Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1868-11-24
A Terrible Calamity in Switzerland,

A calamity has befallen the cantons
of Tessin, Valais, Grisons, and Url,
which in its immensity, stands une-
qualled in the annals Of Switzerland.
On the 9th of September, rain com
menced to fall in torrents along the
northern and southern slopes of the
Alps, and continued to descend, with
out little intermission, for eight days.
During all this time a powerful south
wind ragged furiously amid the masses
of snow and ice which had lain undis-
turbed for centuries in their inaccess-
ible Alpine strongholds. Every noun
tain rivulet swelled into rushing
torrent, carrying appalling destruction
in its course. The rivers of Tessin,
the Rhone, the Reuss, the Rhine, and
the Inn, in their relentless power OBJ
liberated many OF the choicest beauties
of nature, impoverished thousands of
families, and hurried hundreds to wat
cry graves. Heart-rending and vain
was the struggle against the overpow.
ering element. On it came in the
dead night, terrible in its might, seat
tering destruction far and wide, and
piling up in the meadow the mountain
debris of ages. Rocks weighing hun
dreds of tons were torn from their
resting places and in their course join
ed the revelry Of destruction. Whole
forests, vineyards, ,and meadows stack
ed with grain, have disappeared, and
in many places, not vestige of roads,
bridges, fences is left; houses, mills,
and factories are torn from their
foundations, and even cemeteries and
charnel houses have been invaded, ,a1d
their contents scattered along tn e
course of devastation. Thousands OF
cattle lay choked in mud, and thous-
ands of our fellow beings are reduced
to abject poverty. Sixty million Of
francs will fall far short of the loss
sustained.
A correspondent of the London
Times gives a detailed account of the
recent disastrous floods in northern
Italy. He says:
Over the greater part of northern
Italy rain had fallen almost without
intermission for twenty or thirty days,
though not in the Alpine district so
as to cause any serious catastrophe;
but on the night of Sunday, the 9th
of September, a terrible storm broke
upon the southern slopes of the Al ps,
producing in few hours, vast tor
rents and avalancheS, under which
roads, houses, and villages were swept
away, and large tracts of fertile coun-
try were sunk in mud and water. The
storm OF the ZIJn, however, proved
only signal of disaster to come
For week since, night and day, there
has been one continuous storm and
cataract of rain, the results of which
are not yet known, but which has al
ready covered the whole valley of the
Po with a series of foundations.
On the morning Of the 29th we left
Lucerne to cross the St. Gothark road
in splendid weather, and in total ig-
norance Of the catastrophe of the 9th.
Immediately after leaving Faido signs
of destruction began. The road had
been torn up at intervals by torrents
descending from the precipice above,
and swept by avalanches Of earth,
stone and timber. As we passed on
the destruction became worse. Or
chards, woods, vineyards and chatlets
were seen to have been hurled in a
mass across the valley, which they
covered with ruins, and for long tracts
not only had every trace of road dis
appeared, but every trace Of cultiva-
ton itself; so that what once used to
be a rich country, teeming with pro-
duce, and traversed by a massive
causway, had returned to its primitive
state of torrent bed and primitive
rock.
At Bodio the disaster has been the
greatest. The whole village was swept
by a torrent Of mud and stone. which
scarcely left a house standing, and
buried about twenty persons in the
ruins. The destruction was almost
instantaneous. The torrent which de-
scends from the mountain above had
burst its channel and partially food
ed the houses, when, about midnight,
on the 9th, crash high up the prec-
ipice was heard, and soon a stream
of mud and stone swept over the vii
lage, and almost buried it out of sight.
As we reached Blacka, where the
Breno joins the Ticino, further disas-
ters appeared. The Breno was rising
more violently even than the Ticino,
: and threatened to cut the communica-
tion up the valley, which few hours
after we forded did actually occur
The villages of this lateral valley had
been swept by avalanches, and in all
of them property and cattle and in
r some, many lives had been lost. In
: a word, the whole valley of the Tici-
| no, which every tourist will remem-
! ber as a scene OF continual beauty
: and richness, has been desolated; for
) twenty or thirty miles its entire source
, of industry has been destroyed, and
, great tracts of it have been changed
from the most fertile soil into a mere
} desert of sand and rock.
But what was happening in the val
ley of the Ticino was only specimen
of what was Detailing many a valley
/, of the Alps. At Bellinzona rumors
1 more or less distinct were rife of sim