Rhode Island American

Letters from St. Petersburgh of the 1st of January, (N. S.) received in Philadelphia, bring deplorable accounts of the distress occasioned to the poorer classes by the inundation of the 19th of November. From one of the letters we make the following extract:

"The stoves in the lower story of nearly every house are undermined and washed down. In many instances the houses cannot be inhabited in consequence of the walls being so wet. Windows and furniture were entirely destroyed, and clothes washed away. Even paper money could not, in certain cases, be saved. The shop-keepers, smaller dealers, in short the whole population that lived on the ground floor, are in a state of wretchedness not to be described. The rooms above the Exchange have 1500 poor people in them--the hospitals are so crowded that even the floors are covered by the poor. Every merchant here, has contributed largely to assuage the misery that is felt, and to which there appears to be no end, for we had partial inundations several times of late in the night. These have been preceded and accompanied by lights exhibited in the dome of the Admiralty, and alarm guns fired by the Citadel. This picture is not overcharged, however gloomy it may appear; years will not suffice to repair the damage and distress experienced. His Imperial Majesty gave a million of rubles, and other members of the Imperial family, and some of the nobles, large sums to serve as a temporary relief to the sufferers."

"I am sorry to add that we have from 10 to 14 of heat by Reaumur, nearly every day. Should this kind of weather continue but for a short time, it will destroy the provisions intended for the frozen market, which would be of itself a great calamity."