General Information
Welcome
The Dam
The Club
Colonel Unger
Details
Dam Building
Start of Club
Club Members
Bibliography
The Victims
Eye Witnesses
US Disasters
Last Updated:
November 27, 1998
http://www.nps.gov/jofl
Park eMail:
Johnstown Flood NM
Author:
Jason Earnest
Editor:
Diane Garcia
General Information
Welcome
The Dam
The Club
Colonel Unger
Details
Dam Building
Start of Club
Club Members
Bibliography
The Victims
Eye Witnesses
US Disasters
Last Updated:
November 27, 1998
http://www.nps.gov/jofl
Park eMail:
Johnstown Flood NM
Author:
Jason Earnest
Editor:
Diane Garcia
General Information
Welcome
The Dam
The Club
Colonel Unger
Details
Dam Building
Start of Club
Club Members
Bibliography
The Victims
Eye Witnesses
US Disasters
William T. Sherman Showers
I am 24 years of age, and since January last have lived on Col. Unger's farm in Cambria County as an assistant to Mr. Vaunstein, the main farmer in the employ of Col. Unger. The farm upon which I lived is on the South Fork and comes down to the edge of the South Fork lake or reservoir owned by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. I was at farm [sic] there on Thursday, May 30th, and also on Friday, May 31st. Col. Unger came to the farm on Thursday evening. At that time, Thursday evening, it was not raining, and the water in the dam was low. Some time during Thursday night, it began to rain; just what time, I don't know, but I was wakened up during the night by the noise of the rain. It rained very heavily; heavier than anything I have seen or heard out there since January last. Previous to January last, I had lived in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, about four miles from Mifflin, and my knowledge of matters about South Fork is only such as I have acquired since January last. The rain that night, however, was a very heavy rain for any locality, and as I have already stated, a heavier rain than I had seen or heard anything of since I had gone to South Fork. On the morning of Friday, May 31st, it was still raining very heavily. During the earl y [sic] part of that morning, I was engaged about the barn, and did not pay any special attention to the lake, but noticed that it was very much higher than it had been the day before, the difference, of course , being caused by the heavy rain-fall [sic] of Thursday night. My attention was called to the lake by Mr. Vaunstein, the chief farmer who came to the barn where I was working about 7 o'clock and spoke of the lake, saying that it was rising, and that if it kept on very long at that rate, it would be over the dam. He further said that he was cgoing down to the lake with Col. Unger. I did not see them go but understand that Col. Unger and Mr. Vaunstein did go down shortly after Mr. Vaunstein left me. I continued about my work about the barn until between nine and ten o'clock. At that time, a messenger came up from the lake with orders to me from Col. Unger to come down to the lake with the team and the plow. I went down with one horse and a plow, and under Col. Unger's orders, we endeavored to plow up the ground on the top of the dam for the purpose of loosening the earth and throwing it up so as to increase the height of the dam, and to hold back a greater depth of water. The top fo [sic] the dam, however c had been used as a road, and was so hard that we could make but little impression on it with a plow, and finding we were doing no good, we stopped [sic]
doing no good, we stopped our efforts to build up the dam in that was. Col. Unger had brought to the dam a number of Italians and other men from the vicinity for the purpose of shoveling after the plow , and assisting in throwing the, [sic] dam up to a greater height, but finding that little could be done in that was, Col. Unger ordered the men to dig a new waste weir in the bank on the south side of the dam, so as to permit the rising water to run off in that was. The men worked at this for some time, but the material was very hard and they didn't succeed in making a channel more than four or five feet deep, but they did make a channel there which carried off a large body of water as the stream rose. This new channel or waste weir which was dug was as above stated on the south side of the dam, being the side of the dam or stream opposite to the waste weir ordinarily in use, which is located on the north side of the dam. While the men were working at the new channel, I was engaged under orders from Mr. Vaunstein in clearing away drift which had accumulated about the bridge over the waste weir on the north side of the dam, and which was obstructing the flow of the water. All the time that we were so engaged, the water continued to gain in height, notwithstanding [sic] the construction of the new channel, and rose continuously at the rate of about ten inches an hour. All the men at hand were engaged continuously at the work about the dam until about 12.45, when we went to dinner. At that time the water was up to within about two feet of the top of the new bank which we had thrown up across the top of the dam. This bank, I think, was about two feet high, so that when we went to dinner, the water was up to about level with what had been the top of the dam before we threw up the additional bank. We got back from dinner about two o'clock and the water was then running over the top of the dam; that is, over the top of the new two foot bank which we had thrown up. It had broken through it by that time at one place. We had exhausted all our efforts to stay the water, and were powerless to do anything further. I did not watch any marks, and am unable to say positively whether the water continued to rise after two o'clock, or whether the running of the water over the dam after that time was due entirely to the fact of the stream wearing away the dam. I know that the action of the water did out away the face of the dam, that is, the side down stream, and that the break worked back towards the main body of water, so that the quantity of water running through increased, and finally about 2.45 the wearing away of the dam became more rapid, so that it was cut out quite fast and the water began to go through in great and still increasing quantities, so that by about four o'clock the main body of water had gone out.
Except as I heard the matter discussed by others, I was not sufficiently familiar with the country to know to what extent the breaking of the dam and the water therefrom [sic] would cause disaster, but I heard that matter spoken of by others who were there, and in any event, I knew that the destruction of the dam would of course cause injury to property, both of the South Fork Club and of others down the stream, and all of us who were there were willing and anxious to do anything and everything that we could do to preserve the dam and hold back the water. Every one who was there worked earnestly and continuously to this end, but I do not think it was in the power of those who were on the ground to have done better than they did. As to the matter of sendi ng [sic] word down the stream about the danger of the dam breaking, I had no great personal knowledge. I saw Mr Parke, the engineer, start down the valley, and understood that he had gone by direction of Col. Unger to give warning to the people below that there was danger of the dam going out. Exactly what time that was, however, I am not able to say, except that it was some time in the morning, or before we went away to dinner.
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