The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-07-08


terday. The railway between Toulouse and FOX
ana Toulouse and Bayonne Ia under water and
m1nlcauon with tbe rest OF France. The munich
pal council has voted 100 000 for the relief OF the
sufferers. The greatest credit Is Eiven to the
military Authorities Tor the aid which they have
given 10 the municipality and police:
TOULOUSE, June 25-Morning.
One hundred dead bodies have, up to the pres
sent, been found In tue houses hooded by the mum
datiOn but lett standing. Ii Is supposed tina
many people perished in the houses which were
swept away.
THE VISITATION SUDDEN AS IT WAS ALARMING
AND DEsoLATRd.
From the London Globe, June 2o-EveningI
The South OF France Is at present the scene Of a
disaster such as we are quite unable to picture to
ourselves In TINS fortunate country. The terrors
ana horrors OF an 1nundation, however faithfully
depicted by George Eliot or Millais, have 10 the
minds OF Englishmen no practical existence;
whereas the peasants OF North Italy and OF the
South and East of France are with good reason
appalled, at the very mention or one OF these Ca
The late foods in the neighborhood OF Toulouse
have been even more earful In their effects, In
consequence OF the suddenness with winch they
came upon the unsuspecung population. Tho
heavy rains, conciding IN time with the melting OF
snow on the Pyrenees and the Cevennes, loaded
with an extraordinary burden the tributary
streams which now from these mountains to the
northwest, and, uniting with the Garonne, whose
name they take, water the wonderfully fertile
valley lying between Toulouse and Bordeaux.
MOUNTAIN TORRENTS JoINRD-FEARFUL CoNsE-
II is at the points where tho several mountain
torrents join one another that the result has been
most terrloie. Thus at Toulouse, just below The
Junctlon OF She Garonne ana the Arlege, a whole
quarter has been submerged, 800 houses swept
away and 10000 Inhabitants turned adrlft At
Molssac, where the Important River Tarn, swol-
len by TWO important tributaries, falls into the
Garonne, the destruction is proportionatey
greater, large part OF the town being reported
as actually hidden under the waters.
THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE HOUSES SWEPT
In another small town, out OF 400 houses which
1t formerly attained Jour five only are now
said to be left standing The destruction OF crops
and loss OF farm stock at this time OF rear may DO
TO some extent imagined.
HORRIBLE SCENES.
But the horror OF the scene and the loss OF life
which followed on this sudden catastrophe can
only be realized by those VINO have assisted at o
similar spectacle. M. Edmond About has endeav-
ored to describe such scene IN well known
chapter OF "Madelon.n But the present tnunda-
ton seems not only to have distanced all the de-
scrlptions Of novelists but to have surpassed in
Its murderous results all previous examples in
Europe, 2l5 dead bodies having been already found
the aid OF the benevolent was more urgently
needed and more thoroughly deserved, and We
trust that the example Of subscription sopromptly
English towns with their usual alacrity.
DISPATCHES FROM FRANCE TO MANCHESTER.
From the Manchester Examiner, June 2sl
France has been visited with heavy rain, and
the results have been disastrous in various parts
Of the country, more especially in the depart
ments OF Arege, Ause, Haute Garonne and
Tarn. Houses and bridges have been washed
away, crops aud other property destroyed and, to
render the caldmt.j still more deplorabIe, many
telegram from Toulouse yesterday morning
announces that nd lever tnan 100 bodies had been
found In the houses which, though inundated, had
been left standing, and It is feared that many
people persisted In the dwellings that were swept
away.
HOW THE FRENCH AGR1CULTURISTs AND MANU-
FACTURERs ARE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED By
THE DIsAsTERs.
From the London Telegraph, June 2dl
The rain which refreshed our cereals, revived
the spirits Of our parched meadows and swelle d
the volume OF our attenuated streams a fortnight
back has had disastrous effects In the South OF
France. Like nre, water ls = capital servant, but
terrible master, and in sunny Languedoc it has
overpowered man and his works, ana desolatcd a
province with the old and not unfamiliar curse OF
inundAtion. The rain, II appears, has fallen in
that region with tropical profuslon ana persist
or once the Isle OF SKYE aG fGai as G 1.sp
most OF the rivers throughout the South
OF Franee-the Garonne, the Tarn the Gers, the
Adour-have overlooked their banks, delugiug the
fields, washing away the crops. flooding the low
lying SUBURBS OF towns. drowning cattle and
carrying away railway bridges. La some places
the Garonne is said TO be Jour miles wide; at
Toulouse itself whole quarters are submerged and
lines has been interrupted In several places. The
extent OF the tnpndatlons is said to exceed that
OF the noods OF 1855, when the late Emperor Ma
poleon personally visited the scenes of suffering,
and distributed relief at the cost of some danger
to himself, though in way that greatly enhanced
his popularity. The present visitation also mas
been promptly met by the government, which
asked from the National Assembly, and at once
for the aid OF the suffei ers
Ihe south Of France has prospered so much
from the supeIaoundance OF last years harvest
tI.dIR " nhoh In ,a tha To-. -
few, even though the area OF ihu be larger
than mas been yet reported. The. French peasant
these respects answers the double purpose Of
giving him reserve laid up against rainy day
and OF costing him less Tor mere sustenance than
our beefled and beer-drlnking. bus most
improvldent. workingman requires. But Tou-
louise, A9ch and other towns named have
i is they VINO viii VII pO csieny su anq
and be the objects OF government aid. For
all that, the visitation, unlike the calamity in
Asia Minor, Tor which English help mas been
earnestly sought aud Is urgently needed, will have
comparatively moderate range, ana VIII be little
felt In a rich and progressive country. fne chief
lesson II teaches Is the difficulty OF measuring the
force Of elemental outbreaks IN the South OF
rain storms that gathered ana discharged Ike
waterspouts, have been periodical occurrences
even yet fallen on eIectual means OF arrest.
ing their r2vages. TINS Is tpe more sur
prisinR, as a river like the Garonne desolaie
much r1cher regions than does the impetuOus
shannon when it takes to an excursus among the
adjoining boys, peat MOSES and potato patches.
The corn, the wine, the Oil, the fair expanses OF
finest wheat the clustering and the trelsea vines,
the olive and mulberry trees are the victims OF the
southern rivers riotous outbursts when the
volume OF water has become uncomfortable aud
the banks are overeaped by the impatient torrent.
Let us hope the present lesson Will net be lost
and that NJ Leon say, whose next budget will be
neither more nor less than reflection OF the
coming harvest, will allow something from the
Treasury TO protect the fertility and industry
OF the South.
CREEDMOOR.