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

366 THE STi^RY OF jn/fXSTOirX.
periences tliat will hi- of iiiiinite \ alue as a j^uide hertjafter. the survivnrs rose
to deal with the liviiiL; present and face inanfull}- a future which their own e\-
-crtions woidd crown with proniisc and beaut\".
The assurance of a new era of prosperity \vas to be found inost of all in
the contiiniati'jn of the ;;reat industries tliat had been the niain-sprlni;s of
growth and success in the jia'-t. The Cambria Iron Company bent its energies
to get the works in condition to resume operations at the earliest moment.
The ser\ices of every man remaining' who liad been in its empio\- were dienianded.
It announced its intention to replace the Gautier mill and put up
new houses for the emploNes who had lost theirs. Progressivi; residents proposed
to incorporate a niimljer of the boroughs into one cit\'. tlius doing awav
with a half-dozen ditlerent municipal organizations, manaijed by councils
which often coutlictei.1 with each other. This decided imi>ro\ enient has been
carried out and a charter granted for a citv of si.xteen wards. li.xcejttini,' a ver\'
small number of droiu s, w ho wanted the outside worUl to do ever\ thing for
them, the periple showeil an admirable spirit of determination and self-reliance.
They felt keenly their terrible mi-^fortune. yet did not propose to sit iiih b\-
and subsist on the cliarif, that poured in so lavishh' from ever\' quarter. The
true • get-up-and-get "' (ptaht\' was manifested almost uni\ersall\ , than which
no surer indication could be dt sired of the successful re\ i\'al of Inisiness and
complete rebuilding of the wasted boroUL^hs. E)r. .\ndrew Yeaiile\ . whose
house was taken awav. standing on its ruins, voiced the general sentiment m
saying :
"I lived here happily for tuentv-tive \ears God willing, I II live here tuenty-five years
more, or till I die '"
The first building—if such it may be termed— put up after the deluge was
a cigar-stand on the corner of Mam and Jackson streets. The proprietor
skirmished among the debris for pieces of boards, out of which he constructed
ashed the dimensions of a hen-coop. This was on Monda\-. June 3rd. Standing
on a barrel in the ruins 01 ids old store, another dealer had a brand-new nickelplated
show-case full of the teii-ccnts-a-half-dozen ••stogies." It was funny,
right in the wreckaiie. without any front to his building and the building itself
on one side, to see one of the barbers, who had fished out and put together
one of his chairs and briulitened a razor and pair of shears found in the wreck,
lie was hard at work on MontIa\' cutting the hair and sha\iiig some of the inconsolable
widowers of the place. Hardly was he out of the water himself
before lie was at the mor'_;ue slia\'inL; the male corpses as thev arri\'ed. \\ork
in shaving the dead becoming; a trifle dull, he started to tr_\- his hand again
on the living. Close at hand the Frcii Press;: people were tr\ing to get their
t_\pe out of ••pi." \^'illianl^ lV Specht and in e or si.\ other tirms in the same
square were propping tilings up and making repairs. Almost every man who
had not deserte^l the place, and wiio had the heart to do it. j,ot hold ot a