Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-07-29
The Great Flood in France.

the ouays and on the stone bridge and
looked helplessly on the scene OF desOla.
ton and followed with terrified eyes the
work of destruction. Property of all sorts
was being swept away by the angry
waves; piles Of timber, casks, cattle and
heavy panks were hurled in their flight
against the piers Of the bridge. Half an
hour after the precaution had been taken
to close the bridge of ST Pierre it gave
way with crash and it was quickly fol
lowed by the baths Raynaud and the large
public warehouses of Tourney and st.
Pierre At last, as if all the elements
were combining against the unfortunate
town, the large rolling mills of BEAGLE
were discovered to be in flames, while an
other fire broke out at the Port Garaud
in house that was entirely cut off from
any Chance Of succer. The manufactures
of Bazace and in the Rue DIES Amidon-
niers were abandoned on the water rush
ing into them and were of course greatly
damaged. Two houses fell ut the Port
Garaud, and it is believed that two women
are buried in the ruins. On the Quai de
Tounis the rise of the water was so rapid
that many families could only be rescued
by means of the windows.
The tugboat stationed at st. Pierre was
carried away by the force OF the torrent
and was capsized. -Four or five persons
were on board at the time, and as the YES
sci was borne away they uttered cries of
despair. Their fate is as yet unknown.
Among many tragical occurrences the
following shows prominently: A messcn-
ger from the Church of Sept Deniers ar
rived at the artillery barracks and asked
for volunteers to save four persons inn
prisoned in a house surrounded by water.
Three men at once departed in two boats,
accompanied by three sailors They
rowed over the inundated corn.felds be-
tween the Garonne and the canal until
they arrived opposite the above named
church. There the first boat, manned by
two sailors and one artillcryman, was sud
denly seized by the current, became I'M
manageable and was driven away toward
the Garonnc at II furious rate The Occur
pants OF the other boat were just enabled
Ia escape the current, and were thus pre-
served from an almost certain death. AS
10 the persons shut up in the house it was
found impossible to rescue them, and
fears were entertained that owing to the
force Of the water the building might sue
cumb at any moment.
Although we have the fullest accounts
from Toulouse it must not be imagined
that the ravagcs of the disaster were con
fined to that city. On the contrary, terri
bic accounts pour in from the surrounding
districts, the floods having extended over
"A vast space of the country From
L'Ariege terrible news continues to arrive.
At Vcrdun ii Is stated that fifty houses are
destroyed, eighty unfortunate persons
buried in the ruins, with about 800 head
of cattle Thirty -four corpscs have been,
recovered and buried after identification.
The villages of Labas,ide and Besplas
have been entirely engulfcd.
From the ci-Garonne the news is
also disastrous. The Garonne and the
Tarn have been very destructive in their
course, and the overflow was SO rapid that
in many places the inhabitants were I'M
able to carry anything away. A large
number of families are homeless, and
many animals have persisted,
At Gers and Manssebc many houses
have been washed down or have suffered
injury.
In the towns and villages of the Bases.
Pyrcnecs there has been great destruction.
Bridges have been carried away: houses
have been inundated and greatly injured;
the crops have been partially destroyed in
some districts several animals have been
drowned and AT Jaut Il shepherd lost his
life
A correspondent Of the SER tclegraphs
from Agrn that the bodies of n number of
cattle have been found in the fields; that
mourning and ruin are everywhere; that
The exchange and markets are shut. and
that the theaters are opened only for rep
rcScntatouS for the benefit OF the victims.
Alter Marshal Mac Mahon had inspected
the scene Of desolation last Sunday the
public We're allowed To visit the principal
streets Of the Faubourg st, Cyprien, and
relative To this the correspondent of the
Paris Figaro, VI Castor NaSSy. contrib.
utcs to the pages of that journal the fol
lowing further details conccrningthc great
catastrophe.
Every moment bodies are being found
for the most part horribly mutilated, some
having Ia be literally pulled out piece by
piece from the rubbish by which they had
been buried Houses still continue to fall,
ana an unfortunate soldier has inst been
crushed by one. The hand is powerloSs
10 describe 10y Tie means of the pen the
aspect OF this desolated tauhourg. At each
step heap of ruins marks what a short
time ago had been happy home. Furni-
lure, linen and property of every deScrip
ton Is mingled in ineNtriCablr confusion
with the bodies of men, women, children:
and domestic animals crushed out of
shape. At the locality known as the
Place tic Lomcnie the state OF the railing
which mcloSeS the Office for the collection
Of the town dues may give one an idea of
The iury OF the water, the doors having
been beaten in and the iron bars actually
twisted. In the avenue of the Pate Il
Ole The trees are thrown To the ground. the
gas stamps are tom up, and the work of
destruction has been thoroughly done
upon the right hand as well as upon the