The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-06 00:00:00

THE INUNDATIONS IN FRANCE

Intelligence dated Wednesday evening, informs
us that the gradual fall of the Rhone still continues,
and the river has nearly returned to its bed. At
Lyons, in order to facilitate the running off of the
water from the inundated parts, trenches have
been cut in different places. No exact idea can yet
be formed of the extent of the damage done, but
the number of houses that have been destroyed, is
now estimated at not less than 400, and the num•
her of persons deprived of homes is said to be
25,000; as to the dead no calculation can yet be
made- A boat, containing six soldiers, capsized
in the Plaine du Grand Camp, and three of
the men were unfortunately drowned. A man
residing at La Part Dieu, whose house fell down
and buried his young wife, to whom he had been
but recently married, threw himself in despair
into the Rhone. A woman, living on the Quai
d'Albret, who saw her husband drowned, while
rendering assistance to some sufferers, threw her-
self out of a window on the fourth storey, and was
killed on the' spot. A. young woman, who had
been confined two. days before, was taken out of
her bed with her child and conveyed in a boat to
a place of safety. A. woman, holding a young
child in her arms, 4as seen on the roof of a
house crying for assistance, and a boat was
speedily directed towards the spot. The boat
had just arrived. as the house began to give
way ; the.mother threw her child into the arms
of one of the boatmen, and in a moment
after• sank herself with the ruins. Three
.childrert were found buried beneath the ruins of
one house after the 'waters had retired. It is im-
possible to describe in sufficient terms of admira-
tion the zeal which has been displayed by the
authorities and by the inhabitants in rendering
assistance.. Hundreds of persons are seen carrying
provisions of every. kind to the churches, which
have been • thrown open for the reception of the
houseless sufferers. The Cardinal Archbishop of
Lyons, from the first commencement of the inun-
dation, placed his palace at the disposal of the
sufferers. The fears which had been entertained
for the fate of M. Roustan, the mayor of Villeur-
banne, and M. Villars, the commissary of police,
are happily unfounded. .Thoso gentlemen have
returned to their homes, aftei

been for some
r, from which

time eonfin(

M Villars at length saved.
and then had a boat sent of

) the assistance of his

comp Anion in misfortunq
The railway has been

)ken up by the floods
rascon and Graveson,

in several points betwe,
and all communications

)nd Tarascon on the left
r the breaking down of
he Dyke of Boulbon the water rapidly advanced
to Arles across the plain which separates that town
from Tarascou. The bridge of Trinquetaille was
carried away, and the. communication with the fau-
bourg of that name cut off. From the top of the
Tower of Arles the country round has the appear-
ance of a vast lake ; the Camargue is completely
under water. At the viaduct on the Rhone, be-
tween Tarascon and Beaucaire, the water has
reached the platform of the bridge, but the struc-
ture has still held firm. As to the suspension-
bridge, which unites Tarascon and Beaucaire, it is
completely covered. On the side of Beaucaire the
Rhone has overflowed its banks, and inundated
the plain towards Nismes. The railway has not
been injured, and the circulation of the trains has
been kept up between Marseilles and the right
bank of the Rhone.

The journals of Toulouse, Agen, Nantes, and
Angers, had to be sent by-a circuitous route owing
to the floods. At Nantes, on Monday morning,
the rise of the waters was not very considerable.
At Angers it was more important. At Toulouse
the Garonne was falling on Saturday; at Agen
on Sunday morning, after a rise which inundated
the lower part of the city, the Garonne was sta-
tionary with a tendency to fall. The overflow of
the Garonne was the third that has taken place
this year. The accounts from Valence record
great disasters. The bridges of Douzere and
Rochemaure have been carried away ; but, by the
efforts of a detachment of 150 artillerymen, that
over the Isere at Valence had been preserved.
The Orleans journals, in addition to the details
given. contain the following :—" The quays and
all the low streets adjoining were still under water,
and the inhabitants were obliged to enter and leave
their' houses in boats. A great quantity of mer-
chandise had been destroyed. The Mayor had
caused large quantities of bread to be baked for
the sufferers, and had had live stock driven into the
city by the peasants, to be placed in the market
and slaughter-houses. On the railway neither
goods nor passenger trains were despatched from
places below Orleans. The damage done to the
growing crops in the neighbourhood of the city is
represented to be very considerable—far more so
than.that occasioned by the inundations of 1846.
At Gien, the suspension bridge was swept away,
and a house in the Rue d'Orleans was thrown
down—a • woman being killed in the ruins.
All the principal streets of the town and the
adjacent plain for miles around were under water.
Communications from the surrounding country with
Orleans were entirely suspended. At St. Pryve
the waters rose as high as the tops of the trees,
and a newly built house was partly washed down.
At St. Benoit and the neighbouring communes,
the inhabitants had to seek refuge on the heights.
At Clery the waters overflowed the dykes, filled
the richly cultivated valleys of Dry and Clery, and
caused, it is said,-' incalculable loss.' In addition
to all this, the bridge.over the Allier, at St. Germain,
which cost more than 2,ooo,ooofovas thrown down
by the flood. At Vierzon the waters rose 15c higher
than in the. last inundations, invaded the iron-
works, covered the quays and many of the streets,
threw down three houses, carried away a vast
quantity of different objects, menaced one of the
principal bridges on the railway; and interrupted
traffic below the town and on the lines• to•Bourges
and Chateauroux- At Tours there were great
disasters, and from the Allier and -the :Cher also
deplorable accounts were received."