n at the desk said: "Make a
note of that; so-and-so's wife reports him as gone, and his wages due
are to be paid to her."

The work of recording the men went on until nearly one o'clock. Then,
after waiting for a long time, Mr. Smith said, "Out of 1400 men we now
have 487. It may be there are 200 who either did not see the notice or
who are too busy to come. Anyway, I hope so--my God, I hope so." All
afternoon the greater part of the 487 men were swinging pickaxes and
shovels, clearing the way for the railroad leading up to the Gautier
Steel Works of the future.

The Morbidly Curious.

To-day the order "Halt!" rang out in earnest at the footbridge over the
rushing river into Johnstown. It was the result of a cry as early as the
reveille, that came from among the ruins and from the hoarse throats of
the contractors--"For God's sake, keep the morbid people out of here;
they're in the way!"

General Hastings ordered the picket out on the high embankment east of
the freight depot, where every man, woman and child must pass to reach
the bridge. Colonel Perchment detailed Captain Hamilton, of G Company,
there with an ample guard, and all who came without General Hastings'
pass in the morning were turned aside. This afternoon a new difficulty
was encountered. When you flashed your military pass on the sentinel who
cried "Halt!" he would throw his gun slantwise across your body, so that
the butt grazed your right hip and the bayonet your left ear and say:
"No good unless signed by the sheriff." The civil authorities had taken
the bridge out of the hands of the militia, and the sheriff sat on a
camp stool overlooking the desolate city all the forenoon making out
passes and approving the General's.

No Conflict of Authority.

The military men say there was no conflict of authority, and it was
deemed proper that the civil authorities should still control the pass
there. The sheriff came near getting shot in Cambria City this morning
during a clash with one of his deputies over a buggy. Yet he looked calm
and serene. Some beg him for passes to hunt for their dead. One man
cried: "I've just gotten here, and my wife and children are in that
town;" another said, "I belong in Conemaugh and was carried off by the
flood," while an aged, trembling man behind him whispered, "Sheriff, I
just wanted to look where the old home stood." When four peaceful faced
sisters in convent garb, on their mission of mercy, came that way the
se