The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-11-03 00:00:00

INUNDATIONS IN FRANCE.

The inundations in France have caused the most la-
mentable destruction of life and property. The main em-
bankment of the Loire has given way, not only at
A mboise but at Meung, Beaugency, Vouvray, and other
places along the course of the river. Most of the princi-
pal streets of the city of Tours—among others, the Rue
Royale up to the Palais de Justice—are under water. The
communication with Paris is completely cut off, except by
the circuitous routes of Chartres and Vendome ; and the
service of the railway (Orleans and Bordeaux) is restricted
to the portion of the line between Orleans and Blois, the
viaduct connecting the Orleans arid Vierzon Railway with
Orleans, and which cost six million francs, having been
swept away. At Audrexieux, the part of the town situate
on the Rhone has been levelled, comprising eighteen
houses, and all the traces of the adjoining railway are lost.
The barracks of the gendarmie are but a heap of ruins,
and several persons perished. The number of houses de-
stroyed at Roanne amount to 115, and of 400 boats, laden
with merchandise, lying in the Loire or in the canal, and
made fast to the quay, 270 were sunk. The most fatal
episode of the disastrous day of the 18th, at Roanne, was
the loss of the municipal councillor, Merle, his son, and
some other persons, who were upset in a boat within
sight of hundreds of spectators, and perished. Another
bark having struck against some wreck, a young woman
was thrown out by the shock. By a spontaneous move-
ment she clung to her husband, and seizing him by the
neck she prevented ;him from swimming; but, the hus-
band being a powerful man, :of lofty stature, by a despe-
rate exertion, succeeded in bearing his burden near to
some houses, where the inhabitants threw him two sheets
twisted together, with which the husband and wife were
hauled into a house through the windows. At three
o'clock on the morning of the 19th, the Loire rose sud-
denly, and overwhelmed the whole of the lower part of
Nevers, and joining the Nievre, formed an immense lake.
Here and there were seen floating—timber, trees, cattle,
and cries of distress were heard at every point. A poor
boatman saved one after the other, about eighty persons ;
when, while endeavouring to get his boat through a diffi-
cult passage, he fell into the water and was drowned.
The visitation would, it was believed, prevent any fetes
or other demonstrations in compliment to the Duke and
Duchess de Montpensier in the south of France. The
king appears, however, resolved on celebrating his suc-
cess by numerous and varied entertainments in the halls
of his ancestors, particularly those of Versailles.
The following details are given by a traveller in a dili-
gence, which was overtaken by a flood near Feurs—
"We were eleven in the carriage, ten men and a woman.
We quitted Feurs at four o'clock in the afternoon. At
that period the bridge was thronged with spectators watch-
ing the progress of the Loire. We were advised not to
Proceed, but an inspector who was in the coach said,
Whip on the horses, there is no danger.' The unfortu-
nate man lost his life by his presumption, and we must
forgive him. We had scarcely proceeded a few dozen
paces before the wheels were covered by the flood. Our
position became most critical, as we could neither ad-
vance nor return. The postilion attempted to alight, but
he found that if he persevered he would be drowned.
With great difficulty we succeeded in casting a rope from
the top of the coach over a large tree, by which means we
prevented the coach from being capsized. We remained
in this perilous position until nightfall. A boat manned
with seven men attempted to approach us but failed, and
the crew were obliged for their own safety to attach the boat
to a tree. We remained in the utmost consternation, the
horses could no longer maintain their position, and M.
Bremond, of Lyons, one of our passengers, cut the traces
of one of them, mounted him, and taking a fellow traveller
behind him attempted to reach the shore. At three yards'
distance the horse fell, but the intrepid rider raised him,-
and two yards further man and horse disappeared in a
whirlpool. M. Bremond disengaged himself from the
horse, and swam to a tree, where he remained all night.
His companion never re-appeared ; he was the first
victim. Our position did not improve. The horses were
in succession csrried oway. The diligence leaned over to
the right, forced by the flood. We were only kept from
falling by our rope, when the lady who had remained in
the coup, with the rector of Sail-sous-Couson, screamed
to us to raise her up to the roof of the coach, as she was
drowning. The conductor and inspector threw her a
rope, which the priest tied round her waist, and we then
commenced the deplorable change of position which
caused the rope by which the coach was attached to the
tree to break, and the diligence rolled over. The lady,
and the two men who were raising her, disappeared, and
were seen no more. The priest, when the carriage was
turning over, jumped from the door, and seizing a leather
strap, succeeded in obtaining a position on the side of the
diligence. Another traveller from Limoges grasped the
priest's leg, and supported himself. 1 was holding by a
slight strap of leather, and was being carried off by the
flood, when the priest laid hold of me by the arm, and
lifted me, with the assistance of the postilion, to where he
stood. The young man from Limoges, ex hausted by fa-
tigue, loosed his hold, and was carried off by the current.
He was the fifth victim. We who remained on the coach
were carried on towards the Loire, by the force of the
waters, and after the diligence had struck against a tree,
which was torn by the roots from the earth, we were
almost miraculously saved from inevitable death by two
trees which resisted the weight of the coach. I passed
this dreadful night on my knees, holding the postilion and
the priest."