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

362 THE STORY or JOUXSTOU'X.
of tlie corrcspondcnco. The funniest part of the transaction was a postcript
to tlie letter in these \\'or(fs :
Since printing the jmeni 1 liave been tolil thnt the incident on whicli it is founded did not
occur at all !"
The teii Iclti-r-Carrier-i on July luth re-ceived the first contribution of
money sent them b}' their fellow carrit'is. It was from the carriurs in ( )maha,
Nebraska, in the shape of a letter with S30 enclosed. The carriers lost their
uniforms and personal jnMpcrtN and some of them theii families. l*"ach man
wrote a sketch of his personal experience in the flood while deli\ iring mail
matter, and sent it to the Omaha brethren ,is a memento.
On Market street, south of Lincoln, the tank" of l\nns\-h-ania Railroad
engine \o. in) was dumped. It was one ot the destructi\(; forces of the ilooi.l.
having been seen demolishing the frame house of Henr\' Pritchard and the
brick resilience of Hben |ames. ^vhile it also wrecked the house o\ Mr. Keese.
beside which it stranded. Sfi close to it that they at first sight appeared to be
coupled ^\as a freight car. and a little farthcT another. The contractor -who
cleared up Market street biirnet! tn\e cars. This lead to the conclusion that
all these crmstitutetl part of a freight train that was washed aw a\- frtnn East
Conemaui;h. the parts of ^vhich detached by coming in contact with buddings
on the street.
The flood carried a cow down from some point abo\'e Moxham and she
struck against a pier of the dislodged Pojilar street bridge. . Securing a foothold
on the pier, she stood there a while, but hnalK' nunle a mis-step, fell into
the current and was drowned.
The ligiits were well-ni''h. lost in the dense cloud of shadows I