Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1840-06-04
From the augusta Sentinel, Of May30.
GREAT FRESHET.

of the Freshet was penncd, our city was in tie
most painful state of excitement. Already had
q considerable portion Of the city been nunda-
ted, and the river continued To rise at fearful
rate. To attempt any description ofa calanIi-
ry so awf,Ily sublime, would bo worse than
vain; itreqnred to be seen, to comprehend its
vast destructive capacity. About IL o'clock.
Wednesday night. the city was completely sub
merged, and the river continuing to rise. The
scene was painful one; many families were
still in their houses. entirely surrounded by Il
current to them impassabie without aid, and
tile wafer making rapid inroads upon them
From this fearful and alarming situation, they
were relieved by buats and horSeiner, nnthow
ever. i'm some instances, until they were stand
Ing to their necks in water. In this work Of
noble, generous philanthropy. many oil our citi
zens were engaged all night; and in many in
stances it was perilors, rs The STREETS in many
places would swim the tnlest nurses. When
the day dawned, our city appeared rs if stand
ing in the midst Ol 4 vast sen of water, which ex-
tended as far as the eye could reach from the
highest cmnence.
Boats capable Of carryinr forty bales of cot
ton were floatng through every sire in the
city with the greatest ease, aud orr beautiful
Broad street was from two 10 ten feet deep, and
in some places running with The rapidity of n
mountain torrent. and cnninucd through The
dav Yesterday. This morning the water in the
river has fallen so as not to food the city, ex-
ccpt in one or two places which are yet strong
and deep currents And the withdrawal Of the
water from the other portions OF the city,
makes bare our streets, once beautiful and
level. which preSrntsa scene to the eye whirh
no langnage. cdn describe. Those ouly who
are acquainted with the character Of ollr soil can
have any conception of The damage dour To- The
streets. whichin many places are washed 10 or
Is feet deep. The destruction of property. both
public and private has been ilnmense--the mp
per bridge has been entirely carried away, and
abont three or four hundred feet of the lower
one. Our ciizeus watched throughout tile dry
OH "Wednesday, with almost painful anxiety the
lower bridge, and the air was rent with sli1nis
rs thcy saw it withstand shock after shock,
iiom mountains Of RATS. mill and gin houses.
bridges. dwellings and every ciass Of tree from
the small sappIing TO The sturdy oak of the for.
est which had been washed mp, and was BONE
away hy the resislless fnrce of the torrent, full
Aedged with the beautiful foliage. But during
Wednesday night The bridge gave way. The
destruction Of private property is also great
many wood buildings have been entirely swept
away aud several brick buildings have heen
undermined. and some have already fallen. bu
we cannot now give particulars. The wharves
are still covered and The damage done 10 them
is not known but is no doubt very great, rs
large portions ofthcm were seen floating Off
The cellars were all with very few exceptions.
filled with waer, and large amount of mer-
chandise is destroyed in them. as they filed so
ranidlv in some instances as to afford The occu-
pants no time to clear them.
T. source nf gratitude to the Supreme Ru.
Ter Of events. that amid oil this destruction Of
property. there has not been. thatw rs yet hear
any loss of human life. We shall. in day or
two. collect all the particulars and give whatev-
er il of moment to our readers.
From orr neiahbnring town of Hamburg we
have had no communication since "Wednesday
evening, and we fear that their situation has
been worse than ours, as the location Of the
town is rather lower.
After the foregoing was penned in the
morning for our Weekly paper. we took
ride through portion Of The CITY. TO ascer
tain more definitely, The exrentof the ca
amIv which has befallen oui city, and
the probable extent Of loss, as well as 10
furnish particulars TO our readers AT dis
tance; hui we returned convinced that any
effort at description could MOI possibly con-
vey any adequate idea of the state Of The
city. twill require days to ascertain any
Just idea Of The extent of the loss which
he CITY and individuals have susiained.-
Never have we seen such state Of things,
Our streets, once The most beautiful and
level. are rendered. in many places i'm
passable even 10 horsernen. and We believe
there is moi street in The city, through
which carriage can pass from one end to
The other.
Many dwellings have heen swept en-
lirelv away. and great many more have
been rendered entirely unfit for use, and
must he repaired. and in some instances
almost entirely rehnilt hefnre they can be
fir for use. Several brick buildings. some
of them very handsome edifices have heen
much injured. and others must be taken
down. Much cotton has noated onf from
the ware houses and was carried of, and
hundreds of bales are no doubt forever lost
both in this city and Hamburg. the precise
quantity we know not. hut suppose that at
least one luOuSbitl IdfC " Sb "o' 'i' NV
two places. aud there are many who think
our estimate not enough.
The loss 10 The city anil individuals is
varinuslv estimated al from S50 1000 10
one million dollars. and our opinion is that
the smallest amount will more than coy
the entire nss, though here are those who
think differently. We are well satisfied
iha, any estimate at this time. however, is
entitled 10 but lille credit, hce ause il is moth
ing hut conjecture. Many persons narrow
ly escaped drowning, and some were we'll
nigh drowned inBrnadSrreel, hut one the
most thrilling incidents which occurred, is
that of a little girl about eleven years Of
age. who was taken up in the mi'ldlo Of
| the river about twenty-five miles above
The city, by Capt. Joseph Stanton, of
Petersburg boat, The story Of the adven-