on
Sunday
"
A disconsolate father on .\dams street, -whose \oungest child was not in
the house when the water rose si.\ feet abo\"e the floor, started out on Saturday
morning to seek the body of his bo_\". The rest of the family had run upstairs
and escaped. Where to look first he knew not. On Jackson street a
voice saluted him :
" Hello !
'
a. are you alive ' I was scared most to death, thinkin' you was dead '"
It was his six-year-old son who spoke from an upper window. The house
was surrounded l.iy water and tlie urchin could not get home. The delighted
parent did not let the grass 'gro\^- under his feet in getting to the child and