The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-08-18
FATAL FLOODS IN EUROPE
MANY Hundreds Drowned in Germany
and Austria.
ENORMOUS LOSS OF PROPERTY.

The Danube Never Known to Be So High
Before-A Part of Vienna Submerged
Bodies of the Dead Floating in the
Streets of observation-disclosures De-
stroyed-Damage Will Be Millions.
BERLIN, Germany (By Cable).-The re-
ports of the disastrous floods in Prussian
Silesia and Saxony received here have Gre
ated great CONSERVATION in Berlin, and
show that the people in large sections OF
those territories are panic-stricken at the
appalling magnitude of the danger which
threatens them. The latest advices report
1853 persons have been drowned in Silesia
and Saxony, and that the damage to prop
erty exceeded 80, 600, 900.
The King OF Saxony, who was at the PILL
nitz Castle, was obliged to quit the place,
the waters having risen so high that the in
undation Of the castle was threatened.
Prince Hohenlohe, the Imperial Chancellor,
was to have returned to Berlin, but the stop
page OF railroad traffic by the floods pre-
vented his making the journey. The coal
mines at Bockau, Saxony, are flooded with
twelve metres of water.
The survivors Of the floods In devastated
villages Of Silesia and Saxony are suffering
untold misery. They are entirely destitute
Of food and shelter. Princess Charlotte OF
Saxe-Meiningen has issued an appeal for a
National subscription for the relief OF the
sufferers.
Reports from many parts Of the country
give the details Of the great damage done
by the floods. The valleys OF the Elbe and
Oder Rivers have suffered terribly. Wash
outs ave occurred at many places along
the Saxon Railway, and there was a COM
plete cessation OF traffic on that line.
The Danube has overlooked It's banks at
every point, doing incalculable damage.
The town Of Ems, at the junction OF the
River Ems and the Danube, in Upper Aus
tria, is practically submerged. Upward of
200 houses are under water.
The bodies Of twenty persons were re-
covered at Trautenau, Bohemia, the river
Aupa having overfowed its banks and in
undated q large part Of the town. The
building occupied by the law courts at
Trautenau was undermined and Its walls
collapsed. Three boxes containing 15O, 200
forms in money we're storedin the building
and carried away by the flood.
The gates closing the entrance to the
Donau Canal, which traverses Vienna,
Austria, and which Is really a branch OF
the Danube, are submerged, a thing that
has never occurred before. There are sew
eral feet Of water in the lower parts Of the
city.
The great foodgates which held back
Lake Grundlsee gave way and an enormous
volume OF water rushed into the gorge be-
low, flooding the town of Aussee. The
break occurred at a late hour, and most or
the inhabitants Of the town were asleep.
Many of them had narrow escapes from
drowning.
Hallstadt Lake, in Upper Austria, has
overfowed, carrying a flood to lschI, q
fashionable watering place. The Empress
Is at Ischl, and has been much affected by
the distress caused by the floods.
A house In Marschenburg. whose founda-
tions had been undermined, collapsed, and
twenty persons were drowned. At Frelheit
a house was carried away bodily by the
flood and seventeen persons persisted.
The streets of Trautenau present a fright
full spectacle. Many corpses can be seen
floating about the town. A cradle contain
ing a crying infant was discovered as 1t was
being carried away, and the child was res
cued.
Many OF the inhabitants Of Reichenberg
have lost their lives. The splendid public
grounds at Gmunden have been entirely de-
stroyed.
The destruction of railroad embankments
and bridges has been M and unpre-
cedented. The Western Railway is the
worst sufferer. A large number OF trains,
including the Orient express, are blocked,
and it IS impossible to say when traffic can
be resumed.
The loss caused by the destruction OF
mills and houses n the carrying away OF
cattle and crops will be immense. The
total damage done will amount to many
millions of dollars.