Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-06-20

and the water even spurted forth from
the depths of the earth. In 1887 large
portion of the province of iceland, con-
tanning seven dioceses and fourteen vii
iiges,w as buried beneath the waters. The
year 1872 saw the most disastrous of
PooGs which ever visited Germany. On
the ON OF December the German ocean
ieapeo, as 1t were, upon North Ffisfa and
swallowed up more than 100000 men,
women, ana children, together with all
their haoltseions scattered through
thirty dloceses. Again from the 18th TO
the 2Oeh OF November, 1921, 100000 peo-
pie were destroyed by food near Dor
trecet and Rotterdam, together with
severty-one villages, of which twenty. two
have never since been seen.
Similar calamities hsppend in thoss re-
gions In the years 1925, 144s. AYE 1907
1900, 1911, 1880. 1541, 1918, 1925. 1894
1717, 1884, 1903, 1909, 1926, and other
years, destroying human lives by the
hundreds, thousands, and tens of thou-
sands. In August, 1866, there were
general inundseions in Switzerland, oe-
casiOning loss of 100000 forms. The
year 1870 was the most disastrous for
Holland. Large tracks of valuable lands
were flooded and 100000 people drowned.
In 1471 part of the beautiful city of
Lyons was torn away by the river Rhone.
The year 1888 saw the destruction of the
proud Armada, entailing the loss of
10000 men. In 1895, June 4, an inunda-
ton in Switzerland, caused by the out
break of a glacier. sweeps away 500 houses
and las human beings.
On The 18th asd 12sh of October the
Ganges suddenly overlooked all the ad-
joining country, taking the lives of $780,
600 people in one single night. The
food rose 70 a height Of forty feet In
1914, Oct. % Nov l, great floods along
the entire range of of the Alps did great
damage. Asremarbsble food occurred
in the valley OF the Euphrates in 1881.
In single night 1000 houses and more
than $4,000 lives were destroyed. The
great flood In CHINA of the year 1856 is
still remembered by many. 1t took
place in the province OF Honan and cost
100000 lives. Stanley reports gigantic
floods 10 have taken place In 1871 and
1872 IN the valley of The Maka5a river,
Central Africa. Great damage was done
in loss of life and property. A most
violent flood visited Rengal, in East
India, on Oct. 80, 1876. The water was
driven up TO height of forty-tive feet,
covering 14I geographical square miles;
$4,000 human lives were lost on the 90
casion. In 1873, during October, the
Nile swallowed up forty five villages and
800 people. The financial loss amounted
to over 100000 francs. The dreadful
inundation of Szegdip, Hungary, in 1870
is fresh in the memory of all. The loss
was 5000 buildings ard 1900 lives. In
the fall of the same year Spain
was flooded and 1900 souls were drowned.
In 1881 the Chinese cities Holfung and
Tallee well simulated and their
Inhabitants found death in the
waters. The year 1882 was an ex-
traordinary year for floods. There were
great and disastrous ones in Spain, Italy,
France, and Tyrol, Germany, and Hun
gary, causing fearful loss in life and
property, amounting in one locality of
Germany alone TO fully 100000 marks,
nearly S1,000,00O.
The floods in our own country in 1888
are still remembered. Tt was Penusyl-
van1a at that time, too, which suffered
most. The same year Witnessed another
great flood in India, demanding many
thousand victims. In the following year
it was again our own country which suf-
fered most from the destructive element.
Each of the years since then had one or
mere disastrous foods here or there, but
The most dire calamity of this kind in late
years was the inundation caused by the
overflow of the Yellow river IN China, by
which over 100000 of people were
drowned and 100000 lost their shelter.
A small inundation took place there in
1888, which year has charged against it a
number of floods in sevsral parts of the
world.
But while floods are common occur
renee, in all theirfrightful destructiveness
and frequently much more fearful in
magnitude than the one we bewail at
present, there is something about the
Johnstown catastrophe which makes it
peculiar-peeuliarly horrible. 1t is the
fact that human oarelessness, or rather
human reoklessness, seems to be RESPONSE
BILE for it.