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

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HELP FOR T/n-: IJ\-1\C,. 253
lu-f had come at last The anxious people crowded around the cars lie.t;t;inf; for something to
carrv to their homeless families It was only after forniiii!; a line from the train to the temporary
storehouses that the supplies could he unloaded and taken to a place where a proper distribution
could be made,
When the train had been relieved of its load every man who accompanied it was assigned
to dnt\- Some acted in connection with local committees in distributins; food and clothing to
tlie tieed\ .
worked in the debris and mud in Jtihnstown, Kern\dle. and Cambria City,
helping the sorrow-stricken sufierers to find tlieir dead- Witliin a few hours after the arrival
of the train the vellow ribbon 1 which was the badge adopted by the r dief corps i was seen in
all parts of the devastated valle\. Every man had come to work and help the afllicted. and
some of the bovs did not. during their stay at Johnstown, return to the train that brought them
This was no place or time for rest or comfort, and it may truthfully be said that for forty-eight
hours after arrival many of the relief corps suffered as much from hunger and loss of sleep as
any of the residents of the \ alley.
' The men engaged in passing supplies over the Conemaugh by means of ropes soon found
this tedious method unsatisfactory and inadequate to the demand. To remedy this the ingenuity
of Alex M. Gow. one of the relief corps, was called into action. With the assistance of J
A
Reed and W. V Bennett, in a few hours he had made a bridge of short boards held together by
knotted ropes, and swung i; across the chasm This made communication and the furnishing
of relief more easy. The bridge was kept in constant use until the railroad bridge was repaired
•While the train was King at Sang Jlollow a member of the advance guards of the .\mericus
Club brought the infi^rmaiiL^n that b..ats were necessary to do eflecti\ e and immediate work
Word was immediatelv wired to members at home, and the boys were enabled to ha\e seven
yawls on the Conemaugh river and Stony Creek by Sunday morning These boats were used
in carrying passengers over the two streams when a pass was presented from the proper authorities.
The great work accomplished by the boats of the Americus Club, under command
of Captain Clark, may be partiallv estimated from what was done on Snnda\- and Monday
The first dav thev carried three thousand passengers and the second seven thousand, besides
transporting provisions and dead bodies
All hcjiKir to the citizens ol I'lttshnrg'h ft_ir tlie splendid scr\ ice they rendered
at the ver\- outset, not waitin'g for an example to te.ich them how to
raise the fallen and ass-.st the helpless. Their good oflices ilid not wear out
with the first manifestation, but continued to the end cheerful, strong, willing
and Lienehcent.
Altoona was up to the mark with the practical sympath\- which does not
waste itself in tine talk. The reports on Saturday morning, through a mistake of
the telegraph operator at Ebeusburg, made the cat.istrophe so small that little
heed was given it. IJ\- iioem correct statements began to circulate and the
people of the Mountain City bestirred thenisehes. The railroad ^vas destroyed
from South Fork, but cars could be sent to Ebeusburg'. by way of
Cresson. Di.mations of food and clothing poured in and were shipped in the
evening. At Ebensburg teams were hired, and the greater part ot the iiight
v.-as spent in the unpleasant ionrne\-. d'he road was exeeraole aiul rain fc 11 steadily.',
but nothing could daunt the bra\ e-hearted .Mtoon.uis. On Sunday miirning
their Iciads drew up at the ]\nns\ h ani.t Railroad station, across Conemaugh
creek frnm J<
ihnstown.. A rope brid-e h.td been erected, allordiug communi-