s it was to receive in this world. The
sight was a pathetic one and turned many a stout heart to tears.

Among the miraculous escapes to be recorded in connection with the great
disaster is that of George J. Leas and his family. He resided on Iron
street. When the rush of water came there were eight people on the
roof. The little house swung around off its moorings and floated about
for nearly half an hour before it came up against the bank of drift
above the stone bridge. A three-year-old girl with sunny golden hair and
dimpled cheeks prayed all the while that God would save them, and it
seemed that God really answered the prayer of this innocent little girl
and directed the house against the drift, enabling every one of the
eight to get off. Mrs. Leas carried the little girl in her arms, and how
she got off she doesn't know. Every house around them, she said, was
crushed, and the people either killed or drowned.

Thugs at Their Work.

One of the most dreadful features of this catastrophe has been the
miserable weakness displayed by the authorities of Johnstown and the
surrounding boroughs. Johnstown needed them sadly for forty-eight hours.
There is supposed to be a Burgess, but like most burgesses he is a
shadowy and mythical personage. If there had been concerted and
intelligent action the fire in the debris at the dam could have been
extinguished within a short time after it started. Too many cooks
spoiled this ghastly broth.

Even now if dynamite or some other explosive was intelligently applied
the huge mass of wreckage which has up to the present time escaped the
flame, and no doubt contains a number of bodies, could be saved from
fire.

This, however, is a matter of small import compared with the immunity
granted the outrageous and open graveyard robbery and disgusting
thievery which have thriven bravely since Friday morning.

Foreigners and natives carrying huge sacks, and in some instances even
being assisted by horses and carts, have been busily engaged hunting
corpses and stealing such valuables as were to be found in the wreckage.

Dozens of barrels of strong liquor have been rescued by the Hungarian
and Polish laborers from among the ruins of saloons and hotels and the
contents of the same have been freely indulged in. This has led to an
alarming debauchery, which is on the increase. All day the numbers of
the drunken crowd have been augmented from time to time by fresh
arrivals from the surround