The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-05-01
1SO LIVES LOST.
Drowned by the Bursting OF q
Huge Reservoir.
VILLAGES WASHED AWAY,
Damage to Property is Estimated o,
$1O,OOO,OOO.
The Reservoir Is Situated Near Epinal
France-RAilroAds are Washed Cut
and Many Towns are De-
VRstAted.
VILLAGES WASHED AWAY,

PARIS, April 29.-The reservoir OF the
canal at Bouzey, near Epinal' gave way
Saturday, sweeping away many houses
with their inmates. The food has sub
sided and a search for the bodies Of the
dead was commenced. The number o.
deaths will exceed sixty.
The Bouzey reservoir fed the south
ern branch of the eastern canal The
water followed the valley of the Aviere
The sudden accretion of the canal burst
its banks and the water poured from II
over six miles of country until the
channel was empty. The torrent.
hemmed in by high hills, rushed down
the valley, sweeping the villages and.
after course of ten miles, emptying
into the Mosellcat, NomeXy and Chatel,
Every house at BouZey was dcmot
ishcd and very few remain at Les
Forces. where there are 1,400 inhabi'
tants. At UXcgency twenty-three per
sons were drowned. Every building
was destroyed in Darnieulles. where
the population numbers 900. NOtwlth
standing the fact that NomeXey is ter
miles from the dam, many Of the in
habtants of that place had mot time tc
reach the upper portions of their dwell
ings before the torrent was upon them
The corpses of eight victims have al
ready been found there.
Many farmers throughout the valley
are ruined and large number of fant
lilies are without food or clothes.
The damage caused by the food is es'
timated at ten millions of dollars.
The Bouzey reservoir had capacity
of seven million cubic metres The tor
rent carried off bodily some of the
houses in the villages of Bouzey, Oar
nieulles and Domevrcs and swamped
many others, besides demOlishin9
walls. bridges. crops and farm build
ings. The railway between EpinaI
and Nancy is deeply flooded and a
breach has been made in the road be
tween Epiral and Chaumont.
Assistance was sent from Nancy. but
as yet it has been found impossible tt
reach the point where the break was
made. The rush of water through thu
villages was so sudden that there wa
hardly any chance to escape, and man.
persons were drowned in their beds.
Reports of the devastation caused b,
the bursting of the reservoir at l}ouze.
were received from Epinal hourly las
evening. The loss of life is far be
yond the first estimates. About 13
deaths are now known to have bee
caused by the flood, and the list ma
grow, as in the confusion and ruin
has been impossible to account 70
scores of persons who are missing. Th
search for dead bodies is still in prog
ress. Thirty or more of the dead wer
buried Sunday. The villages and peas
ant farms in the path of the food ar
strewn with the wrecks of building
and covered with heavy layers of mut
More than 200 families are homeless
and destitute. Leygues, minister, {
interior, has gone with staff of of
cials to the afflicted districts to di
tribute money among the needy. Mos
of the towns near Epinal have ser
food and clothing to the destitute su
ferers. A large part of the valley
little more than morass, with tin
bers and uprooted trees protrudin
from the mud. The soldiers who al
looking for bodies make only slow pr
gress as the work of digging in tt
debris is necessarily slow.