Results of the Danube inundations--State of things at
Baja--Terrible condition of New Pest--Injuries sustained by the
island garden of St. Marguerite--Charity organisation.
Though Buda-Pest had escaped the worst of the threatened calamity, the
state of the low-lying suburbs of the town on both sides of the river
was very serious, and, as it turned out, weeks elapsed before the waters
entirely subsided. The extent of the Danube inundations in 1876 was far
greater than the flood of 1838; the latter was localised to Buda-Pest,
where, from the suddenness of the catastrophe, the sacrifice of life was
far greater than at present. But on this occasion the mischief was wide
spread indeed. From Passau to Orsova the banks of the Danube were more
or less flooded. The havoc below Pest was wellnigh incalculable. The
river had in places spread itself out like a small sea, inundating lands
already in seed; this was specially the case at Paks, where both banks
of the river are equally low--as a rule, the left side was the more
flooded the whole way along.
At Baja the destruction to property was most serious. Some very
important works had just been completed, and these were all swept away
two days after the Danube had burst over the Csepel Island at Pest. It
is a matter of interest to note the travelling rate of the flood, which
from being ice-clogged was less rapid than one would suppose. Baja is
120 miles below Pest.
The works here referred to were in parts a canal, to feed the old
Francis Canal, which connects the Danube and Theiss, in order to prevent
the stoppage of traffic, unavoidable at low water. The water and ice
brought down by the flood hurled themselves with such force against the
closed gates of the canal that they were burst open, and a masonry wall
7 feet in thickness and 250 in length was entirely overthrown. This
incident, together with many others, helps to illustrate the action of
water in flood as a factor in certain geological changes--the gorge of
Kasan, to wit, where the Danube has broken through the Carpathian chain.
In the course of little more than a day the waters at Buda-Pest had
fallen two and a half feet; but afterwards the fall was very slow
indeed, which circumstance greatly protracted the misery of the
unfortunate inhabitants of Old Buda and New Pest, the two districts most
seriously compromised. Joining a relief party, I went in a pontoon to
visit New Pest. Vast blocks of ice were lying heaped up amidst the
_débris_ of the ruin they had made; whole terraces and streets were only
distinguishable by lines of rubbish somewhat raised above the flood: the
devastation was complete.
On our way to the pontoon we passed a tongue of land which had not been
submerged, with a few houses intact. In this street, if it may be so
called, a crowd of more than a hundred women was collected; these were
mostly seated on boxes or other fragments of furniture that had been
saved; one and all had their faces turned towards the waste of waters,
where their homes had been. I shall never forget their looks of mute
despair; there was no crying, no noise, their very silence was a gauge
of the utter misery that had befallen them.
The sea of trouble in which we found ourselves was strewn with wreckage
of all kinds, including the bodies of many domestic animals. Doubtless
many lives were lost; it will perhaps never be known how many. It was
unfortunate that no service was organised for saving life at the
bridges. Several lamentable accidents and loss of life took place owing
to the drifting away of boats and barges up stream. A friend of mine saw
a barge with four men on board jammed in between blocks of ice, and
hurried under the suspension bridge and down the stream. No one was able
to respond to the heart-rending appeals of the men, who very probably
might have been saved if simply ropes had been hanging from the bridge.
I myself saw a poor fellow perish in those churning waters; it was
terrible to think of his thus drowning in the presence of thousands of
fellow-creatures.
The amount of wreckage that passed Buda-Pest gave one some idea of the
frightful amount of damage higher up the stream; there were heaps of
barrels, woodstacks, trees, furniture, and even houses with their
chimneys standing!
The beautiful island of St. Marguerite, just above Buda-Pest, suffered
most severely. It was four feet under water; and the drift ice did
immense damage to the trees, causing abrasions of the bark at eight to
ten feet above the ground.
It may well be imagined that the Charity Organisation Committee had
enough on their hands. Nearly 20,000 people sought the shelter provided
in the public buildings and other places appointed by the authorities,
and for fully a month after the catastrophe thousands had to be fed
daily at the public expense.