THE BISHOP OF QUEENSLAND'S APPEAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2571, 24 June 1903, Page 30

THE BISHOP OF QUEENSLAND'S APPEAL.

A DEVASTATING CYCLONE The Choral Hall was filled to the doors on tlie 16th by a sympathetic md interest' d audience, when the Bishop of North Queersland lectured .on the recent cyclone, " Le-oii'ta," that had devastated the Towiie■\ille district, and ciusod such loss to tho North Quetoislai.d dicoese that the only way to meet it was by an appeal to the people of Au^tralapia generally, and New Zealand had been included, the Bi'hop stated, in rft=pon?3 to sympathetic me« i -awes tent from N-ew Zealand that he should (omo over a-nd .plead his case in p?rson. Hew hrrd a case it is the Bi-hop was not long :n convincing -all present ; m fact, few, it i? safe to say, had the ka*t conception of tho magnitude of the damage and loas canned in the district that suft'eied. His Worship the Mayor (Mr T. Scott) pros -:lcd, aid in introducing the speaker < xurossed the high'--t admiration for the noble v.ork ho was cairyiug on, and commended it to the pracl.cal sympathy .jf all. Bishop Frodiham tlwn pa.v<" a forcible and interesting acron.it of ilip c/< 'ono and its work of dostrint on. ()i!j t in Hongkong, he believed, during • tho last h;i'.feenioiry had there been a cyclone r-o severe, as that ivhu-h dexastaiod North Quceir-hind three months a^t> Till al-mt half an hour beforehand there we-, no in licatiOn of Us canning. Then ("imp a mtr-our iliat tlir» barometer v.as c ir'kmcc- v ><i th':n that it. had gone lowrr than for iho pnntc-t prc\ious cyclnno tint \.^it/:rl th"> (L-trict. l'cr •■oiialiy. hii fir- 1 \ic\\ of tl - r» oi'oiic \\M the sight of the roof of In-, sjiooi.i'-. fittagp as it ~«cnt 20ft or 30ft iiito the :. „ and alighted in a neighbouring fii-'d. He could fc-ee the houses oa the Mirroundinj; hills loeUing away liltic by liiil-. '1 he subdcanciy, in which he «as li ni c If. though. c~p'<>i^ ly btronply b'.nlt, \\j, iun\ c d foiv.'.ird Qft and broken into lh - f>e jjio<i-, and had to bo Mi<at"d. To bp in the -.trcc-t was to bo in » mi'i-U rable danger. <!•> the shoots

of "on we i ■ I'iiiiir;^ ni tliou-and« .inn" tho lul' aid out to k;i like p. fees of paper Hi a di:->t •■toi in Slicctfl of iron \\o,-c sifter v/ard» fuiind tui^ted iciincl pun h.-^n., and brnt rounil hu •> 'tl « ir<- in tho mo-t otu ordmair w.i>. 'i I it? H.ii'ii of Clc^c• .md litiv v.-ore ob-'tT\ i.l filitd «ith « al< r-|j'»it-, and t\ie force of tln> »i'nl drove the v>ctt<r out to sea to tl.p i.I. v pth of l.ianv fcot. til t'<>& mini fbancjcil and blew it Kick till flood* ro-iilted. Not a leaf was i«f( on tio- - and the tops of the br.niclit'* weie ]eH \.!> \{.<-*.\ {.<-*. Nt \t clay an i<l«a of r'ae c'.iinacc v;: cot Then it wa- fomul that a thud of tl.f hou^e" in tho (o«n wcie on the frrrund or damaged TowsiMille had a population of abot»c 17,000, and the imigli bounns rounlry 5000 nmrp. Sfaioely a )>ou-ie m the town Ind e?cape<\ injury, and tho suffenugs of people were \ery considerable Tho waterworks were damaged, and they had no water ; all the bakehouse"; were blown down, and there -was dearth of bread. H-e was glad he conk! say that h* had npver 'r-on anytliins like the charity displayed at Townsvillo pfter t^e disa«ter. The ntmos-l.-htii- was oi.e of thankfulness that mater* I i.I not 1 ~<\'i wor~e. nnd jjeople without <!. 'a\ M-t pi 'nit r"]ia>rmpf thoir lne*e<: North (^..c ' i-i'in I w:;- i i-t nch before tlvß ci'mpm- i tip I-' 1 Ixtii tlin. rattY pinyue a'ij t.Ln \.a,- (.'. o.i^'.ii iv coiitci d with

Now they were indeed poor, and would bo poor for mauy years to come. Tho churches had all buffered, except the Presbyterinti Church. He be! ; evcd he was tho poorest bi^iop in the Anglican Church. The lo=s to the diocese of North Queenslaud for immediate repairs was estimated at £4b20. If tho cathedral loof was to be reinstated so that the probability of another cyclone removing it would be reduced to a minimum, a further sum of £1900 would have to be expended, making a total of £6520 required. Tho churches affected vi ere: The cathedral (of which the roof was almost entirely gone), Ayr Chuich, Brandon Church, Chinese Mission Chuich, Alundmgburra Church, Boss Island Church, aad the raotorr at Ayro (these were, completely wrecked) : West Townsville Church, the sub-deanery, Bishop's Lodge, and the old rectory at Tow n^ .Ho were seriously damaged ; and various endowment fundE Lad lost a large part of tlis buildings representing their capital, and as the endowments were small the loss was all the more serious. The lecturer W2s heartily applauded for hia graphic description, and concluded his addicts by showing an excellent scries of lantern-slide photographs depicting canons scenes in the devastated town, which, fully explained, brought home- to th» audienco even better than words tho realum of tho events described. That the Bishop of North Queensland had not made his appeal in \am was shown by a generous response in the- collection taken up at tiie tloae of the lecture. THE NORTH QUEENSLAND CYCLONE FUND. We have in acknowledge receipt of Uip. following additional subscriptions i')r tho Bishop of North Queensland's Restoration Fund : — Second li c t additional donations from members of St. M."tthow'a congregation : W.ss Rouse ss. A. S. 2s 6d. Mrs Curzon-Siggers £1, Mi:sc^ P.aird 10=?. Mr 11. E. ■Williams £5, Mr E H. Hait £1 Is Miss Gore sr, . . £ 8 3 6 Collection at Bi.-hop of Ncnlh Queensland's led lire last c\cnmg • £"< L) a Thud 11-t of additions io St. Mat-th-w's 00110-tioii : MS- .lohu Watson £1 In, Mi*s Hooper 4s M 1550-, PitU 15s:— total 2 0 0 Air J. Braithv.aitp ?- 2 ° Mi^ T. M., Dunedin 2 0 0 ]?ost»l cols .. 0 5 0 All above per Rev. W. Cuizon-S.ggcn.