Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-07-14
July ,. Is
Gcn. Sherman. on arriving home, add
The Flood in France.

n" foreign p1pefS throw ll1nl on me
extraordinary foo, s in >outhcrn France, by
which 5000 lives were lost and 500. 900 600
v,lth of property destroyed. The waters
n thc Glr0nue rose Twenty-Five feet al
most Instantly. and wi hput :, moment 5
Warming tlondell long line of cities and
owns and fertile fields Toulouse i, sit
rlteI on both sides Of the river and on the
land. and. being a city of l2j, 900 inhabi-
tlnt-, the destruction Of ife AMI property
was teri ible Imagine Il Mill river di>as-
t I tim through L yrett city, and We
AVE Il picture Of it. House, We're swept
l>v4y 10y the hunlrrd with their inmates,
while hundreds of corp>cs We're found in
houses which survived the force of the
vrcrs Marquis d'iIlutpoul lost his life
With many others who We're en- lravoring
t, save life. OF one village of 400 houses,
ny five were left standing, and smaller
villages were eAterninnted. No,hiny
WIS saved on the farms. The Pvrenean
valleys have been repeatedly swept by dis
,,ter, of this character, thou III never per
rps by one % terrible. Every year. agri-
culture encruachcs more and more ON the
Wild llnlS of the mountains tnl converts
lie naturally spon-y IN | retentivc soil Of
xood-linlS into cleared ground. which al
lows the water to run off freely. The gov
eminent has been cndcavoliny to counter
ut this tendency by encouraging the ex-
tension of .rcensward and the growth of
crops absorbing much moisture. but appar-
entity has an elephant on lis hands.
The Wy in which the fool came upon
he unfortunate jewellers by the river, is
given in the newspaper account Just re
crivel
The devastated region lies in the south
Of Fr lncc an | W u one OF the most fertile
md lrn-rlv pop Ilre sections of hat rich
,nI be ,u iful coun ~ 1t W i dotted over
wi agricultural villages and towns, the
residents in which We're busted chicl,
with the cultivali, n of the vineyards. The
principal river i, the Gtronnc. flown.
from southeast TO northwest. ind fed by
three or four stream, Of consider ,ble >iz,.
besides innumerable mountain brooks
There had been a drouth for Il month or
more. sufficient to arouse apprthen>ions
for the crops when abont the first of J une
rain commenced to fall. and the country
people were delighted at the prospect Of
IN abundant harvest. For three weeks
the rain tell, gently hut necessarily, rs if
o atone I'LL at once for the many weeks of
Irouh h. Thr streams rose very slowly,
m there were no Indication of trouble
,ntil the 23i OF June. when the Tnrn one
# the tributaries Of the G. lronnr, over
lowed it hunks. and an immense volume
# water swept down he G,rpnne. incrras-
NO constantly and {, FRYING everything
,etore it. On bpih sides of the river. thus
swollen by the long rain and the sudden
accession of water from its tributaries,
stood the city of Toulouse. in the middle
f the plain of Gt>conv and Lanyuedoc
1t is the seventh on the list Of the larger
owns If France. AMI has been IN impor-
ant center of industry and commerce.
Through this populou> and t1ouri>hing
,y swept e swollen river. There seems
% have been NJ opportunity to warn the
mia ,itants Of the peril VIII ch WAS upon
them, and although the district WAS on.
hat nd long been subject to floods and
t W Is known that the rivers We're rising.
he most ordinary precautions We're ne
elected. The people We're surprised in
tncir houses. while ;,bout their ordinary
tvocatIon-. an there appears t. have been
10 serious apprehension of danger until
~cnpe was cat off. At ten o'clock on
Wednesday morning. the 2}d. the waters
reached The level OF the tlooi of 1879; at
wo o'clock II bridge AMI several houses
we're carried away; at five o'clock the
BOD broke over the parapct which project
d the crowded q Ntrter OF st. Cyprian,
md in IN hours time the water was ten
feet Geep in the stree The bridge, con-
ItctinT it with the rest OF the town We're
destroyed. and all night long the car>h of
falling buildings and the cries of sufferers
were heard trnm the doomed district
Next day the fool abated \ score of
towns and villages suffered to a greater or
less extent, in the general disaster. and
several were completely swept away;
while many miles Of .ertle territory We're
and tens Of millions Of dollars
,iamage was done to the crops.
The violence of the flood was remarka-
Die. Houses in France are more strongly
Quilt than here, but those that were lett