The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-10 00:00:00

THE FLOODS IN THE SOUTH OF
FRANCE.

It is easy of course now to dilate on the causes of the
overwhelming inundation which has all but covered
the valley of La Garonne, and to point out what
should have been done to forestall it (remarks the
Examiner). The papers of Paris and London now
print many wise remarks as to the precautions that
ought to be taken in view of such a dire misfortune.
It is only a pity that the suggestions did not,come
when they might have proved useful. To dwell at
further length on the measures that should have been
taken is obviously idle, save for the purpose of show-
ing how the authorities in France, with numerous
special schools, such, for instance, as the Ecole
Forestiere, the Ecole Centrele, and the Ecole
Polytechnique, have failed to organise a resistance
against a standing danger—one which, from the shal-
lowness of French rivers, and from the peculiar condi-
tions that attend the formation of their sources, may
present itself to-morrow as it presented itself without
warning yesterday. The time has now come for search-
ing the means of forestalling these dire calamities.
The satisfactory accomplishment of the task which
every French engineer and every man of science will
now pursue is doubtless arduous. There is no lack of
suggestions, but some of the suggested plans imply
ruinous cost, while time and experience have shown
the insufficiency of others. Perhaps the most
practical scheme is an old one, which consists
in establishing powerful locks at the intersection of
rivers. Such a lock exists on the Loire, just above
Roanne, and that town has more than once been pre-
served from destruction by the obstacle opposed to
the waters by the lock of Piney. A system of dykes
was some years ago established along the banks of the
Loire, but these were not always useful, and were ex-
tremely costly. Whatever effectual means of checking
inundations be eventually adopted, it is enough for
the present that the magnitude of the late disaster
should have made the research of these means a stand-
ing question of the day in France. Holland devotes
a considerable part of her Budget to the maintenance
of the "water-sappers," who are constantly inspecting
the dykes which keep off the water from her soil. It
is almost as urgent that the French Government
should organise a somewhat similar body.

Referring to this sad calamity, the Illustrated London
News also writes ;

It is difficult to picture to oneself the devastation
which a sudden inundation produces within a few
hours as it rushes through a thriving district. The
material damage done by the overflow of the Garonne
is said to surpass the power of the most vivid imagina-
tion to set forth. Bridges carried away, mills converted
into a mere mass of debris, whole streets nearly obli-
terated and rendered untenantable, churches and ce-
meteries invaded, colleges and academies tottering to
their fall, villas and farmhouses submerged; vine-
yards and cornfields, gardens and pastures, presenting
a dead level of slime and mud; trees torn up by
the roots and floated away by the torrent;
granaries and storehouses emptied of their con-
tents, as well as rent in their structure ;
furniture of all kinds, whether for use or ornament,
utterly destroyed; the hoards of families, sometimes
in linen, sometimes in pottery, sometimes in money,
snatched from under the very eyes of their possessors;
all the objects intended to cherish home associations
spoilt in a moment, and made not merely worthless,
but loathsome to their owners; desolation everywhere,
as far as the eye could reach; "lamentation, mourn-
ing, and woe "wherever people may turn; a monotony
of distress, with scarcely anything to relieve it; such,
we are given to understand, over a wide area, is in
barest outline the scene presented to the spectator along
the distiicts through which the inundation has passed.
Sad as this is, it is by no means the saddest aspect of this
frightful calamity. We have scarcely yet glanced at
the spoils of death. Not merely the number of persons
who have perished, but the modes in which they have
been hurried out of their earthly life, harrow the feel-
ings of the least sympathetic. It is a fitting occasion
for the English people to show their kindness to the
French. We take for granted they will cheerfully
contribute towards the alleviation of this unexpected
misfortune, and if they contribute at all, they will do
so liberally. It will doubtless be a pleasure, not to
the opulent only, but to many who cannot boast of
wealth, to give some prompt and generous expression
of fellow feeling with those whom sudden distress has
overtaken, they will be gratified, we are convinced, to
do what they can.