Telegram-herald., 1889-06-20
RusslAs ossAT nooo



NV YoEK. June 1S.-Ihe n0osa t1A@s
oser~ hslaaad u. Petersburg ~-s n0S
qass ~ terribly sadceD a. sh.s Cone
u&aea one. bot Il ~zs fully Is de-
s1s-actiye and - tins day yoa nsy sec
ca many of TIE great Russian pUohc
buildings : Fed iire, with tie date '''th
November. ls2z marking the heighi u
tie s.raCsT 81 that fatal morning fof
three DAYS previous tie waters ~ th~
Aesa, swollen high 0y sudden uaa"s
had b>sa driven tack o. The fuflous
west wind that Vas blowing with ever
increasing yiolenoe up the Gulf Of Pm
land: and - the river rOsS. tise alarm
guns kept boonnng through the how ling
storm al night long from the citadel,
while through the darkness tl.e rcd glare
OF signal lanterns III up every watch
tower. A lev took fright and ned with
what property they could save. but the
greater number stayed and met their
doom
just AZ daybreak on the morning of
the fatal 7th those whose houses looked
down upon the great open space Of tie
Admiralty plain (which fianks tho river
were awakened By hollow rumbling
like distant thunder, aud soon the solid
ground below them melted into q sea OF
leaping, glittering, foaming water. on
which wagons, barges. casks, sentry
boxes, bundles Of hay and shattered
timbers were whirled along like straws,
together with drowning horses. men and
oxen, whose cries swelled dISmally the
universal uproar Then the three great
the flood in one mighty wave through
every street and lane, till fully two
| thirds of the city was under water.
And now the tragedy began in earnest
! AS the timber houses along the river
bank began 10 shake beneath the batter
| ing strokes OF the waves, the doomed IN
mates tried To Chamber uo the roof, most
IL failing in the attempt and falling head
| long into tho raging waters below.
| Children sank before the eyes of their
mothers, wives before those OF their hus-
bands Many of the poor wretches, In
! the madness of their terror, fought saw
| agely for few inches Of foothold till
they were all engulfed together. Higher
! and higher rose the flood, house after
house came crashing down, and the
shrieks of those who were perishing be
meath the ruins wer- heard above all the
roar of wind and storm. And still the
alarm bells pealed and the alarm guns
doomed in the distance. as if calling in
vain for the help that none could give.
But all at once large boat was seen
TO come gliding around the corner of the
Vomesenskaya Oolitza (Assumption
street,. rowed by eight strong men, and
steered by the Gar Alexander himself.
Just at that moment huge mass OF
wood work, torn from some fallen house,
bore right down upon the boat. A col
lision would have been certain death to
ALL bat the car saw that there were
two children chnging to the drifting
mass, and with one turn of the tiller he
brought the boat alongside, and, at the
risk of his own life, snatched the poor
little waits from destruction. Then, TAX
|
gold laced cloak tcnderly around them
he went bravely on into the jaws O!
death.
Several other boats were soon at worl
and the men who guided them, steering
close TO the submerged houses, shouted
to those at the windows and on the roof
to let themselves down. But so utterly
| l.,
mortal terror that many of them. instead
of lowering themselves quietly into tn,
hanCs OF those who were ready 10 re
ceive them. leaped headlong into tn,
rushing waters and thus perished will
safety actually within their grasp. On'
struggling woman WAS clutched by
brave fellow in the bow of one of TIA,
boats, but ere he could drag her in th'
skirt by which he held her gave way anC
she sank forever. A number Of peopi
who had taken refuge on "a wooden roo
were espied by a boats crew. who RAJ
alongside and were just shouting to then
so lower themselves down, when III,
, whole roof fell in with horrible crash
overwhelming the rescuers and the res
| cued In one common ruin.
But the horror was not at its heigh
= | even now. With the coming Of nigh
came q bitter north wind and a frost O
UNPARALLELED severity. which completed
the deadly work that the flood had be
gun. Many who had escaped the water
died by the cold of that fearful night
and when morning dawncd upon tha
e wild scene scores Of dead men wer
drifting through the dead city on broke.
planlzs or capsized boats, with their liyi
faces and sight]ess eyes turned blind
upward to the cold and cruel sIlendo
: of the wintry sunrise
A few figures were seen clinging to N
trees along the front Of the Adnniralt
| building. and the passing rescuers halle
| them, but there was 10 reply The boat
. were hastily run tldtheT, aud they wer
told to leap in, but not one Of ther
spoke or rnovsd-they were all fnoze
| cnrpses. Nearly five hundred Of tbes
chastity fruits were gathered from I'll
trees Of the various boulevaTds whe
4 he food went down. and in many cas'
The stifened fingers that stu clutche
: tha tz,ughs broke short Of Ike those ,
a statue'
Hyw many lives were lost during tbs
fearful day and night (which still STAN
alone in the menory q the Russian pe
uIe Ike the burning Of Moscow can nev'
= be known now: but. apart from the rnu
I tftudes that were destroyed IN tie q pat