The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-08-14
rhe Yenr Of Flooa. and pl.a,tsr,.


which is rainlVss region, all ,he great diyi.
sions Of The globe have suffered Within two
months there have been Hoods IN Europe,
Asia, Australia and America. In the United
States the damage done land the property
damage has been very great i mainly in the
valleys Of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri.
including the river bottoms Of the tributaries
Of those rivers in the States Of West Virginia,
Ohio, Indiana, lllinois, Kentucky, Tennessee,
Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska
and Arkansas Of these, the central and
southern parts Of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois
have suffered most loss in the destruction uf
crops, the sweeping away OF movable property
along the salleys of the streams and rivers.
and By the breaking up Of railway tracks and
bridges. The Western STATE ilonas. as men.
toned a DAY or two ago, were the combined
result OF continuous. but not violent rains, l0r
a week or two according To locality.i down
To about the 3Dth OF July, when the earth
being thoroughly saturated SO as TO hold ne
more water, series of very violent raia
storms set ia, which overtlowed al the water
courses and turned them into Wide-swecpipg
and destructive torrents. The money losses
in the Western States will aggregate no, les
than SS,OOO,000 and Posslbl, Sa,Oso,Osl.
Happily there was but little loss OF life.
In Europe, during June and July, there
were severe rains aud ruiuous foundations ia
France, Hungary. switzerland, Silesia su4
England. They we're all destructive and
depiorahle, but worst of al in soaghefn
France, where no. only great damage 10 prop
eriy was suffered, but whole villages Of houses
were swept away, and. in two or three ins,.
ances, populous suburbs oftowns werc drawu
ed out--as in the case OF s.. Cyprien, aI
/ Toulouse, and at Agea-causing a dreadinl
/ loss Of life, estimated at more than q Thousand.
aud leaving tens Of thousands Of people
without homes without clothing, shelter ur
food, and without the means Of earning their
living, as the shops. mills, factories and other
! places Of industry in which they worked were
all destroyed by the same floods that swept
away their relatives, their houses and house
hold goods. At Agen the population spent
/ thirty-siN hours ON their roofs. and al 81
| Cyprion there was not "A dwelling in which any
person could sleep for considerable period
after the food.
These foods were in the valleys Of the
rivers Garonne (including the Ariese and
Tarnl aud Adour, which rise in the Hish
Pyrenees, which rivers, after running north
wardly and westerly course empty into the
Giroude and Bay Of Biscay, below Bordeaux,
IN the one case, and near Bayonne in the
other II was in the upper parts oi the
valleys OF the Garonne and Adour that the
devastation vas most terrible, the foods being
caused by an unusual fall Of snow in the
Pyrenees about the middle Of June, followed
almost Immediately by warm westerly winds
and wet weather, and then by heavy rains.
The valleys OF the French rivers heading in
the Pyrenees and which empty into the
Garonne are subject to these destructive foods
At remarkably regular intervals Within the
present century DISASTROUS oyer;iOws have oe
| CURED in the valley of the Garonne at inter.
/ walls Of twenty years, viz: in 1915, 1888. aud
/ 1915. Those in the Adour, however, show no
sach regularity. The damage done by the
/ Hood OF 1866 was estimated at 5000, 900, but
/ the destruction by the recent inundation is
| much greater and the distress much more
terrible because OF the destruction OF homes,
/ the deprivation Of employment and means OF
living, and the heavy loss of life.
The accounts of the floods in Asia aud Aus.
tralia are but meagre statements of the bare
fact, though We judge the foundations do not
| approach, IN destructiysness, either those in
France or those in the Western States of our
own country. A peculiarly Of this extraorii.
mary season Of rains and floods is that they
have nearly all occurred at very unpropitious
seasons for the crops, and this was partcn.
larry the case concerning the grain crops in
Europe, and for all the ungathered crops in
the valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi and Mis-.
SCUM, IN our own country, there being more
I or less destruction in the flooded districts 10
oats, hay, barley, wheat, potatoes and corn,
and some damage to tobacco and cotton
further south Yet, still the aggregate of the
American grain crops promises to be large
but those of Europe, we fear, will be quite
short Another peculiarly is the immense
breadth of the earth's surface that has been
afflicted by storms aud inundations. extend.
| ing from the Missouri, in the Western Hemis.
phere, TO India, IN the Eastern. and from
Siiesia, in the Northern Hemisphere, to Aus
iralia, in the Southern.
From the recent facts aud figures which
have been published, il will be readily seen
that the loss Of human life from floods, fires.
earthquakes, &c, during the last six months,
has been very great The following shows
the estimated loss :-''By flood, in Toulouse,
France, 2l5, reported at 1000, these figures
representing only the bodies fouud;) from
measels IN the Fiji Islands, 10000; by the
overflow IN the Danube, in Pesth, 600; from
earthquakes, in New Grenada, 10000: Asia
Minor, 1000; in the Loyalty Islands, where
me earthquake was accompanied by terrible
tidal wave, 20O0; at San Cristobal. Mexico,
1Oi from famine in Asia Minor, 10000; from
marine disasters, by the loss Of the Schiller IN
the Sicily Islands, $50: the Gottenburg. OF
,sthe Australian coast, lG6; the Cadiz, az; the
Flu Sing, Chinese steamer, 30; the Amer.
can ship Violetta, ~; the Vicksburg, collision
with ieebergs, 40; the Thornabia, 70; the
Corles, 26 the Geo. Bat;ers, 81; the Bride
Berar, Berlin (JapaneseJ and the Alice. 20
each; aud the Lochnagar, l6. There have
been other severe disasters on the South
American, Chinese and English coasts which
involved serious loss of life, bn. il is limos.
sible to estimate them. From tornadoes and
hurricanes the loss Of life has been as follows.
In Hong Kong, 500; Georgia, 3l7; Chill. 90.
Louisiana, 20; France, IL; Missouri. 6; Mis-.
sissipi, liz Arkansas, 5; Michigan, s; Wiseon.
sin, 3; Illinois, 8; South Carolina, 2. and
kansa.,l. Total, 9l4. Thirty five fires have
been reported, by which 304 lives have been
sacrificed. Only three of these have been
accompanied by heavy loss Of life, being the
burning of q match factory OF Gottenburg,
Sweden, 30; steamers at New Orleans, IS;
and the recent Holyoke Mass. church disas.
ter, ", Explosions, mainly in this country,
have killed 207 people people. Total, 7s.si2
IN SIX months and the whole story is not yet
told Philadelphia Ledger
MkCHANlcsToWS lTEMs.-We take the fol.
lowing items from the Cdtoe'ia Clarion
At Catociin Furnace ON Wednesday after
noon, Harry, a son Of Mr.. John Barthlow.
aged about eight years, was fatally burned by
coal oil, The boy attempted to start fire IN
the kitchen stove by placing some kinding
wood into II and then pouring coal oil over
the wood: Unfortunately there happened 10
be few live Goals in the stove and as soon as
the oh touched them they ignited and set FIRE
@ me can which he held in his hand, bursting