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

MARC}! OF rni: IM'.srROVER. 67
been an inviting spot. Dismal was the spectacle to those who knew Mineral
Po'nt in its tranquil repose. Sixteen persons perished :
Mrs. Catharine J. Byers, at;ed 46
Mrs, Catharine Burkhart, aged 85. mother of Mrs. Byers.
Mrs Phoebe Finlay, aged 5S
Mrs. Magdalen Gromley, aged 45.
Lily Gromley. aged 19.
Mary Gromley, aged 16.
J.
A. Gromley, aged 14.
David Gromley, aged 12.
Edward E. Gromley, aged g.
Emma B. Gromley, aged 5.
Samuel Page, aged 40
Mrs. Mary E. Page, aged 30.
Harriet Page, aged 11
Herman B. Page, aged 6,
James Wilson, aged 33.
S- S Kohler, night watchman at planing-mill.
The bodies of Pai;e and Kohler were ruco\ered on Sunday and some of the
others during the week. Wilson stayed to loosen his horses, which went
down with him and the stable. Mrs. Burkhart lived with her daughter, the
pair d\ing together. Christopher Gromle}' and one son contrived to junip
from the roof as their house careened by the liank four miles below Mineral
Point. The^- returned in three hours to rind the rest of the family dead. A
flock of geese wandered in the rear of the Page lot as the writer viewed
the scene. Two dogs howled disconsolately for the masters who should come
no more, and a drenching rain added to the doleful forlornness. The clock in
the railroad tower stopped at 3:41, fi.\ing the precise moment of the disaster.
Mineral Point had felt in full measure the wrath of the destroyer.
Enclosed b)" loft\' hills and rocky bluffs, the creek pursues its winding
course four miles to East Conemaugh. Perpetual breaks interrupted m\' trip.
For a mile the three tracks were piled on each other, a piece frequenth' lacking.
A short distance east of the tunnel— a reminder of the Portage— the
road-bed was annihilated, compelling an ascent by a rough patii to the deserted
line on the wooded hillside. Walking through the tlripping tunnel,
which rarel_\' echoes the tread of human feet, and down the slope that once
served as an incline up ^\hich cars were drawn by a stationar\' engine, Pennsylvania
railroad bridge No. 6 was missing. This splendid structure, known
as the •High Bridge," appeared solid enough to endure the severest test.
But man's work is pun_\' in competition with the elements and the bridge yielded.
The cijinfiany erected a gigantic trestle in five days, requiring si.\ hundred
thousand feet of timber, and began pushing forward a stone arched bridge \\ ith
characteristic expedition.
The waters stripped the soil and trees from the banks, annexing them to