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

360 THE STORY OF JOHXSTOWX.
out an}' material injur\-, onK to In- dfstio_\ t-tl In fire the next Tuesda}'.
Sparks from a nei;;lihoriiiL; lionfire i^niteil ^ouie inrtannnaMe material on the
upper floor, which kindled a blaze that was not subtliied until the interior of
the factory was cumpleten' luirned out.
The IJaitimore \ Oh;o Kailroad Ciaiipany was eauL;ht severely. Its cars
cropped out from beneath nian\' piles of wreckage in the streets, and others
dotted the bed of Ston_\' Creek from the Sandyvale Cemetery to the Point.
Some of th(,-m were recovered in a demoralized coiulitien, but the rnajorit\'
were tit onl\- for the bontire. A loaded box-car was deposited on the sidewalk
in front of the Parke Ojiera House, Main street. This bnildim; was the scene
of a terril)le traL;td\' on the eSLning of December gth. While ••Uncle Tom's
Cabin " was in progress an alarm of fire \\as shouted. The audience struggled
to the narrow stairwa\' which aiforded the sole means of egress, and ten persons
were killed in the mad cru^h.
The railroad bridge, which held back the flood, is a massive jiiece of
masonr\". In a general wa\' it is built of cut s..ndstone blocks of unusual size,
the whole nearly four hundred, feet long, forty feet wide, and a\eraging about
forty feet deep. Seven arches of about fifty feet span are pierced through it,
rising within a few feet of the top from solid piers down to the rock beneath.
As the Liridge crosses tlie stn-am diai;onalh'. the arches pierce the mass in a
slanting direction, which adds to the lieavy appe.irance "f the structure.
There has been some disposition to find fault with the Inidge for being so
strong, the idea being tb.at if it hat! gone out there would ha\e been no heaping
up of buildings behind it. no fire and fewer di-aths. There' were hundreds
of persons saved when their houses were stojiped against the bridge h\ climbing
out or being helped out. If the bridge had gone the flood would ha\e taken
the whole instead of on!v one-third of Cambria Cit}'.
John F. Griffith, one of the trustees of the Welsh Baptist Church, and T.
I'L. Morgan searched among the ruins of the edifice, which had been carried
from its site on Main street to the rear of Colonel Linton's residence. They
found the communion set wiiole and uninjured together with two bottles of
comnuinion wine : also the Sundav-school contribution -box with the monc\' in
it. and a laruie \\'elsh Bible in good order. The Sunday-school books were
wet but clean, and in a state so that the\- could be preserved.
In the rubbish near the stcjne bridge was a freight car. banL;ed and shattereil,
v.ith a hole stove in its siiie. One of the workmen got into the car and
found a framed and .dazed picture of the Sa\iour. It was resting against the
side of the car. right side up. and neither frame nor L;lass injured. When the
incident was noised about the workmen dropped their pickaxes and ran to
look at the picture. re\erentl\ taking oti their hats.
William Poulson. a mi'mber of the opera house orchestra, lost his slide
trombone when his hou->e on '^X'ater street W'.nt with tile flood. The limi .•_