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Newspaper
Indianapolis Sun
Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Date
Jun 04, 1889
Page
1
Reports from Johnstown describe a vast flood death toll as rescue workers in Wesdvale recover thousands of bodies. Aid flows in with Sisters of Charity and clergy aiding the injured while authorities plan mass burials and crack down on looting. A nameless rider’s warning ride is recalled amid scenes of mud, wreckage, and a city overwhelmed by the flood.
Johns Own reports burials proceed without mourners or prayers as strangers fill graves and most lack markers. The widespread distress renders signs of war forgotten while informants continue. Preachers focus on the living, not the dead amid flood conditions.
June 4 dispatches report a devastating flood toll as the main resident Hullman and his extensive family perished. Only an 8 year old child survived among relatives. The Fourteenth regiment prepared trains with rations and ammunition as authorities order relief work.
Desperate conditions prevail as hundreds fall ill and bodies are buried without proper care. In Johnstown on June 1, officials report 25 registry offices processing registrations, with 10,000 registered out of a 54,000 population by Tuesday noon. The town lies in ruins as the river wets the landscape and five bodies are recovered nearby.
A Special from Lewisburg reports about 80 deaths feared in Williamsport Pennsylvania after floods on Saturday and Sunday. No communication since Monday raises anxiety that a calamity may have occurred as telegraph lines are down. Dams and city infrastructure were compromised and appeals for help went out.
The eighth annual Indiana Pharmaceutical Association gathering opened in the agricultural rooms, with Dr Hurty condemning wholesalers and licensing exams as essential to curb adulteration. Exhibits from manufacturers and the Purdue School of Pharmacy filled the corridor, as Mayor Denny welcomed attendees and officers were installed.
A June report laments utter demoralization in the town with ineffective police, weak military presence, and a sham vigilance committee. Thieving, drunkenness, and fighting run rampant. Foreigner trades and harlots are blamed. no prison exists and residents call for expulsion.
The Johnstown drift moved through Gallivolis on Tuesday with two bodies recovered at Salt Creek two miles above town and two more found further downstream.
Judge Taylor ruled in two cases that a street car company contract with an individual plaintiff amounted to an assignment of liability to the I D W railway. The decisions barred further proceedings against I D W in Mrs Carter and Jennie Baker cases and warned of additional similar suits. The dispute centers on a collision involving an I D W engine and a hospital car, producing multiple damage claims against the street car company.
Riots broke out Monday afternoon at the upper end of Johnstown as Hungarians and Italians, intoxicated, seized a barrel of brandy and other liquids and clashed. In Wanasa Indiana a freight engineer James Hoyt was run down and killed by a westbound express near Clomers. his son helped manage the wreckage.
City attorney Taylor drafts an ordinance to raise saloon licenses to 250 amid legislative changes. West Indianapolis raised its licenses from 100 to 159 last Monday, but pending council action may delay applying to June applicants. The move could withhold about 75 000 from the treasury. Also, Angus Kennedy and Al Fallway were arrested for attempting to break into the Indianapolis pantaloons store at 149 Massachusetts Ave. Kennedy, blind in one eye, resisted identification at the station. A grand jury will consider charges. In court, S M Shepard, receiver for John E Sullivan’s office, failed to prove bondsmen liable for the full 25 000 bond. The Indiana Grand Lodge Knights of Pythias convened, donating 300 for Johnstown relief and planning a memorial service for fallen knights.
A Monday city council meeting saw Simeon Coy and 17 members present as discussions ranged from a bicycle ordinance to fire department staffing, city maps purchase, and insurance limits. Cummings challenged maps while other measures included prohibiting street obstructions, arranging a street viaduct fund, and extending the Streat car line to Garfield Park.
At a Union depot a blind man named Hossa read with his fingers from the book of Acts and Mark to a curious crowd. A skeptical observer challenged him but others supported the performance by listening to the tale of Ananias and the prodigal son. A dime was given. the blind man noted a Canadian ten cent piece’s face value.
Two bodies were recovered along the Potomac Tuesday morning and authorities fear a larger calamity upstream. Reports indicate many towns across Pennsylvania Maryland and West Virginia near dangerous streams have not been heard from for days as the river danger unfolds.
An odd fragment from a newspaper page mentions Chaifield and Woods located at 278 Meridian Street with a Jolson Paper Co. reference, a request to have tonage, and a telephone number 948, plus Winn C, WAL, Mapagent.
The article recounts a disastrous May 18 flood in Johnstown and recalls a similar 1474 Goshen dam burst in Massachusetts. It describes a leaking reservoir near Haydenville, the dam break sending a 20 foot high wall of water down Mill River, wiping out Wil Hagel and several factories, with about 200 lives lost along the valley. Commuter Conductor Chandler saved lives by racing his train. Collis Gray warned locals, inspiring later commemorations and a poem.
D. R. Crosby, Minneapolis county surveyor, suspects his wife after she travels to Kansas City with her half brother, a disreputable rooming house scene sparks a stormy confrontation. Crosby, heartbroken, seeks explanations amid a marriage under strain.
Horrific discovery in London on Tuesday as a mutilated female body is found in the Thames near Housely Down. The public is warned that the infamous killer known as the Ripper may be active again amid renewed fear and headlines.
Weather man Count Wappenhaus comments on the recent floods with humor and a shift in climate talk. He notes two big rain storms last week from Lozas and the northwest, predicts fair weather in town, and recalls Noah as a doubtful rainfall authority while joking about a past circus trip and rain forecasts.
Reports detail county actions from hoarding inmates at the colored orphan asylum to a petition by farmers east of town for state free gravel road status. Also covered are a bar tender fined for disturbances, a divorce case, arrests for selling liquor to minors, a robbery incident linked to a side show, and delays in township assessments due to growth and new corporations.
Simeon Co covers a homecoming after prison release. Cashier Sim Coys, portly and jovial, steps from a car to cheers from Miss Mary Ellie and Mrs Scott Baker. He visits 105 Massachusetts Ave greeted by Mike Callahan Matt Guinn and friends, toasts seltzer and declares no change in his stance and hopes for clemency remembered.
At Pittsburg on Monday morning a small crowd watched a fine contest between the Pittsburgs and Hoosiers Indianapolis won 6 to 3 as the only score came in the fifth inning. Boston of the officiating Fessenden umpired.
Boston scored 10 runs on 11 hits with 5 errors while Philadelphia tallied 6 runs and 1 error. Batteries Radbourne Gianzel Buffinton Clements contributed to the game actions.
Prolific show day yields numerous drunks and misdemeanors as the nonita court convenes Tuesday morning. Fifteen year old Oliva Rogers pleads guilty to intoxication after buying beer near show grounds, her father demanding punishment and reformatory action. Tom Leonard, once a hotel thief, released on a $50 commitment and leaves the city. Receivership sought for Johnson Paper Co. assets transferred amid allegations of defrauding creditors. Weather notes show light rain and steady temperatures for Indiana.
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