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

'
Here's an order tor fifty tiarrels of fiour
'
"
23:; TlfE STORY OF JOHXSTOWX.
their heads, collars wilUil and faces thi-lu-d. Xow they st(X)d for a second in
frcr:of a newspaper oUice, '^UuicinL; hurriedly o\er the bulletins; the next
niir ;:e thevwere boundin'^ i:p tlu'siairs leadin^: to tin- Ch.iniber nl Coniineree,
tliree steps at a time. lireathlessh" they would rush up to Chairman Mc-
Crcrr\' and exclaim :
i'u'l nie down for tvo car-loads of provisions and clothing !"
Here is my check for a thousand dollars !"
[ will send twenty cases of boots and shoes '"
I want to contribute live hundred dollars' worth of groceries !"
The Kehef Committee selected a sub-committee to l;o to Johnstown with
siipr^iies and funds and attend to their tHstril)ution. The }\nusylvania Kailroad
Companw with the reatly yenerosuy which invariably distinLjiiishes its
management in times of extreme urL;ency. placed trains at tlie disposal of the
coni-i-.ittee for the free transportation of men and provisions. The rehef
corps lett PittsbnrL;h at four o'clock on Saturchiy aftern(.ion in coaches attached
to the frei'giit cars loaded with supplies. Eii,dity-two memi)ers of t!ie Relief
Conmiittee, two companies of State troops, twebe newspaper reporters and
thirtv police (jfficers were on bo.ud. At .S:3o the train reached San£j bbiUow,
four miles below its destination. There the unwelcome news was learned that
funh.er progress was impossible tmtil Sunday, owins^ to washouts and lantislides.
James B. Scott, who had lieen elected commander, immediately
ordered out Company B to guard the train and unload supplies, and Company
A to carry the supplies to Johnst(jwu. One of the participants depicted the
ensiling scene in lively colors :
• The lonely station of Sang Hollow was soon the scene of activity
provisions on tlieir
The men carried the
backs over landslides and the trackless road-beds to points where h.ind-c.irs
could be found and put into service In many places a temporar) track was laid, over w hich the
hand-cars passed. .-\11 nisht long a procassion of lights was moving to and fro from Sang Hollow
to the stone bridge. The commissary department was kept running all night under rather
difficult circumstances While caring for the wants of the suflerers the men had failed to look
out fjr their own needs .\ few kniies an 1 forks had been purchased on the way, ,ifter oriianizalion,
but only enoUi;h to prepare sandwiches. Necessity being the mother of invention,
several pairs of new half-hose and a hatchet were utilized to pulverize the unsround coffee.
"The hard-working 'oody of men soon acquired the ravenous appetites of luenas. and
enjoved the rude repast of crackers, cheese, dry bread and black coffee with a relish unknown
in Dehnonico's. Thus, by hard, unremitting work, two car-loads of provisions were landed at
the stone bridge before dayliiiht. and part of them passed over the raging Conemaugh by the
use of ropes Through the ettorts of competent railroad officials, the track was l.iid and the
first tr.iin enaliled to reach tile brid:.;e on bir.iday morning at eii;ht o'clock. .\s the train mi5\ ed
slowlv and cautiously along the new-made track, the boys gave bread, cheese, crackers, etc.. to
the famished, poorl_\-clad crowds that lined the tracks at Sheridan. Morrellville. and Cambria
Citv. and received the benedictions of Man'.* sufferers whom tlie\ sa\ed from longer enduring
the pangs oi hunger
" Imirediatel) after arrival part of the train was unloaded at the stone liridice for Johnstown,
and the rt-.,t >>i it in the uppt-r and io,'.er p.irts of Cambria City 1 he long-looked-tor re-