Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-03-27
SZEGEDIN.

1t is singular how fast the flight of
time leaves objects of great interest be-
hind. Fifty years ago hearts stirred
throughout our country at the very name
of Greece. Does the general public know
or care anything about modern Greece
now? Twenty-Five years ago the spot
our eyes sought ont on the map of Eu-
rope was Hungary. Hungary is less
luminous to us now than the courses of
the great rivers of Africa Ask the first
dozen men you meet if Kossuth is dead
or living, and see if one of them will
tell you that hd is still;alive in a little
German town, supporting himself and
his family as teacher of languages
Twenty-Five years ago what banquets
were given himi how people rushed to
heart his wondrous speechesl how he
won all our hearts and stirred up our
enthusiasm! On the whole, enthusiasm
for the elOquence of an expatriated pat
riot, devotion to sweet singer, like
Jenny Lind, whose virtues even surpass-
ed her powers of song, or the national
kotow that we performed to Boz, were
more to our credit than the present pop-
ular mania 20 see men spent with useless
and unnatural toll staggering In fancy
dresses along the sawdust of the arena
Genuine hero worship always exalts a
wOrshipper, but its present DEVELOPMENT
has nothing in it that appeals to mans
higher nature. Is is not the better mart
OF US That hnds excitement in the pres
ent exhibitions.
Hungary again becomes an object Of
popular interest from the recent misfor-
tune OF her large manufacturing city.
Szegedln. Its Importance is very recent.
Ii owes IT'S modern consequence partly
to water power and partly to its situa-
tlon. 1t stands nearly in the centre of
Hungary, at the junction of the great
river Theiss with the little river Maros,
and is station of Importance on the
railroad which connects Vienna with the
northern provinces of Turkey. The
Thesis is a river with rapid current, is
wide, deep and navigable to Tokay. about
200 miles; but it has always been remark
able for the great quantity of mud and
sand that it brings down with it,eausing
great swamps along its course and sand
bars where it joins the Danube. The
thousands of acres of marsh land recent
ly claimed around itfOr manufacturing
purposes were not sufficiently secured by
embankments and levees, and this error
In civil engineering has led to the de-
struction which fills US all with pity.
Pesth IS the capital of the Hungarian
kingdom. 1t is situated on the Danube.
four hours and a-half from Szegedin by
railroad, but nearly a weeks journey
from 1t by the winding navigation of the
rivers. 1t has itself suffered terribly by
floods, having had no less than thirteen
during the past two centuries. Its great
est lnundatiOn was in 1S4S, though as
the Atlantic cable had not then enlarged
our sympathies, we heard little about it.
1t was occasiOned by a sudden rising of
the Danube and an ice gorge below the
city. Nearly four thousand houses were
Destroyed by it in PeSth or its vicinity
and the streets and squares of the city
became lakes and torrents twelve feet
deep. The Danube returned to an old
bed, and swept over all the poorer quart
er of the town, which had been built on
what was once the river bottom. Great as
was the misery and loss of life caused by
this catastrophe, it led to important pub
ic Improvements and a healthier CITY.
The miserable mud novels that were de-
'troyed have been as far as possible re-
placed by tasteful and substantial rows
1f houses. Let us hope such permanent
improvements may be in store for the
afflicted city of Szegedin. At present it
seems to be almost in utter ruin. Of
ZOO houses only 261 escaped destruction,
md the loss of property is estimated at
s6,000,000. 1t would seem impossible
hat city could be rebuilt after such
osses, but the destruction by the Chica-
20 fire aggregated $4,000, ,OOO, and yeta
lew and magnificent city arose form the
shes of the old, and from the mud and
lime left by the flood larger and finer
'zegedin may arise.-BaltO. American.