Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1846-11-26

ed the attention Of the Minister Of Public Works to
the necessity for creating employment Tor the Ia
boring classes during the winter season. and en-
powers him to dispose for that object sum OF
100000
1t is not unhoppily from floods only that France
suffers at this moment, and is menaccd To the
scourpe of inuudation must be added scarcity ana
disease. The French Government becomes hour
y more fully that the late harvest was much
less productive than even the most unfavorable ac
counts stated, aud of the consequent necessity for
immense outlay to preserve the population from
famine.
The Prcsse announced that the Minister OF
Commerce had received the reports on the crops
which he had demanded from the projects. Those
reports" it says, mention that the wheat crop was
in amount one fifth inferlorLo that OF ordinary
years; but the excellent quality of the grain re-
duccd the deficit to one tenth. France requires
|60,000,O00 hec,oes to supply the deficiency, or
months consumption"
Distress Of The Rural Population. Reports re-
ceived by several Parlsan journals bring intelIi
gence of the most distressing situation To which
The rural population in several departments OF
France is reduced by the high price Of food. In
Auvergnc, Bcrr OreauD1s, La Bre, and other
parts oil the country, the suilelings OF the poorer
classes are represented to be extreme. In the up
per Loire, it is said that the measure OF grain
which used to be sold for 3. British, has rls-
en- to As I'D. The potatoes are totally destroyed by
the blight and the distress OF the people is IN no
respect less severe than that which is reported TO
prevail in Ireland. NCre save those who are com
PEELED to witness them, can adequately estimate The
terrible sulferings which from this combination OF
the scourges of flood, fire and famine await innu
merable families dcring the approaching winter.
Destructive MunddtiOn. G, eat Sacrifice Of Lite
and Properiy The French journals are filed with
accounts of the most disastrous floods. that have
swept away vast amount of property and destroy
ed a great many lives. The following graphic and
melancholy particulars we abrldge from our foreign
papers The villages in the vicinity of the Loire
suffered more severely than Others. One account
says:
"Never within the memory of tnan have the wa
tcrs of the Loire so risen. The river began to over
! flow its banks on the 18th; but no expected
the prodgous inuudation by which suddenly the
country was submerged, on the night between the
18th and 10Th. 1t was at three in the morning like
a tide rising at the rate of four feet an hour The
river suddenly invaded the lower part of the town
/ of Nevers after having covered with its oamlng
waves the entire valley around II. a great mum
Der of inhabitants threatened in their beds, had
scarcely time to fy aud give the alarm. At the
break Of day the whole population was up, listen
ng with terror to the roaring OF the waters, which
continually increased around them. The Loire and
Nevre nIngling their waters, formed an immense
lake, under which the iauborings of Mousse, Me
vre, and Loire. nearly disappeared. Here there
beasts carried away from their pasturages, and ev
cry sort of debris, evidence of the most cruel dis
aster. Fire arms discharged signals of distress,
and the screams OF miserable creatures confined to
their dwellings by the surrounding waters, were
every where heard. Two steamboats, proved Of in
estimabe service. Throughout the day these sailed
from house to house, taking on board the wretchcd
inhabitants, considerable number of whom had
lost their reason by despair and terror"
An account gives the following gloomy partlcu
lars -"All the communes of the Val are literally
T submerged Several of the houses in Orleans have
fallen by the pressure of the waters. The conser-
vaores are all destroyed At Moullns the whole
population was up during tho night OF the 18th, as
sistlng by torchlight the uniortunaes whose dwell
lngs were submerged notwithstanding the activ
y of the people, the devotion OF the authoritlesand
the aid Of the military, it physically Impossible
f to assist ALL Numerous boats loaded with good:
were entirely lost bales of goods hogsheads o
wine and brandy, timber and merchandise OF every
description, t1oated IN every direction. The brldg
es of Vichy, Chazeuli, La Palisse, Donpierre, Di
gon, and others have been swept away. In TIN
department of La Loire, the bridges OF st. Just ant
st. Andrezieux, and Balbiny have been carried a
, way. At Roanne the digue has been broken, anC
e the river has resumed its ancient bed, deserving tn
f bridge The Hotel de Flandre, and all in it, tn
l. post-house and a great number of other house
h have disappeared. At Andrezoux the village ha
= been entirely carried away; scarce trace Of tn
railway is LETT the suspension bridge IS gone, tn
barracks heap of ruins as the sudden rise OF tn
waters took place in the night several persons hav
y persisted. At ST. Paul Cornllon, little villag
# has been entirely destroyed at Rounne, from 40 t
so houses entirely submerged. The account
from Roanne are terrific. Notwithstanding the un
n remitting exerllons Of the sappers and miners t
: raise work sagainst the encroachmens of the Loire
81 it carried away the 18th inst. forty yards of th
y embankment, with noise similar to that of can
4 non fired amongst mountains, and the waters rushe
= against the devoted town. The Rue Royalc an
;, the Place d'Armes were completely flooded, an
n the waters in the latter place to the fifth stor
d OF the houses, being three feet higher than durln
e a great flood which occurred fity-sX years since
l. The gas continued to burn until two o'clock in tn
morning, but at three o'clock the water havin
l. reached the gas work, the lights were eXiingusi
): ed, and the inhabitants were compelled TO llgf
lie torches The mn nber of houses destroyed Mt Re
a anne amour TO / Is, an OF 400 boIs laden with me
nj chandlse lying In the Loire in the canal an
~ made fast to the quays, 20 were sunk. Mott
" ing has been saved out of an amount valued at
n, COO 000f. At Babgny ALMOST all the houses hay
tn been destroyed"
~ Another account SAYS SAT Orleans all bus
p ness is suspended the custom house, the exchang
ct the tribunal of commerceal are shut. 1t is ii
to possible to estimate the enormous amount of Il
loss. In one place horrible spectacle was pr
is sented a church and churchyard being inundale
the tombs overturned, and the graves lltcra
n ly gave up their dead. On the subsistence of L
10 water, heaps Of human remains bones heads, a
ks fragments of bodies were scattered about throw
m proniscuously pell-mell, in heaps. The eXtraC
ed binary rain which has produced the floods Of t
en- Loire has extended over great portion Of the sou
o. and southeast of France.
- The terrific character of the inundations in sol
of places may be collected from the fact, that at
no bridge of Peruset the waters rose, between no
ice and six in the evening" to the incredible height
me fifty perpendicular feet, and, strange to say, Il
Jo- particular bridge was o"e of those which escap
destruction. 1t is stated in one of the accounts
the destruction of the viaduct of VIerzon, that OF
ons two days before the disaster the engneer-nch
lpy of the Government wrote to the directors of I
ion centre railroad, stating that he had Just eXamlr
1t, and could pronounce 1t to be then in so solid
es condition that nothing could effect it, The C