An interesting story of endeavor was related on Monday by a
correspondent of the New York _Sun_, who made his way to the scene of
disaster. This is what he wrote:--
Although three days have passed since the disaster, the difficulty of
reaching the desolated region is still so great that, under ordinary
circumstances, no one would dream of attempting the trip. The
Pennsylvania Railroad cannot get within several miles of Johnstown, and
it is almost impossible to get on their trains even at that. They run
one, two, or three trains a day on the time of the old through trains,
and the few cars on each train are crowded with passengers in a few
minutes after the gates open. Then the sale of tickets is stopped, the
gates are closed, and all admission to the train denied. No extra cars
will be put on, no second section sent out, and no special train run on
any account, for love or money. The scenes at the station when the
gates are shut are sorrowful. Men who have come hundreds of miles to
search for friends or relatives among the dead stand hopelessly before
the edict of the blue-coated officials from eight in the morning until
one in the afternoon. There is no later train on the Pennsylvania road
out of Pittsburgh, and the agony of suspense is thus prolonged. Besides
that, the one o'clock train is so late in getting to Sang Hollow that
the work of beginning a search is practically delayed until the next
morning.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE CAMBRIA IRON WORKS.]
The _Sun's_ special correspondents were of a party of fifteen or twenty
business men and others who had come from the East by way of Buffalo,
and who reached Pittsburgh in abundant time to have taken the
Pennsylvania Railroad train at eight o'clock, had the company wished to
carry them. With hundreds of others they were turned away, and appeals
even to the highest official of the road were useless, whether in the
interest of newspaper enterprise or private business, or in the sadder
but most frequent case where men prayed like beggars for an opportunity
to measure the extent of their bereavement, or find if, by some happy
chance, one might not be alive out of a family. The sight-seeing and
curious crowd was on hand early, and had no trouble in getting on the
train. Those who had come from distant cities, and whose mission was of
business or sorrow, were generally later, and were left. No effort was
made to increase the accommodations of the train for those who most
needed them. The _Sun's_ men had traveled a thousand miles around to
reach Pittsburgh. Their journey had covered three sides of the State of
Pennsylvania, from Philadelphia at the extreme southeast, through New
Jersey and New York to Buffalo by way of Albany and the New York
Central, and thence by the Lake Shore to Ashtabula, O., passing through
Erie at the extreme northwest corner of the State; thence down by the
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie road to Youngstown, O., and so into Pittsburgh
by the back door, as it were. Circumstances and the edict of the
Pennsylvania Railroad were destined to carry them still further around,
more than a hundred miles, nearly south of Pittsburgh, almost across the
line into Maryland, and thence fifty miles up before they reached their
destination.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ordinarily does not attempt to compete
for business from Pittsburgh into Johnstown. Its only route between
those two cities leads over small branch lines among the mountains south
of Johnstown, and is over double the length of the Pennsylvania main
line route. The first train to reach Johnstown, however, was one over
the Baltimore and Ohio lines, and, although they made no attempt to
establish a regular line, they did on Sunday get two relief trains out
of Pittsburgh and into Johnstown. Superintendent Patten, of the
Baltimore and Ohio, established headquarters in a box car two miles
south of Johnstown, and telegraphed to Acting Superintendent McIlvaine,
at Pittsburgh, to take for free transportation all goods offered for the
relief of the sufferers. No passenger trains were run, however, except
the regular trains on the main line for Cumberland, Md., and the
branches from the main line to Johnstown were used entirely by wildcat
trains running on special orders, with no object but to get relief up as
quickly as possible. Nothing had left Pittsburgh for Johnstown, however,
to-day up to nine o'clock. Arrangements were made for a relief train to
go out early in the afternoon, to pick up cars of contributed goods at
the stations along the line and get them into Johnstown some time during
the night. "No specials" was also the rule on the Baltimore and Ohio,
but Acting Superintendent McIlvaine recognized in the _Sun_, with its
enormous possibilities in the way of spreading throughout the country
the actual situation of affairs in the devastated district, a means of
awaking the public to the extent of the disaster that would be of more
efficient relief to the suffering people than even train-loads of food
and clothing. The _Sun's_ case was therefore made exceptional, and when
the situation was explained to him he consented, for a sum that appalled
the representatives of some other papers who heard it, but which was,
for the distance to be covered, very fair, to set the _Sun's_ men down
in Johnstown at the earliest moment that steam and steel and iron could
do it.
In fifteen minutes one of the Baltimore and Ohio light passenger
engines, with Engineer W. E. Scott in charge and Fireman Charles Hood
for assistant, was hitched to a single coach out in the yard. Conductor
W. B. Clancy was found somewhere about and put in command of the
expedition. Brakeman Dan Lynn was captured just as he was leaving an
incoming train, and although he had been without sleep for a day, he
readily consented to complete the crew of the _Sun's_ train. There was
no disposition to be hoggish in the matter, and at a time like this the
great thing was to get the best possible information as to affairs at
Johnstown spread over the country in the least possible time. The
facilities of the train were therefore placed at the disposal of other
newspaper men who were willing to share in the expense. None of them,
however, availed themselves of this chance to save practically a whole
day in reaching the scene, except the artist representing _Harper's
Weekly_, who had accompanied the _Sun_ men this far in their race
against time from the East. As far as the New York papers were
concerned, there were no men except those from the _Sun_ to take the
train. If any other New York newspaper men had yet reached Pittsburgh at
all, they were not to be found around the Baltimore and Ohio station,
where the _Sun_ extended its invitation to the other representatives of
the press. There were a number of Western newspaper men on hand, but
journalism in that section is not accustomed to big figures except in
circulation affidavits, and they were staggered at the idea of paying
even a share of the expense that the _Sun_ was bearing practically
alone.
At 9.15 A. M., therefore, when the special train pulled out of the
Baltimore and Ohio station, it had for passengers only the _Sun_ men and
_Harper's_ artist. As it started Acting Superintendent McIlvaine was
asked:--
"How quickly can we make it?"
"Well, it's one hundred and forty-six miles," he replied, "and it's all
kinds of road. There's an accommodation train that you will have to look
out for until you pass it, and that will delay you. It's hard to make
any promise about time."
"Can we make it in five hours?" he was asked.
"I think you can surely do that," he replied.
How much better than the acting superintendent's word was the
performance of Engineer Scott and his crew this story shows. The
special, after leaving Pittsburgh, ran wild until it got to McKeesport,
sixteen miles distant. At this point the regular train, which left
Pittsburgh at 8.40, was overtaken. The regular train was on a siding,
and the special passed through the city with but a minute's stop. Then
the special had a clear track before it, and the engineer drove his
machine to the utmost limit of speed consistent with safety. It is
nineteen miles from McKeesport to West Newton, and the special made this
distance in twenty minutes, the average time of over a mile a minute
being much exceeded for certain periods. The curves of the road are
frightful, and at times the single car which composed the train was
almost swung clear off the track. The _Sun_ men recalled vividly the
ride of Horace Greeley with Hank Monk, and they began to reflect that
there was such a thing as riding so fast that they might not be able to
reach Johnstown at all. From Layton's to Dawson the seven and one-half
miles were made in seven minutes, while the fourteen miles from Layton's
to Connellsville were covered in fourteen minutes precisely. On the
tender of the engine the cover of the water-tank flew open and the water
splashed out. Coal flew from the tender in great lumps, and dashed
against the end of the car. Inside the car the newspaper men's grips and
belongings went flying around on the floor and over seats like mad. The
Allegheny River, whose curves the rails followed, seemed to be right
even with the car windows, so that one could look straight down into the
water, so closely to it was the track built. In Connellsville there was
a crowd to see the special. On the depot was the placard:--
"Car will leave at 3 P. M. to-day with food and clothing for Johnstown."
In Connellsville the train stopped five minutes and underwent a thorough
inspection. Then it shoved on again. At Confluence, twenty-seven miles
from Connellsville, a bridge of a Baltimore and Ohio branch line across
the river was washed away, but this didn't interfere with the progress
of the special. For sixty miles on the road is up hill at a grade of
sixty-five feet to the mile, and the curves, if anything, are worse, but
there was no appreciable diminution in the speed of the train. Just
before reaching Rockwood the first real traces of the flood were
apparent. The waters of the Castlemore showed signs of having been
recently right up to the railroad tracks, and driftwood and débris of
all descriptions lay at the side of the rails. Nearly all bridges on the
country roads over the river were washed away and their remnants
scattered along the banks.
Rockwood was reached at 12.05 P. M. Rockwood is eighty-seven miles from
McKeesport, and this distance, which is up an extremely steep grade,
was therefore made in two hours, which includes fifteen minutes' stop.
The distance covered from Pittsburgh was one hundred and two miles in
two hours. Rockwood is the junction of the main line of the Baltimore
and Ohio road at its Cambria branch, which runs to Johnstown. The
regular local train from there to Johnstown was held to allow the
_Sun's_ special to pass first.
The _Sun's_ special left Rockwood at 12.20 in charge of Engineer Oliver,
who assumed charge at that point. He said that the branch to Johnstown
was a mountain road, with steep grades, very high embankments, and
damaged in spots, and that he would have to use great precaution in
running. He gave the throttle a yank and the train started with a jump
that almost sent the newspaper men on their heads. Things began to dance
around the car furiously as the train dashed along at a great pace, and
the reporters began to wonder what Engineer Oliver meant by his talk
about precautions. All along the route up the valley at the stations
were crowds of people, who stared in silence as the train swept by. On
the station platforms were piled barrels of flour, boxes of canned
goods, and bales of clothing. The roads leading in from the country to
the stations were full of farmers' wagons laden with produce of all
kinds for the sufferers.
The road from Rockwood to Johnstown lies in a deep gully, at the bottom
of which flows little Stony Creek, now swollen to a torrent. Wooden
troughs under the track carry off the water which trickles down from the
hills, otherwise the track would be useless. As it is there are frequent
washouts, which have been partly filled in, and for ten miles south of
Johnstown all trains have to be run very slowly. The branches of trees
above the bank which have been blown over graze the cars on the railroad
tracks. The _Sun's_ special arrived in Johnstown at two o'clock.