issue of a newspaper.

A registry of the living who were residents of Johnstown prior to the
flood was begun to-day. Out of a total population of 39,400 the names of
only 10,600 have been recorded. This may give an approximate idea of the
number of those who lost their lives.

Gaunt Menace of Pestilence.

The most important near fact of to-day is the increasing danger of
pestilence.

As the work of disengaging the bodies of the dead progresses the
horrible peril becomes more and more apparent. There is need of the
speediest possible measures to offset the gravity of the sanitary
situation.

From every part of the stricken valley the same cry of alarm arises, for
at every point where the dead are being discovered, as the waters
continue to abate, the same peril exists.

The use of explosives, especially dynamite, has been discussed. There is
some opposition to it, but it may yet be resorted to. The great mass of
ruins at the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, which is still smoking and
smouldering, is a ghastly mine of human flesh and bones in all sorts of
hideous shapes, and unless desperate means are employed, cannot be
cleared away in weeks to come.

[Illustration: READING THE HORRIBLE NEWS.]

Still, vigorous work in that direction is being performed, and
explosives will be used in a limited degree to further it. This great
work may be divided into two parts--the clearing away of the mass of
debris lodged against the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge, and the
examination and removal of the many wrecked buildings which mark the
site of Johnstown.

Order Out of Chaos.

Slowly something like order is beginning to appear in the chaos of
destruction. Enough militia came to-day to put the town under strict
martial law. Four hundred men of the Fourteenth regiment, of Pittsburgh,
are here. There will be no more tramping over the ruins by ungoverned
mobs. There will be no more fears of rioting.

The supplies of food are constantly growing. The much needed money is
beginning to come in, though not at all needless relief committees are
beginning to go out. Better quarters for the sufferers are being
provided. Better arrangements for systematic relief are made. Something
of the deep gloom has been dispelled, though Johnstown is still the
saddest spot on earth.

The systematic attempt to clear up the ruins at the gorge and get out
the bodies imprisoned there began to-day. The expectations of ghastly
discoveries were mo