of systemic disturbance is so marked in
almost every individual who was present at the time of the catastrophe
that it is possible with the eye alone to separate the residents from
those outside.

Everything required in the way of surgical appliances seem to be on
hand, but medicines are scarce, and will probably be needed more in the
next few days than heretofore.

A fact in favor of the controlling of any malady is to be found in the
very general exodus of the town's people, who crowd the platforms of
departing trains. There can be no doubt that this movement should be
encouraged to the greatest possible extent, and it would be well if
places away from Johnstown, at no too great distance, could be opened
for the reception of those who, while not entirely disabled, are useless
at home. The scarcity of pure spring water which is not tainted by dead
animal matter is a pressing evil for consideration, but we doubt if this
is as important a fact at Johnstown as it is further down the river,
owing to the large amount of decomposing flesh in the water at this
latter point. No disinfectant can reach such a cause of disease save the
action of the large volume of water which dilutes all poisonous
materials.

The Torch for Safety.

There is a strong movement on foot in favor of applying the torch to the
wrecked buildings in Johnstown, and although the suggestion meets with
strong opposition at this time, there is little doubt the ultimate
solution of existing difficulties will be by this method. An army of men
have been for two days employed in clearing up the wreck in the city
proper, and although hundreds of bodies have been discovered, not
one-fifth of the ground has yet been gone over. In many places the
rubbish is piled twenty or thirty feet high, and not infrequently these
great drifts cover an area of nearly an acre. Narrow passages have been
cut through in every direction, but the herculean labor of removing the
rubbish has yet hardly begun.

At a meeting of the Central Relief Committee this afternoon General
Hastings suggested the advisability of drawing a cordon around the few
houses that are not in ruins and applying the torch to the remaining
great sea of waste. He explained briefly the great work yet to be
accomplished if it were hoped to thoroughly overhaul every portion of
the debris, and insisted that it would take 5,000 men to complete the
task. Of the hundreds of bodies buried beneath the rubbish, sand