The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1868-11-12
CALAMITY IN SWITZERLAND.
Appeal to the Swiss and to tie
Friends OF Switzerland in the
United States.


Friends OF Switzerland in the
United States.
A calamity. has befallen the ,citi-
zens of Lessin, Valais, st. Gall, and
Uri, which in its immens:ty, stands
unequalledin the annals of Switzer-
land. On the 9th of September
rain beganto fall in torrents along
the Northern and Southern slopes
of the alps, and continued to de-
scend, but with little intermission,
for eight days During all this
time powerful South wind ragged
fuliously amidst the masses of snow
and ice, which had lain undisturbed
for centuries in their inaccessible
Alpine strongholds. Every noun
tain rivulet swelled into rushing
stream, every stream into a torrent
carrying appalling destruction in its
course. The rivers of Tessin, the
Rhone, the Reuss, the Rhine, and
the Inn, ia their relentless power,
obliterated many of the choicest
beauties ofnature, e,impoverishedt thou
sands of families, and hurried hund-
redsto a waterY grave. Heartrending
and vain was the struggle of human
hands against the overpo weribg
force of the watery element On it
came, in the dead of night, terrible
in its might, scattering destruction
far and wide, and piling up in the
meadows the mountain debris of
ages. Rocks weighing hundreds of
tons were torn from their resting
places, and in their course Joined
the revelry of destruction. Whole
forests, vinyards, and meadows
stacked with grain, have disappear
ed, and in many places, nota ves-
tige of roads, bridges and fences is
left; houses, mills and factories are
torn from their foundations, and
Feven cemeteries and charnel- houses
have been invaded, and their con-
tents scattered along the .courseof
the devastation. Thousands of cat
tie lie choked in the mud, and thou
sands of our fellow beings are re-
duced to abject poverty Along the
Rhine, village upon village lies half
buried in the mud and debris. and
every article of beding and wearing
apparel has either been swept away
or rendered useless in houses where
comfort, and even plenty reigned;
while their verdant meadows. pro-
ductiye orchards, and. beautiful gar
dens, are one mass Of greyish mud.
Sixty millions of francs will fall far
short OF the loss sustained. On such
extraordinary occasions it is meet
that unusual measures be adopted
to alleviate at least in part the suffer
ing Of our brethren. The federal
government of Switzerland, promp-
ted by feeling which it knew would
meet with hearty response from
its people, at once dispatched its
President to the suffering localities
and ordered to the scene of devasta-
ton the various corps of sappers
and miners to render all possible as
sistance Ere this one million of
francs will have been appropriated
by the federal government, and a
like sum will have been contributed
by the several cantons. Already a
convention of delegates from all
cantons have assembled in Berne,
and relief associations have sprung
up in every section of the land,
whose offerings will be distributed
by the Central Relief Association,
organized under the auspices of the
federal government Many individ-
uals have given most literally, and
the people of adjacent countries are
also busy. heart and hand, in the
noble work of relieving want. A
mong others the King and Queen of
nuremberg made at once remit
ance, and organized a relief society
over which they will preside. And
we, fellow countrymen and breth-
rem, shall we stand aloof? Shall
we leave unheeded the cry of distress
the pleading eye cast over from be-
loved Switzerland No, no, never,
never must be the ready response of
every heart. The painful tidin gs
from our sorely-visited brethren will
find an echo in bountiful blessed
America. A mite from every feeling
heart, gift from every generous
hand, and this visitation of Almighty
God will afford another proof of the
truthfullness of our country's ssmot-
to- "One for all and all for one."
The unusual exigencies of this ma
tional calamity make an appeal to
the philanthropy of his countrymen
and his country's friends, on the
part of the undersigned, virtually
obligatory. Fellow-country men in
the United States, up, then, and be
doing in the work of relieving our
suffering brethren
Organize, aud let US labor prompt
ly. unitedly and earnestly. Dona-
tons can be sent, by mail or express,
to the undersigned, Or intrusted to
the Swiss Consulate at New York,
Philadelphia, Charleston, New Or
leans, Galveston. Cincinnati, Chica
go, st. Louis, or San Francisco, by
whom they will be transmitted to
the undersigned, for remittance to
the Central Relief Association in
Switzerland. God bless the giver!
a@z 81 JOHN HIrz,
Political Agent and Consul General
of Switzerland, Washington City,
D. C. sga 9ta Sd
We don't wish to harrow the teel-
ings Of our Democratic friends by
..oonoorrinor "a