Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1875-07-29
The Recent Floods i'm France.

The Paris correspondent of the London
StdndGrd, writing of the recent floods in
France, says: L" 1t is not in places like
Toulouse that the sense of desolaton
caused by the plague of water can be real
lied; the evil does not stare you in the
face, and even the fetid smells that make
it impossible to walk through the ravaged
quarters without putting up ones hand
kerchief to ones nose does not disturb the
lOungers in the Allees Lafayette or the
coy dinner parties at Tivoliers. But in
the country, where ruined villages are set
in frame Of ravaged fields, the magni-
tude Of the disaster impresses one with a
feeling Of awe. One can realize the po-
sitiOn Of the wretched inhabitants of such
places as Pinsaguel, or VerGun, or Fen
outlet, when the water raced madly over
the plain, to the height of from ten to
twelve feet, tearing up strong trees by the
roots and bearing down, with resistless
power, every obstacle in its path; surprised
in their beds, and spending hour after hour
perched on the roofs of their houses, see
ing building after building all around
them giving way, until their turn came
and, with a fearful crash they were
whirled away amid the floating wreck and
human bodies, or were crushed beneath
the ruins of their dwelling. What must
have been terrible in these small isolated
villages was the agony of suspense,
In 1nt1a hat Ia1,> 81
kind was at hand, and that the only chance
was the house standing until the water
subsidized. 1t must have been worse than
death itself to many a man who stood sur
rounded by his wife and his children,
screaming in agOnies of fear as the roar Of
the water grew louder and the vibrations
of 5he house beneath their feet grew more
alarmingly frequent. In one of the few
houses that remain standing in the village
of Roques, man, his wife and child were
found dead in room; the roof had fallen
partly in and the staircase had been
destroyed; they could not escape in
any way, and they seem to have
been sutfocated as the water forced
its way up inch by inch. At Agen
the owner of warm-bath establishment,
named Dollas, with his wife and children,
were miraculously preserved. The house
is a strong, substantial building, and had
it been further from the river, or even only
one story higher, would have proved safe.
AS it was the water surrounded it entirely,
and rose up to the roof, on which the in
of ho1 fol |,
after hours Of agOnizlng suspense, have
been swept away, as no bOatman dared
venture near the spot, but for the courage
of a rival bathing master, assisted by
Lieut.. Peyrol, of the infantry. They re-
manned on the roof not less than ten hours!
But what scenes must have taken place in
the villages from whence houses and in
habitants have disappeared, and of which
nothing is left to show that these heaps of
rubbish were once houses but stray bits Of
furniture or bedding protruding from the
debris, and now and then the carcasses of a
few cattle partly imbedded in the ruins of
their sheds.
AS to the loss Oflife, believe | have al
ready told you that in my opinion it has
been grossly exaggerated when it has been
set down at 5000, Indeed, believe l can
now account for the way in which this
figure got into print. 1t protested to come
from an official source, and | presume
that it was meant as an approximate state
ment OF the number of houses DESTROYED,
not the number of lives. How MANY
really persisted cannot be known until
formal roll-call is gone through. This is
not SO difficult an operation as it seems, as
every man, woman and child in France
have their etat ciUtl, and owing to the
French system of rural taxation, called
prestataon en- nature, their domicile is pretty
generally known