FLOODS IN SPAIN.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 9190, 18 September 1891, Page 2

FLOODS IN SPAIN.

APPALLING LOSS OF LIFE. HUNDREDS OV MILES OF COUNTRY SUBMERGED. I PER PRESS ABBOOIATION.| Madrid, September 17.— The damage by the flood at Consuegra is estimated at £400,000. Hundreds of people were drowned through refusing to leave their homes, though warned of the probable consequences. Appalling -scenes are being witnessed in the flooded districts. In one house a family of eleven were found clinging together after the water had subsided. The Queen has contributed 10,000 duros to the relief fund. The Government are utilising all available funds to mitigate the distress, and troops have been sent to bury the dead. The railway stations are besieged by refugees. The rainfall in the valley of Annaquillo was enormous. A national fund has been opened for the relief of the sufferers by the floods in Spain. Great loss of life and property is reported from the provinces of Valencia and Andalusia. Fifteen hundred perished at Conauegra alone. Hundreds of miles of country are submerged.

Miss Butler has an educational notice in another column. A whale was seen disporting itßelf close in to the mouth of the Waitara river this (Friday) morning*.' On Thursday tho members of the Rifle Company decided to hold church parade on Sunday. The Cadets and Firo Brigade will also take part. The companies, headed by the Band, will march from the reclaimed land to St. Mary's Church. We learn that the Hon. Mr Bryce intends to pay a visit to his late constituents in the Waikato, and for that purpose comes by the express train to day, en route for Auckland. A newspaper correspondent in the Manawatu has raised a curious point against the half-holiday movement. He contends it is unncriptural, as the commandment ordains tix days' labour, not five and a half. E. B. Holt, lite manager of the Bank of New Zealand, Sydney, whose embezzlement got him a sentence of five years' imprisonment, now occupies a financial position to which a salary of £1,200 a year is attached^ The Bulletin is glad to hear of Holt having thus pattially recovered himself, as his virtues and abilities far outbalance his weakness. The annual bazaar in aid of the school funds will be held in St. Mary's schoolroom this (Friday) evening. There will be a Christmas tree, firing for prizes, and other amusements. The Star Football Team play Ti Ti Rangi at Waitara to-morrow. They will be represented by the following : — Full-back, Conolly ; three-quarters: W. Kivell, C. O'Carroll, L. Allen ; half-backs: P. Moore, G. Ryan, S. Humphries : forwards : A. Elliot, J. Way, J. Smith, A. Kivell, F. Hammond, F. O'Carroll, W. Smith, R Bellringer. A brake will start at one sharp from West & Jury's stables. A Napier publican has attacked Mr Knott, the temperance lecturer, who is visiting that {own, with the argumentum ad hominem. Mr Gorman, who is the proprietor of one of the leading hotels there, has advertised in the Hawke's Bay Herald that he is willing to run Mr Knott 100 yds, swim him half a mile, row him five miles, drive a four-in-hand against him, or ride a steeplechasei with him. Further, Mr Gorman undertakes to prove, for a wager of £50 to go to the Nam'er Hospital, that he has been an abstainer for a longer period than has Mr Knott. Further still, Mr Gorman challenges Mr Knott "to prove by personal appearance, and bofore a jury of six abstainers and six moderate drinkers, whether he or Mr Knott looks more like a toper." We have not yet heard whether Mr Knott is prepared to accept this remarkable serios or challenges. The new Agent-General, Mr Perceval, left for Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon. The new Agent-General is considered one of the ablest and most promising of the numerous young men who have entered ! the New Zealand Parliament during the last few years, and has proved himself shrewd and £actful. He is without any recklessness or impulsiveness, indeed fault has been found with him that he shows ) too little energy. However that may ' be, in everything he has turned bis attention Ito he has been particularly successful. He will without doubt fulfil the duties of his new office with credit, and will be popular in London society. Mr Perceval is between 35 and 40 years of ago, and is a solicitor by profession. He is a man of large means, whilst his wife, who was Miss Johnston, daughter of the Hon. Mr Johnston, and sister of the Hons. Walter and Charles Johnston is also possessed of considerable wealth. At the beginning of the present session of Parliament Mr Perceval was appointed Chairman of Committees of the House. In that offico he gave every satisfaction, and showed an excellent knowledge of Parliamentary procedure, The members of St. Mary's choir are requested to meet at the schoolroom, Vivian-street, on Saturday evening, 19th inst., at 7 o'clock sharp. — Advt. In Ber"in a new experiment, that of serving a dinner party with salad grown under the guests' own eyes, was successfully tried at the bouse of Prince and Princess Blucher the other day. Here is the recipe :—": — " Take good germinating lettuce seed and soak it in alcohol for about six hours ; bow in an equal mixture of rich soil and unslaked lime, place it on a table. After the soup, water it with lukewarm water, whereupon it commences to sprout immediately." At the Prince's party the thing worked like a charm, and the lettuce when plucked and prepared for eating, were tbe size of Barcelona nuts ! Mr J. H. Tuke, who is still greatly remembered in the West of Ireland for his exertions to relieve the sufferings caused by the great famine of 1847 called attention in The Times to what the present Government has done for Ireland :--(l). Two hundred and thirty miles of railway at a cost of at least £1,500,000, of which £1,000,000 will be a free gift. (2). The distribution of £40,000 collected privately by tho Lord-Lieutenant and Chief Secretary for the relief of the distress caused by the loss of the potato crop in 1890. (3) A bill voting 33 millions to enable the tenant farmers in Ireland to purchaso tho farms they occupy at a great reduction in price. (4) The allotment of one million five hundred thousand and other sums for the purposo of permanently improving and developing the resources ot tho most distressed portions of lielund. If you want always to have the correct time, wear a Waterbury, which is without exception the cheapest and best timekeepers made. The Golden Waterbury, £2 10s ; the Aluminium Bronze Waterbury, £2 ; the Ladies' Waterbury, £1 2s 6d ; the gentlemen's Waterbury J, £1 2« 6d ; to be obtained from J. Avery, agent, tobacconist, Devon-street, New Plymouth. - Advt. £2,600 baa been paid »w»y ia Wolf e.u Bftatppt £1 ordtn.