The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-29

Epinal. France. April 2S.-The list Of
the fatalities of the breaking yesterday
morning of the great Bouzeek dyke in
the Epinal district of the Vorges. in
creases every hour.
One hundred and fifteen deaths have
| already been reported, but only fifty
bodies have been recovered. 1t is be-
lieyed that the deathlist will be greatly
in excess of the figures above gwen
when all the districts are heard from.
1t is supposed that many of the dead
were swept into isolated places where
it will be long time before the bodies
are found.
Strewn With Wreckage.
The whole region over which the
thousands of tons Of water swept in
resistless flood is strewn with every
sort Of wreckage and the whole country
presents a most desolate appearance.
In many places the early crops were
swept clean out OF the ground and the
losses thus incurred will be very heavy.
Six brigades of gendarmes have ar
rived and they have been detailed to
act as guards. Every attempt is being
made to reorganiZe the district but
this is rendered difficult by the waters.
some places a mile and a half wide.
The railway in the vicinity of the
Darniulles station was torn UP, rail-
road ties swept away and the embank-
mentS destroyed. Nearly every bridge
on the line of the flood was either
swept away or so badly damaged that
they will have to be rebuilt.
The construction of the dyke was
commenced in 1879 and finished in 1884.
In 1889 it was greatly strengthened. 1t
was of heavy masonry, $50 yards long,
66 feet high, and Sc feet thick at the
base. The masonry was carried into
the ground to a depth of 80 feet below
the level of the valley into which the
reservoir discharged its water. It was
built against vertical face of solid
rock, having a maximum height of Is
feet. The base rested in a sandstone
bottom of natural formation.
Thought to Be InvuInerabIe.
The massive construction of the dam
was considered to be a guarantee that
it would hold back any weight of water
that could be brought against it. IN
til the strengthening of the work in
1889 it was not subjected to a full pres
sure of the water of which it was built
to hold.
The distress among the dweliers of
the valley is very great, and in many
cases they appear to be mentally be-
numbed by THE calamity that has
fallen to them
The government is fully awake to
the disaster, and is doing everything
possible to relieve their sufferings,
The ministers of public works and in /
terror are now on their way here to
assume charge of the relief work. |
Three Thousand francs have already /
been received for relief purposes, and |
the ministers WIFI bring $4,000 more
from THE funds of their departments.
and 1000 contributed by President |
Faure. Nine. Heine has sent 10000 |
francs, which will be applied ITO re-
heving the sufferers. The project of
the department has visited all the
districts affected by the disaster. He
has organized the employees on the
public roads, and aided by the mill
tary, will, as soon as possible, restore
communication. These employees
and the. soldiers will also search for
the dead, and immediately bury all
the dead animals they may find.
Relief Being Given.
Ail the municipal authorities are
working ceaselessly in distributing
relief and seeking to bring order out
Of the chaos prevailing. Over $4,000
persons from the nearby towns and
the surrounding country visited the
scene of the disaster today.
At o'clock this afternoon, the
burial of fifteen of the victims took
place at Domevere, one of the viii
ages that suffered the worst from the
nundaitlon. Two thousand persons
attended the funeral services, which
we're held while the graves were be-
ng dug. There were many heart
ending scenes while the bodies were
consigned ITO the earth