Person

Arthur Kirk Jr.

"I can give no idea of the length of time it will take, but it will be a work of weeks. I have had some experience blasting wrecks, but this is a job of unprecedented magnitude..." -Arthur Kirk

Arthur Kirk was known as the "Prince of Dynamiters" was around 50 years old when he was called in to remove debris that accumulated at the Stone Bridge in Johnstown. Two hundred workers accompanied him. He described the dimensions of the debris as:
400 feet wide
1,200 feet long

Those dimensions equal 7,200,000 cubic feet to be blasted away. To tackle this, Kirk decided to start at the first arch and remove small debris and bodies. After that was done, they would cut bore holes into trees and insert dynamite.

Kirk also noted the sanitary conditions of the water due to the bodies trapped among the debris. The water from the Stone Bridge flows from Johnstown to Pittsburgh and is a source of drinking water for many people. Special care was taken to remove as many bodies from the debris as possible.

Kirk and others worked alongside a horrible stench from the debris. The Philadelphia Times wrote on June 8, 1889:
"The stench arising from the debris is becoming almost unbearable in the vicinity of the bridge and workmen are finding serious difficulty in remaining at their post for more than a few hours at a time."

When a charge was about to ignite, he would yell "fire!" A Times reporter said that his yell often scared people on scene more than the blast itself. After a series of smaller charges failed to break up the debris and it seemed like it was taking too long to make progress, Kirk decided to use of a 450 pound charge to clear the debris once and for all. Although the townspeople received quite a shock and told him never to do that again, daylight could be seen through the arches of the Stone Bridge.