The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1875-07-25

Uoch t6xL kIeut. w nave b6lOIS HlSCu
some facts Of the recent destructive in
undations in France. Nearly one-sixth
of that fertile and highly cultivated
country has been submerged by desc
lating floods. Tho principal river of tho
inundated department., the Garonne, is
n broad but somewhat shallow stream,
with fiat valley lands on either side. 1t
receives from the Pyrenecs hundreds Of
turbulent torrents, and, on the other
hand, the whole watershed of the South
ern slope of the high land between it
and the Loire, including some considera-
bic rivers. For months, there has been
n drought in that region, when suddenly
there was launched upon it in three
days mass of water which would have
been amply sufficient if distributed
through three months. The result was
whnt we have seen, on smaller scale,
though sufficiently destructive and ter
rifying.. in our own country, where
absorption and evaporation have not
assisted in the disposition Of rain, and
the river bed is not ample enough to
carry it away. We have had sufficient
experience enough of the effects of sud-
den freshets in Jones Falls to enable us
to form n faint conception of the disaster
from which France is suffering. But
nothing like that in the magnitude Of
the losses of property and life has ever
occurred here. Cities have been ruined,
villages and cattle swept away, and large
numbers of people drowned. The Hood
seems to have been rs sudden in its
onset as it was terrible in its effects,
many distressing illustrations Of which
arc given by the foreign journals. The
exact amount of the loss of life is not
yet ascertnined, though 2l5 bodies
have been recovered at Toulouse,
where the greatest loss of life was
supposed to have occurred. Num-
ber5 Of families are left pcnnilcss,
and the active charities Of the civilized
world must be exerted to alleviate the
sufferings and impoverishment which
have resulted. The loss of life by the
floods in Frnnce is, however, compnra-
lively small to that which has been pro-
duccd by other causes elsewhere during
the last six months. In the Fiji Islands
alone, $4,000 people are said to have pc
introduced since the annexation of those
islands to Great Britain. 600 lives are
said to have been lost by the overflow of
the Danube in Pesth. We are not in
formed of the loss of life by the recent
earthquakes and accompanying volcanic
disturbances in Iceland, but there have
been four other earthquakes, from which
the loss has been given approximately MS
follows: In New Grenada, $4,000; in
Asia Minor, 2, 600; in the Loyalty Islands,
where the earthquake was accompanied
by n terrible tidal wave, 1000; and Mt
San Cristobal, Mexico, 70. A fnmine in
Asia Minor during the early part of the
year swept Off 20. 900 people before relief
could reach the afflicted region. The
marine disasters of the past six months
boyn hann toc,, ri ri al - rrntivn of 1;f,.
Among them are the Schiller, on tho
Scilly Islands, $50; the Gottenberg, off
the Australian const, 1G6; the Cadiz, 62;
the Flu Sing, n Chinese steamer, so; the
American ship Fioletta, 42; the Vicks-
burg, collision with iccbergs, 40; the
Thornabia, 30; the Cortes, 26; the Geo.
Batters, 81; the Bride, Bcrnr, Berlin, Ua-
panese,) and the Alice, 20 each; and the
Lochnagar, 1G. There have been other Sc
| we're disasters on the South American, Chi
ncse and English COASTS, which involved
n serious loss of life, but it is impossible
to estimate them, rs the telegraph fur
nishcs no record. The season has been
unusually characterized by tOrnndocs
and hurricanes, and Of these there have
been eighteen which have been accom-
panied by loss Of life, as follows: In
Hong Kong. 500; Georgia, BIZ; Chill, CO.:
Louisiana, 20; France, IL; Missouri, g.;
Mississippi, II; Arkansas, 5; Michigan,
3; Wisconsin, 3; Illinois, 8; South Caro-
lima, 2, and Kansas, total, 9l4. Thirty
five fires have been reported by which
3O4 lives have been sacrificed. Only
three of these have been accompanied
by IL heavy loss Of life, being the burn
ing of n match factory Mt Gottenbcrg,
Sweden, so; steamers mt New Orleans, IS;
and the recent Holyoke, Mass, church
disaster, o. Explosions, mainly in this
country, have killed POI people, as fol-
lows: Fire damp, 122; boilers, iS; gun
powder, 81; fireworks, 8; nitro -glyccrinc,
4; and chemicals, g.
This list, as will be seen, does not in
clude railroad disasters, snow slides and
the large number taken off by suicide,
murder, war, massacre and other violent
forms Of death. Most Of these calami-
ties admit of no remedy, but such as do,
like tho privations and misery of the
helpless survivors of flood and earth