| Title Page |
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| Preface |
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| List of
Illustrations |
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| CHAPTER I. |
| The Conemaugh Valley in Springtime -- Johnstown and its Suburbs -- Founded a Hundred Years ago -- The Cambria Iron Works -- History of a Famous Industry -- American Manufacturing Enterprise Exemplified -- Making Besemer Steel -- Social and Educational Features -- The Busiest City of its Size in the State |
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| CHAPTER II. |
| Conemaugh Lake -- Remains of an Old-time Canal System -- Used for the Pleasure of Sportsmen -- The Hunting and Fishing Club -- Popular Distrust Growing into Indifference -- The Old Cry of "Wolf!" -- Building a Dam of Straw and Mud -- Neglect Ripening into Fitness for a Catastrophe |
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| CHAPTER III. |
| Dawning of the Fatal Day -- Darkness and Rain -- Rumors of Evil -- The Warning Voice Unheeded -- A Whirlwind of Watery Death -- Fate of a Faithful Telegrapher -- What an Eye-Witness Saw -- A Solid Wall of Water Rushing Down the Valley |
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| CHAPTER IV. |
| The Pathway of the Torrent -- Human Beings Swept away like Chaff -- The Twilight of Terror -- The Wreck of East Conemaugh -- Annihilation of Woodvale -- Locomotives Tossed about like Cockle-shells by the might Maelstrom |
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| CHAPTER V. |
| "Johnstown is Annihilated" -- Appearance of the Wreck -- An Awful Sabbath Spectacle -- A Sea of Mud and Corpses -- The City in a Gigantic Whirlpool -- Strange Tokens of the Fury of the Flood -- Scene from the Bridge -- Sixty Acres of Debris -- A Carnival of Slaughter |
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| CHAPTER VI. |
| Pictures of the Flood Drawn by Eye-witnesses -- A Score of Locomotives Swallowed up -- Railroad Cars Swept away -- Engineers who would not Abandon their Posts -- Awful Scenes from a Car Window -- A Race for Life -- Victims of the Flood |
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| CHAPTER VII. |
| Some Heroes of the Flood -- The Ride of Collins Graves at Williamsburg Recalled -- John G. Parke's Heroic Warning -- Gallant Self-sacrifice of Daniel Peyton -- Mrs. Ogle, the Intrepid Telegraph Operator -- Wholesale Life Saving by Miss Nina Speck |
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| CHAPTER VIII. |
| Stories of Suffering -- A Family Swept away at a Stroke -- Beside a Sister's Corpse -- A Bride Driven Mad -- The Unidentified Dead -- Courage in the Face of Death -- Thanking God his Child had not Suffered -- One Saved out of a Household of Thirteen -- Five Saved out of Fifty-Five |
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| CHAPTER IX. |
| Stories of Railroad Men and Travelers who were in the Midst of the Catastrophe -- A Train's Race with the Wave -- Housses Crushed like Eggshells -- Relics of the Dead in the Tree tops -- A Night of Horrors -- Fire and Flood Commingled -- Lives Lost for the Sake of a Pair of Shoes |
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| CHAPTER X. |
| Scenes in a House of Refuge -- Stealing from the Dead -- A Thousand Bodies seen Passing over the Bridge -- "Kill us, or Rescue us!" -- Thrilling Escapes and Agonizing Losses -- Children Born amid the Flood -- A Night in Alma Hall -- Saved through Fear |
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| CHAPTER XI. |
| The Flight to the Mountains -- Saving a Mother and her Babe -- The Hillsides Black with Refugees -- An Engineer's Story -- How the Dam gave away -- Great Trees Snapped off like Pipe-stems by the Torrent |
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| CHAPTER XII. |
| A Desperate Voyage -- Scenes like those after a Great Battle -- Mother and Babe Dead together -- Praying as they Drifted to Destruction -- Children Telling the Story of Death -- Significant Greetings between Friends -- Prepared for any News |
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| CHAPTER XIII. |
| Salutations in the City of the Dead -- Crowds at the Morgues -- Endless Trains of Wagons with Ghastly Freight -- Registering the Survivors -- Minds Unsettled by the Tragedy -- Horrible Fragments of Humanity Scattered through Piles of Rubbish |
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| CHAPTER XIV. |
| Recognizing the Dead -- Food and Clothing
for Destitute Survivors -- Looking for the Lost -- The Bereaved Burying
their Dead -- Drowned Close by a Place of Safety -- A Heroic Editor -- One
who would not be Comforted |
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| CHAPTER XV. |
| A Bird's eye View of the Ruined City -- Conspicuous Features of the Disaster -- The Railroad Lines -- Stones and Iron Tossed about like Driftwood -- An Army Officer's Valuable Services in Restoring and Maintaining Order |
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| CHAPTER XVI. |
| Clearing a Road up the Creek -- Fantastic Forms of Ruin -- An Abandoned Locomotive with no Rail to Run on -- Iron Beams Bent like Willow Twigs -- Night in the Valley -- Scenes and Sounds of an Inferno |
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| CHAPTER XVII. |
| Sights that Greeted Visitors -- Wreckage Along the Valley -- Ruins of the Cambria Iron Works -- A Carnival of Drink -- Violence and Robbery -- Camping on the Hillsides -- Rich and Poor alike Benefit |
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| CHAPTER XVIII. |
| The First Train Load of Anxious Seekers -- Hoping against Hope -- Many Instances of Heroism -- Victims Seen Drifting down beyond the Reach of Help -- Unavailing Efforts to Rescue the Prey of the Flood |
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| CHAPTER XIX. |
| Newspaper Correspondents Making their Way In -- The Railroads Helpless -- Hiring a Special Train -- Making Desperate Speed -- First faces of the Flood -- Through to Johnstown at Last |
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| CHAPTER XX. |
| The Work of the Reporters -- Strange Chronicles of Heroism and of Woe -- Deadly Work of the Telegraph Wires -- A Baby's Strange Voyage -- Prayer wonderfully Answered -- Steam against Torrent |
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| CHAPTER XXI. |
| Human Ghouls and Vampires on the Scene -- A Short Shrift for Marauders -- Vigilance Committees Enforcing Order -- Plunderers of the Dead Relentlessly Dispatched -- Outbursts of Righteous Indignation |
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| CHAPTER XXII. |
| The Cry for Help and the Nation's Answer -- President Harrison's Eloquent and Effective Appeal -- Governor Beaver's Message -- A Proclamation by the Governor of New York -- Action of the Commissioner of Pensions -- Help from over the Sea |
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| CHAPTER XXIII. |
| The American Heart and Purse Opened Wide -- A flood of Gold against the Flood of Water -- Contributions from every Part of the Country, in Sums Large and Small |
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| CHAPTER XXIV. |
| Benefactions of Philadelphia -- Organization
of Charity -- Train loads of Food and Clothing -- Generous spirit of
Convicts in the Penitentiary -- Contributions from over the Sea -- Queen
Victoria's sympathy -- Letter from Florence Nightingale |
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| CHAPTER XXV. |
| Raising a Great Relief Fund in New York -- Where the Money came from -- Churches, Theatres and Prisons join in the good work -- More than One Hundred Thousand Dollars a Day -- A few Names from the Great Roll of Honor |
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| CHAPTER XXVI. |
| Breaking up the Ruins and Burying the Dead -- Innumerable Funerals -- The Use of Dynamite -- The Holocaust at the Bridge -- The Cambria Iron Works -- Pulling out Trees with Locomotives |
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| CHAPTER XXVII. |
| Caring for the Sufferers -- Noble Work of Miss Clara Barton and the Red Cross Society -- A Peep into a Hospital -- Finding Homes for the Orphans -- Johnstown Generous in its Woe -- A Benevolent Eating House |
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| CHAPTER XXVIII. |
| Recovering from the Blow -- The Voice of the Locomotive Heard again -- Scenes Day by Day amid the Ruins and at the Morgue -- Strange Salvage from the Flood -- A Family of Little Children |
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| CHAPTER XXIX. |
| The City Filled with Life Again -- Work and Bustle on Every Hand -- Railroad Trains Coming In -- Pathetic Meetings of Friends -- Persistent Use of Dynamite to Break Up the Masses of Wreckage -- The Daily Record of Work Amid the Dead |
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| CHAPTER XXX. |
| Scenes at the Relief Stations -- The Grand Army of the Republic in Command -- Imposing Scenes at the Railroad Station -- Cars Loaded with Goods for the Relief of the Destitute |
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| CHAPTER XXXI. |
| General Hastings' Headquarters -- Duties of the Military Staff -- A Flood of Telegrams of Inquiry Pouring In -- Getting the Post-office to Work Again -- Wholesale Embalming -- The Morgue in the Presbyterian Church -- The Record of the Unknown Dead -- A Commemorative Newspaper Club |
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| CHAPTER XXXII. |
| A Cross between a Military and a Mining Camp -- Work of the Army Engineers -- Equipping Constables -- Pressure on the Telegraph Lines -- Photographers not Encouraged -- Sight-seers Turned Away -- Strange Uses for Coffins |
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| CHAPTER XXXIII. |
| Sunday Amid the Ruins -- Services in One Church and in the Open Air -- The Miracle at the Church of the Immaculate Conception -- Few Women and Children Seen -- Disastrous Work of Dynamite -- A Happy Family in the Wreck |
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| CHAPTER XXXIV. |
| Plans for the Future of Johnstown -- The City to be Rebuilt on a Finer Scale than Ever Before -- A Real Estate Boom Looked For -- Enlarging the Conemaugh -- Views of Capitalists |
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| CHAPTER XXXV. |
| Well-known People who Narrowly Escaped the Flood -- Mrs. Halford's
Experience -- Mrs. Childs Storm bound -- Tales Related by Travelers -- A Theatrical Company's Plight |
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| CHAPTER XXXVI. |
| The Ubiquitous Reporter Getting There -- Desperate Traveling through a Storm-swept Country -- Special Trains and Special Teams --
Climbing Across the Mountains -- Rest for the Weary in a Hay Mow |
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| CHAPTER XXXVII. |
| The Reporter's Life at Johnstown -- Nothing to Eat, but Much to Do -- Kindly Remembrances of a Kindly Friend -- Driven from Bed by Rats -- Three Hours of Sleep in Seventy-two -- A Picturesque Group |
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| CHAPTER XXXVIII. |
| Williamsport's Great Losses -- Flooded with Thirty-four Feet of Water -- Hundreds of Millions of Feet of Lumber Swept Away -- Loss of Life -- Incidents of Rescue and of Death -- The Story of Garret Crouse and his Gray Horse |
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| CHAPTER XXXIX. |
| The Juniata Valley Ravaged by the Storm -- Losses at Tyrone, Huntingdon and Lewistown -- Destruction at Lock Haven -- A Baby's Voyage Down Stream -- Romantic Story of a Wedding |
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| CHAPTER XL. |
| The Floods along the Potomac -- The National Capital Submerged -- A Terrible Record in Maryland -- Gettysburg a Sufferer -- Tidings of Devastation from Many Points in Several States |
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| CHAPTER XLI. |
| Fire following the Flood -- Ghastly sacrifices at the Railroad Bridge -- Burning Wreckage -- Many Houses Destroyed by a Conflagration |
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| CHAPTER XLII. |
| The Record of Restoration -- Beginning work again
at the Mills -- Erecting Portable Houses -- Clearing away the Debris |
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| CHAPTER XLIII. |
| Dynamite to the Rescue -- Efficient work of the Explosive -- The Populace Panic-stricken by the heavy charges -- Force of the Explosions |
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| CHAPTER XLIV. |
| The Work Performed by General Hastings -- Bidding him farewell at Johnstown and welcoming him home again at Bellefonte |
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| CHAPTER XLV. |
| Work of the Telegraph Operators -- Improvised offices and apparatus -- How the great newspaper dispatches were sent |
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| CHAPTER XLVI. |
| Impossibility of determining the exact loss of life -- Reckoning the loss of property by millions -- Confusion for the Savings Banks |
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| CHAPTER XLVII. |
| Unfounded dissatisfaction over the management of the relief fund -- Judicious course pursued by Governor Beaver and his associates |
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| CHAPTER XLVIII. |
| Parceling out the funds -- Opening a free bank -- Talking of National Aid -- Dishonest benefit-seekers -- The money going out slowly |
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| CHAPTER XLIX. |
| Adventures of a newsboy -- Timing the Flood -- Life-saving by a dog -- Noble exertions of a noble brute |
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| CHAPTER L. |
| Letters from the President, the Vice-President, and Ex-Secretary Cameron -- Theatrical benefits -- The Babe of the Flood |
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| Index |
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