The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-10-06
s. ls'0'
r-xaravagant Statements.

The fr~esh-indeed the 800
.so,, hs shenandoah and the James, "sts
~ m0,cient,y destructive put tna'
-, seem to have satisfied the reporto-
o wv dn,snds Of them, and they have been
.nI.rrs6 unon with u very lively imagln"'
! e~ richmond has been tho chief vlcti'h
ss this nlsy of the fancy. She has oeeh
..nassnted - being Submerged" ana a
GREAT mary circumstances nave use
hroueht to spinforce the statement mihse
u,cre as unreal as the main assertion i'sel''
Tow sufferers feel the better OF symps-
Inv. They might feel indeed that ]. .sa
bearsless world from which no tear OF p''!
con,d be extracted by such disasters Us
those Of the flood-even when s'a'eu ~.
and plainly as no more nor less tnan "nss
.hey are. But oyer.statement sometimes Is
on,te hurtful. sufferers may be represent
ad 40 hevond relief; rs so deeply buraea IN
Tho on,cssand Of misfortune that emf
70 helm them will only involve those VINO
hold out the helping hand. 1t is always
safest and best to state things truly. i
Richmond was not only not submerged,
hut only q small part of it was under wa
row. The river shore at the lower points of
the land and the dock and the wharres at
Rockets were covered by the flood, and
the back water along Shockoe creek, the
lowest point in the city proper, invaded
parts Of Cary, Main, and Franklin streets.
The cellars and lower stories of the stores
on Main street were inundated for about
two squares and a half, Franklin street for
3 lesser distance, and Cary street probably
for three squares. This is all. The de-
struction of property was not great, for the
merchants in the district in greatest danger
had removed the perishable stores from en-
posed situations. Some lost smartly, IN
deed, from an unfortunate n of secu-
ritz which the result showed delusive. But
the telegraph gave the warning, which
saved Richmond and reduced herlosses to a
moderate aggregate.
This is quite a different story from that
about her being submerged and having lost
millions.
The great losses are along the rivers in
the washing away o mills and dwellings, and
the destruction Of corn crops. The extent
of these losses it is impossible to aggregate.
But they exceed the losses Of any pre-
ceding calamity in Virginia by flood.
No such food Is believed to have occurred
in James river Valley since III, and then
there was not so much in the Valley to be
destroyed while in the Shenandoah Nai-
lev there is no recollection Oh record of any
food equal to that Of last week, which
swept it most disastrously from the head
waters OF the river to the Potomac.
The loss of life is most distressing, and
quite peculiar to this food.
Yet, as bad as the flood is, it shows how |
prone men ore to eXaggeration. Its
consequences everywhere are magnihed.
The State of Virginia is not washed away, |
nor is it ruined, bya long way. A year will
60 far to wipe out its losses and to make us
forget them. individuals, indeed, may be
ruined; but although communities may feel
at present the general injury, it will not be
many months before the losses will be for
gotten, or slightly remembered, amidst the
active and industrious pursuit of the avo-
cations Of life. Alphabetically speaking, the
account Of this and the next two years will
show q fine average. The flood has fertil-
lied an immense surface of land more sue.
cessfully than it could be done by the hand
of man. Some places are, of course,
made poor BY washing, and we think it
likely many poor and bare spots have been
enriched by the deposits Of the flood.
This calamity falls upon us at a sad
time indeed, for we have supped full of
misfortunes. But, then, we, who are so
used to disaster, can assuredly bear the
last like men, and we should not forget that
it is a calamity that happens but once in a
century.