On May 31, 1889, George T. Swank, editor and publisher of the Johnstown Tribune, was preparing the weekly issue of the paper on the second floor of this building. The rising waters outside drew him to the office windows to report on the situation below. At 2:30 p.m. he noted that the water stood about a foot deep on Franklin Street. Downstairs, Postmaster Herman Baumer had closed up the post office and gone home. The Tribune staff had given up trying to print the newspaper and was restlessly awaiting the recession of the waters, as were the rest of the marooned Johnstowners.
"It is idle to speculate," Swank wrote, "what would be the result if the tremendous body of water...should be thrown into the already submerged Conemaugh Valley."
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