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

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356 TflE ST( 1R ! ' OF JOlfXSTO 1 1 W.
of heroism stood side In' side with despicable nets whicli disgraced the race.
Generosity the grandest and most ennobhng found itself confronted b}- selfislmess
tliat mi;4ht sl'.ame the meanest wretch nn God's fodtstool. ^'irtue of
the liigliest excellence had to contend with crime of the lowest t\pc. Yet the
balance is largel_\ on the right side of the aceomit. showing a splendid surplus
in
fa\or of the good, the true and the elevating.
Two weeks after the flood, on a train from Philadelphia to Xew York, a
port)}" man in shabliy attire treated the jia^sengers to a vi\id nairati\e of his
exploits and ad\'entures at Johnstown. i>Ien gathered around him as he told
of people he had rescued at imminent risk'. Sobs choked his utterance when
he described how his wife ami child slipped from his grasj> and ]ierishetl at the
railroatl bridge. The hearers admired his bra\"er\' ami lamentetl his aiilictions.
Like r>esdemona with Othello, the latlies •h.ned him for the dangers he had
passed." He said lie had recei\ed a suit of clothes and a ticket from South
I'ork to Xew York, where a brother lived. Someone projiosed a collection for
tlie sutferer's beiieht. and hands dived into pockets instanth-. It occurred to
nie to test his acquaintance with the locality. The fellow knew not a person
or place in Johnstown, and ^v,ls obliged to confess liimsclf a base pretender.
The haste he exhibited in i;tttiiig out of tla- ear was not ecpialled b\- an\ of the
passengers in their luirned exit from the fatal Da\' Express at East Conemaugh.
The climax spoiled a dramatic tale, but it cominced the amused
spectators that strangers are not alwa\'s angels or— •Johnstown sufferers,"
A sprightl}- \outl! wandi. red to the home of the Misses Kilgore. tliree a-;ed
sisters near (jreensbnri;, and t