European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 26, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Devastated less than 24 hours after the flood of 1889 that claimed under a heavy atone Bridge carrying the Railroad this Bridge was to become the principal Factor in one of the to nose horrible phases of John towns Dost the inhabitants of the 15mile Gap carved out of the mountains by the Little Conemaugh awoke after a rest less night to in hundreds of dial swirling Waters invaded the afre ets and were climbing the Steps to encroach on their first but the skies had lightened to some and the general belief seemed to be that the storm would prove to be no worse than some of the minor downpours that had similarly Riverside by it was agreed that this is worst one and Many families retreated upper taking food and warm clothing with still others took the precaution of climbing into the nearby Hills to View the spreading watchers at the South Creek were be coming More and More the Lake risen steadily and was tapping at the sagging Center of the dam and logs and tree were piling up Al either holding the water Back at the very Points where it should have been released to relieve the pres on the weekend the observers re Telephone lines from the Lake to South Fork were not Yel in there was no Way of warning the people below Al about 3 the whole dam seemed to push out All at said de Schwartz ont Ona of the Tew wit Nesses to the the entire Lake seemed to leap into the Valley like a said Kellas major Domo of the South Fork fishing and limit Mccullough notes Thill studies by civil engineers indicated that the water charged into the Vul Lcy it a velocity and depth comparable to inc Niagara River As it Raches Niagara to put it another he the bursting of the South Fork dam wan about like turning Niagara Falls into inc full by for 38 Emma was suiting in he pen nays Telegraph lower at South talking with the Engineer and conductor of a freight train which had been stalled near the suddenly they looked out the window and saw people then they saw inc looked like a Mountain said Ehrenfeld it looked like a Large rolling Over and said conductor it looked a Hundred feet in a frantic All three made it to higher the Wall of actually about 40 feet moved straight for the Railroad driving ahead of it an immense mass of debris which included two or three Small numerous mangled dead animals and rubbish beyond the flood Tore the Little town to pieces and rushed on its Way toward the 7sfoothlgh viaduct less than a mile contemporary drawing it plots survivors of 1689 flood searching among the dead for dropping some co eel it this and pressed Between narrowing Mountain usury and height increased until it struck the great the Bridge held momentarily and the like a frustrated pushed Back up the forming a hike altruist an lame is what Hud been Lake held Back Tempo run by by the pileup at the redoubling us inc flood lunged again Al the smashed lit heavy and drove us unobstructed course Johnstown in i wave estimated to be 78 feel the Walers engulfed the tiny Village of Mineral a mile below the demolished and swept an tit overwhelm the suburban towns of East canc Maugh ail the big wave hit Johnstown at less than an hour after breaking through the South Fork dam is Miles tulling Over and Over like Gigantic and driving n Black mass of debris before the Wall of now m Foci hit us City at the height of us terrible Power hundreds of believing themselves Safe in the upper floors and attics of their watched the approaching killer As it ripped through Brick los cd wooden houses High in the ground in his into and bore away the entire conglomerate mass on us bailing within a they Loo the fortunate ones were water Riding the perilous Stream on mattresses and the flood broke into three Back lashed into Stony Creek and with its Burden of humans and for the massive stunt Bridge which carried the Pennsylvania tracks through the next Cambria at this Point came the supreme debris piled up against Stone factory masses of barbed dead horses and humans some dead and same miraculously alive formed a mountainous higher than the Bridge the baffled hurled Lutolf Back on the nut toiled completing ill the engulfing of Johnstown had taken 10 and then the rubble at the Stone Bridge caught trapping Al least 500 records snowed that perhaps 80 per sons died in the and it was another of John towns miracles that All the battered and half drowned but still As word of the catastrophe seeped out of the Valley through the meager Telegraph the entire nation was scores of reporters from metropolitan Dai lies fought their Way into Johnstown among them a Young Man named Richard Harding who was to become known As the greatest War correspondent of the it also brought to the flattened City a woman named Clara Barton and a team of fled Cross on the first Mission of mercy  the contributions for the sufferers began pouring before the excitement died had been contributed to the and had come from for eign a generous slice of the Money from sympathetic the death loll was officially Sel at or about one tenth of John towns population Sis the stars and stripes Page 15