Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-05-02
The szegedIn Hungary Flood.

silver accumulated that the value OF these
precious metals after the discovery tell by
one-third. ltwas also the scene on which
the Turkish wars were fought, and in ~ the
scene of the revolution quencbed 10y the aid
of thelRussians. All these wars disastrous
as they were, are as nothing to the destruc-
| ton which the inundations of the 1helss
| cause every year. Since Hungary has had an
| autonomous Government great efforts have
been made to regulate the course OF the
| River Iheiss but We fear that great technical
| faults have been committed IN this work.
| Germany alone seems to have found the
| right means of treating rivers. Besides the
embankments impediments are thrown III the
| rivers wav on both sides, 10y which 1t Is
forced to deepen its own bed Although the
| river embankmentS We're III good ordef the
Thesis, by bringing with II stone and sand
had raised its bed SO that the Hoods became
| more dangerous every successive year. snow
melted very early and very suddenly IN the
| mountains this year and on that account
many avalanches fell, as for instance in
Bleiberg, near Nillach, where halt village
was buried and thirty eight persons remain
| ed dead on the spot In the Carpathlan
Mountains great deal of snow fell this win
| ter, which melted and discharged enormous
| quantities Of water into the valleys. Ot late
| the inhabitants OF these districts had become
a little careless. relying too much upon the
|
| the last ten years have been carried across
the plain in every direction. Now railway
embankments may be useful sometimes, but
| when the water gets into the country which
| they close in entirely they are very danger
| Gus, because they retain the water, which
finds no outlet This was the case near
Szegedin, which lies in the very centre OF a
number Of railway embankments. The
waters of the Thesis Maros and koros had
/. L. a . a,Nlai
was one enormous sea OF water, extending
over 100 square kilometres Besides this,
| heavy rainfalls continued and yet the danger |
| was not immediate. The inhabitants were |
busy raising their dikes and looked hopefully |
| into the future, when ell OF a sudden ter |
rible storm from the northeast arose which |
made the water rise III waves high enough TO |
overpass the dikes. OF course against the
elements in such an uproar nothing etfectual
could be done, although soldiers and pion-
eers were sent to aid the inhabitants OF
Szegedin Only a few towns of the Thesis
plain succeeded IN preventing the wave from |
flooding them, by working day and night at |
their dIkes. There are besides New Siege |
din Szentes, Czongrad and NasarhIly The |
first city flooded was Orashaka, where 400 |
houses fell In the night between the llth |
and 18th of March the floods burst IN upon |
Szegedin, so that within a few hours the |
the lamp-posts were all that could be seen. |
The great misfortune there, as everywhere in |
the Hungarian plain. Is that the few houses |
are built OF real bricks, the greater part |
being built OF bricks made OF lime and water
and dried in the sun like Mexican adobes
which of course dissolve in water. There
fore the only houses which still stand IN,
Szegedin are built OF real bricks and these
are scarcely a twentieth part OF the town, In
g.. al E,-ap pvt hinfr Ula
disappeared in the flood. Szegedin num-
bered 10 coo inhabitants according to the
last census, and $500 buildings of which
about five thousand were dwelling houses.
The work of destruction WAS as sudden as
terrible. All was over in a few hours, there
fore ii is no wonder that great loss of life
was incurred. The number of the dead IS
put at $4,000. One hundred laborers are
busy from morning to night burying the
dead in the neiglboring village OF Pzoregh.
At first the number OF boats was quite in
sufficient to save the frightened inhabitants,
many of whom the danger bell-tolled tolled
out of their sleep. When boats enough came
the soldiers lad hard work to row through
all the lumber tossing about on the waters
and TO induce the frightened people to let
themselves be saved, as the greater part of
them refused TO get oil their housetops into
the boats without their poor property, which
could not be saved under such circum-
stances. Better die all OF us than live with
out our beds and our cotfee-pots = was what
they all said. \ very happy circumstance
was that the embankments of the Southern
Railway remained intact SO that help could
continually be got from Temesvar and the
rescued could be sent away IN that direction.
In the first houis this could not be thought
of. The desperate people chung to the dlkes,
climbed up trees, filled the few stone houses
to overlooking. Many were frozen to death
in the first nights, the wind blowing merci-
lessly through their scanty, wet clothing.
Twenty were found frozen to death and
twenty-three went mad from terror and have
been sent to the madhouse at Pesth. The
brave men who risked their lives a thousand
times TO bring help were witnesses OF the
most heartrending scenes Sometimes us
they approached housetop or tree to
which drowning people clung these could
hold on no longer and dropping into the
water We're drowned before the boats could
reach them. An old man in the centre OF
mound OF piled-up rubbish was heard calling
desperately for help, but it was impossible to
approach him, and he perished. A White
haired grandmother was seen diving for
something. She found 1t at last-her drown
ed grandchild which she held up towards
heaven, laughing hoarsely, mad-woman's
laugh. An expedition from Pesth, headed
days after the catastrophe, and he tells us
that even then he was witness OF the most
dreadful scenes. A small raiter was iioatlng
By them, when one man espied small baby
on it, tied to a divan. The expedition was
quick enough in bringing the poor little one
into safety, but its parents have not been
found and are mostly likely drowned. Then
woman signalled to them from a roof.
When they approached they IN ought she had
6 L.. col u, !
had to bear her into the boat She was not
ten minutes there when feeble vail be
traved the awful fact that she had given
birth TO chlld-a boy 1t turned out To be-
All these people were taken to the station a
yard high in water, and some were sent away
to neIghborng towns and villages. Thou
sands found shelter IN railway cars which
came from all parts, but the greater part re-
malned IN the open air, where the cold and
the wet has made many OF them very i'll es-
pecialy, OF course, the women and children.
At first among the other evils that tormo nted
the poor, stricken inhabitants Of Szegedn
was hunger, for OF course with SO many lives
to save yictuals could not be thought Of.
But very soon whole trains full of bread
cheese. meat and vine came from Iemesyar
and Pesth and brought relief. The railway
companies send everything GRATIS and now
large quantities OF clothes are daily being
carried to the Southern station. Suhscrp.
tons were opened the very nest day and
have had line results The Emperor III hI5 |
own and the Empress's name. gave luUUu |
tlOrin7 and went 10 SGegedIn IN person 10 AS
sure the inhabitants that everything within |
human power would be done ior them. The |
Emperor was moved to tears 10y the misery |
around and he told the people that the En-
press was returning home much earlier than !
she had intended from the hunting season |
in Ireland on their account
The member ior Slegedin informed tho |
Hungarian National Assembly that tho dam
age done IN Slegedin amounts To- about 10 |
900 OuO tlOrins.