CABLE NEWS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 20, Issue 70, 3 September 1909, Page 7

CABLE NEWS.

Marine Casualties. New York, August 31. The American iron screw steamer Ohio, 3480 tons, built in 1873, ran ashore and was wrecked at Steep Point, Alaska. Eccles, the wireless telegraph operator, stuck to his post until his room was flooded. He sent messages which brought two steamers to the rescue, and they took on board 134 passengers and crew. Five were drowned, including Eccles. London, August 31. A powerful salvage steamer, well equipped with gear, has left Hull to recover, by means of salvage, a portion of the £150,000 sterling worth of property, consisting of 26 Hull steam trawlers, which has been stranded on the Iceland coasts during the last decade.

An Appalling Calamity. 800 PEOPLE DROWNED. Mexico, Aug. 31. A great calamity has overtaken a large area of country in the Northern Mexican States of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, owing to the overflowing of the many rivers draining into the Rio Grande. In the city of Monterey alone (capital of Nuevo Leon, on the Santa Catalina river) 800 persons perished, and there are 15,000, or nearly one-fourth of the city population, homeless. Half of the town, which lies at the head of a large valley 1790 feet above sea level, is under water. One hundred miles of railway track in the States of Nuevo Leon and .Coahuila has been destroyed. _ The Mexico Smelting and Lead Company’s extension works near Monterey, and the Monterey Steel Company’s mills and workshops have been extensively damaged—the former placing its loss at 3,000,000 dollars and the latter at 1.000. dollars. So far as can be estimated at present the total damage is set down at 12.000. dollars.

LATER DETAILS. FOURTEEN HUNDRED DEATHS. ONE-FOURTH OF THE CITY DESTROYED. London, September 1. Reuter reports that there are 1200 dead and 15,000 homeless at Monterey, and that the damage done is valued at £4,000,000. Over 17 inches of rain fell on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and the greatest losses were sustained on Saturday, when buildings bega’n to crumble and fall. Many roofs were crowded with hundreds of people, most of whom disappeared. Ninety women and children took refuge in the schoolhouae. The rising waters drove them from floor to floor, and while two priests were blessing them the walls collapsed and all were drowned, Mexico, September 1. Fourteen hundred people perished at Monterey. One fourth of the city is destroyed . The water mains are useless, and consequently there is no drinking water and famine is feared. Thousands took refuge in the Cathedra], churches, and schools. Many buildings soaked with water continue to collapse slowly, adding fo the death roll. The collapse of the reservior dam was the chief cause of the fatalities at Monterey, which lies in the centre of a cup-like valley, with steep mountains on three sides, down which the waters rushed, swelling the current of the river. Subscriptions are pouring in from all parts of Mexico.