The Sun.
London, England, 1856-06-06 00:00:00

TII B INUNDATIONS IN FRANCE.

PARIS, JUNE 4.

The gradual fall of the Rhone, which was an-
nounced yesterday, still con tin ties, and the river has
nearly returned to its bed. At Lyons, in order to
facilitate the running off the water from the in-
undated parts, trenches have been cut in different
places. The Grande Rue of the Guillotiere is still
under water, and the communications can only be
carried on by boats. 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 several have
fallen since the last calculation, and the number of
persons deprived of homes is said to be 25,000 ;
as to the dead no calculation can yet be made.
The Lyons journals are filled with different incidents
connected with the casualties and hair-breadth
escapes of several of the inhabitants of the inun-
dated quarters. A boat containing six soldiers cap-
sized in the Pia.ine du Grand Camp, and three of
the men were unfortunately drowned. A. man re-
sidino• 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 as-
sistance to some sufferers, threw herself out of a
window on the fourth storey, and waslilled on the
spot. A young woman, who had boon 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, was seen on the roof of a house crying for
assistance, and a boat was speedily directed to-
wards 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
children were found buried beneath the ruins of
'one house after the waters bad retired. It is im-
possible to describe in sufficient terms of admiration
the zeal which has - been displayed by the authori-
ties 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 suf-
ferers. In addition to the subscriptions in money
which. have been opened, a committee has been
formed, which intends to send carts round and col-
lect old clothes and small articles of farnitur,, of
which the poor families stand in need. The Cardi-
nal Archbishop of Lyons, from the first commence-
ment of the inundation, placed his palace at the
disposal of the sufferers. The fears which had been
entertained for the fate of M. Roustan, the mayor
of Villeurbanne, and M. Villars, the commissary
of police, are happily unfounded. Those gentlemen
have returned to their homes, after having been
for some time confined in a place by the water,
from which M. Villars at length saved himself by
swimming, and then had a boat sent off to the as-
sistance of his companion in misfortune.
" For the last three days," says the Gazette de
Lyon of the 3d,
" No journal or letter has reached Lyons from the
south. It is difficult to understand why no arrangement
has been made to remedy this evil. In addition to the
inconvenience suffered by families, business has suffered
considerably from this interruption in the receipt of let-
ters. A service by post horses could certainly have
been established where the communications by railway
have been cut off."

The railway has been broken through by the
floods on several points between Tarascon arid
Graveson, and all communications beyond Tarascon
on the left bank are intercepted. After the break-
ing down of the dyke of Boulbon the water rapidly
advanced to Arles across the plain which separates
that town from Tarascon. The bridge of Trinque-
taille was carried away, and the communication
with the fanhourg of that name cut off. From the
top of the Tower of Aries the country round has
the appearance of a vast lake ; the Camargue is
completely under water. At the viaduct on the
Rhone, between Tarascon and B aucaire, the water
has reached the platform of the bridge, but the
structure has still held firm,; As tr, the suqensivn-
bridge, which unite; Tarascon and. Beaucaire, it is
completely covered. On the side of Beau3aire the
Rhone has overflowed its banks, and inundated
the plain towards Nismo. The railway has not
been injured, and the circulation of the trains h
been kept np between Marseilles and the right
bank of the Rhone.

We have received the journals of Toulouse,
Agen, Nantes, and Angeri, which were due yes-
terday (Tuesday) morning: they had to he sent by
a circuitons 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 to 8 metres 30 centimetres, which inundated
the lower part of the city, the Garonne was sta-
tionary, with a tendency to fall. The Lot and
the Tarn had also risen considerably. The Aveyron
was stationary. • All the districts near these rivers
have suffered immensely. The overflow of the
G-aronnn was, the third that has taken place this
year. The accounts from Valence record great
disasters. The bridges of Douzere and Roche-
maure have been carried away ; but, by the efforts
of a detachment of 150 artillerymen, that over the
Isero at Valence bad been preserved.

[FURTHER PARTICULARS]
(From Galignani's Messenger.)
The accounts from the departments agree in stat-
ing that the waters continue to subside, although
slowly. The weather is stated to he favourable,
but not altogether settled, and some of the local
journals seem to be apprehensive of further rain.
At Lyons, numerous workmen are employed in
cleaning out the streets which had been under
water. Ni.twithstanding the numerous trenches
which have been cut in every direction to accele-
rate the running off of the water, the streets on
the left bank of Rhone are very slowly becom-
ing clear. Persons may, however, now find a pis-
sage throughout the greater part of this vast deso-
lation, and the scenes which meet the eye at every
st..ep are of the most distressing description ; ruins
of houses which have partly fallen, heaps of broken
furniture and a building of which one wall has
fallen, and the loom, curtains, and bedding on the
different floors thus laid open are everywhere to
bo seen. The unfortunate sufferers cannot be pre.
vailed on to desert the spot, but bivouac at the
nearest point, and as the waters retire seek among
the ruins some remnant of their property. Num-
bers of poor weavers may be seen watching with
eager eyes for the retirement of the water in hopes
that they may again get possession of the
looms by which they earned broad for themselves
and their families. All these searches for property
are not however made without danger, for scarcely
a moment passes without hearing the crash of fall-
ing roofs and walls. All the streets, as they be-
come clear of the water, are transformed into regu-
lar entrepots, where piles of furniture are collected.
On every side may he seen fireS at which some
poor drenched and half-naked persons endeavour
to cook some little provisions. At the mairie of the
Guillotibre, and at a number of other places in the
city, a distribution of food and money is regularly.
made. The calm resignation which appears im-
printed on every countenance is most extraordinary.
Women are seen huddled together with their chil-
dren, but not a sob or a cry escapes them, and
among those who are engaged in seeking for their
property, everything goes on without dispute or
quarrelling.

Almost all the large workshops near the banks
of the RhOne have been entirely destroyed, and the
loss in machinery and merchandise will be enor-
mous. Of all the pretty villas in the banlieue, be-
longing to the more respectable persons in busi-
ness, scarcely one remains without serious damage
to itself and garden. The Faubourg of the Char-
pennes, the great rendezvous on Sunday of the ho-
liday-seeking citizens, is now nothing but a heap
of ruins ; and scarcely one-third of it exists. One
of the lccalities in the neighbourhood of Lyons
which has the most suffered from the inundation is
the Cit 6 Napoleon, the fine avenue of which, only
a short time ago skirted by delightful country
houses, is now dreadfully devastated. More than
nine-tenths of the buildings have suffered most ma-
terially.
Near the road of the Sacre Coeur, outside the
Chemin de Ceintre, a house partly destroyed may
be seen standing in the midst of the water, which
has been the scene of a curious incident. In an
apartment on the second floor were two valuable
pictures, one supposed to be a Rembrandt and the
other bearing the signature of Abel de Pujol.
These pictures wore the principal property of the
inhabitant of the apartment, who was obliged to
fly from the house to save his life, and the danger
was so great that no one at first would venture into
the place to attempt to save the pictures. At
length a sergent de vile of the Brotteaux, named
Bosquie, went in a boat with a M. Combos, adjoint
of one of the mairies, and, at the risk of his life,
succeeded in scrambling up the second flco:, and
removing the two works of art, which he conveyed
in safety to the mairie of La Guillotiere: •
A large mass of granite rook fell during Monday