The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-16 00:00:00

MEETING IN AID OF THE SUFFERERS.

A public meeting was held in the Town-hall yes-
terday for the purpose of considering and adopting
such measures as may be deemed necessary to relieve
the distress and suffering occasioned by this cala-
mity. The Mayor (Mr. Thomas Jes3op) presided.
The Right Hon. Earl Fitzwil]iam, the Right Hon.
Lord Wharncliffe, and nearly all the gentry of
position in the town and neighbourhood, were pre•
sent. Among them were the following—Mr J. S.
Stanhope, Mr Dunn, Mr J. Brown, Mr W. F.
Dickson, Mr W. Butcher, Mr S. Butcher, Mr H.
Vickers, Mr T. W, Rodgers, Mr H. Rodgers, Mr
S. W. Hawksworth, Mr H. Wilson, Mr J. N.
Mappin, Alderman Matthews, Mr R. J. Gains-
ford, Mr H. Unwin, Mc C. Atkinson, Alderman
Jackson, Mr H. Harrison, Mr M. J. Ellison, Alder-
man Fisher, Mr J. G. A. Crebwick, the Rev. Dr.
Sale, the Revs. Mr Blakeney, Newman, Aldous,
Wilkinson, C. Wilkinson, and Loxton, &c. The
meeting was crowded.

The MAYOR having briefly opened the proceed-
ings,

Earl FITZWILLIAM,who was received with cheers,
moved—" That the fearful inundation which has
caused such awful loss of life and such immense de-
struction of property, necessarily occasioning wide-
spread misery and desolation, calla upon the inha-
bitants of this borough and neighbourhood and all
who sympathise with the sad event at once to sub-
scribe so as to alleviate as far as possible this great
distress, and that a subscription be now come
menced." On such an occasion as this, added his
lordship;it affords me the very deepest gratification
to perform a duty at once so pleasing and melan-
choly. A subscription has already been commenced ;
noble sums have already been subscribed to alleviate
the sufferings caused by this dreadful calamity. We
must bear in mind that the first thing to be done is
to alleviate those whose all has been taken from
them. I fear that to a very large extent this will be
found to be the case. Not only have persons, but
families been swept away. Those whom we are
accustoa,ed to call the " bread winners" have been
li swept away in many cases, leaving fatherless fami-
lies. These are the cases which must first call for
our attention, and to these cases our subscriptions
must be first directed. (Chem.) That there is other
wide •spread distress no doubt is true, and that, I
hope, can in time be alleviated. Bat the first must
be alleviated, and that immediately. (Cheers.) I
will not detain you longer than by making that one
observation, because I am sure there is so much to
be said on such an occasion as this, so much detail
to be gone into, that I should be taking up too much
of year valuable time were I to trespass long by
making a speech. I shall be happy, as you know I
always am, if I can come among you to assist
with pleasure on such an occasion of alleviating the
distress of, as I will call you, my fellow townsmen.
I do not know whether any kind of subscriptions
have yet been made known, but I wish on behalf of
myself and family to subscribe £l,OOO. (Protracted
and reiterated cheers.) To the mayor and gentle-
men who will form the acting committee I must be
allowed to say that I hope what I give will be most
speedily placed to the use of those who most need
it. (Loud cheers.)
Lord WHARNCLIFFE, who was most warmly
greeted, said—Yesterday I addressed a meeting in
the Council-ball, and I ventured on that occasion to
recommend the people of Sheffield to make such a
subscription as should be worthy of the town, and
I am happy to find that the few words I said on that
occasion have borne some fruit. (Hear.) The mayor
informs me that the sum of £6,000 is available for
the purpose of relieving the distress occasioned by
the inundation. I have often occasion to sit in the
place in this court where your worthy mayor now
sits, and although my duty on these occasions are
sufficiently melancholy iu their nature, yet these
only refer to evils which we may hope in the course
of time to extirpate altogether, but this is one of
those calamities which no human means, by any
possibility, can totally and thoroughly alleviate.
(Hear, hear.) It is a calamity involving not only
the loss of fortune and happiness but involving also
the loss of life, which is the thing that touches us
most nearly. lam happy to see that we have been
honoured by tho presence of the noble Lord Lieu-
tenant of the Riding, who has shown such readi-
ness to meet the men of his county in this matter,
and who is now, as he ever is, ready to open his
teart and his purse to all who come to him in need.
We all owe him our most sincere thanks for his mu-
nificent donation on this occasion. (Hear, hear.) I
hope every one of us will do his duty in like man-
ner. (Hear,) The example that has been set us by
the highest in the room ought to be followed
down to the lowest. This is not an occasion on
which to indulge in platitudes as to the necessity of
subscribing. (Hear.) The necessity is one which
we must all feel, and I believe the county at large
is quite alive to the intense suffering that has been
occasioned in its neighbourhood by this disaster.
(Hear,) I believe we shall find that the whole of
England will rally to the assistance of the people
vi hose homes are desolate in the same way as we
have rallied to the relief of their distress in every
other part of the country when any calamity has
fallen upon it. We need not refer to the Holmfirth
or the Hartley catastrophes, or to the more extended
calamity which prostrated the whole of Lancashire.
I hope we shall find the whole of England will meet
together to render assistance to us in the time of
need ; but, as I said yesterday, we must first set
our own shoulders to the wheel—we must first set
the example. That we did yesterday to some ex-
tent.; don't let us fail to-day in doing our part. I
have great pleasure in seconding the resolution pro-
posed by the noble lord. (Loud cheers.)
The resolution was carried.
The Rev. Canon SALE, D.D., Vicar of Sheffield,
moved a resolution appointing a committee to receive
and distribute funds, 8.73. Ho congratulated the
meeting on the readiness which all classes of society
had shown to unite together for the furtherance of
this good work. The Archbishop of York had sent
a subscription of £5O, and would have attended this
meeting if he could have possibly neglected press-
ing engagements at York. (Applause.)
Mr. T. DUNN seconded the resolution. He ear-
nestly impressed upon the town the necessity of
united action, and called upon the young men of
the town to band themselves together to seek out
deserving objects, and bring their cases under the
notice of the committee at once. He was afraid the
distress would prove wider spread than they were
aware of at present, but he had no doubt that the
sympathy of the people would be equal to the relief
of it.
The resolution was carried.

Mr. J. BROWN moved that the Mayor be requested
to act as treasurer.

Alderman VICKERS seconded the motion, and an-
nounced that the town trustees, at a meeting this
morning, had agreed to subscribe £5OO. (Cheers.)
Councillor HARVEY, who spoke amid some ex-
pressions of disapprobation, was of opinion that the
leading gentry of Sheffield had not done enough to
show their sense of the overwhelming nature of the
calamity. He urged them to double their subscrip-
tions, and then they would have a good case on
which to appeal to the country.
Dr. HALL, speaking as a medical man, said there
could be no doubt that if the mud and filth were
not soon removed from the houses, some serious
epidemic of fever or other disease would result.
Mr. J. DODWORTII, a small manufacturer, sug-
gested that the working men of Sheffield should
each give one day's wages. His men had done that,
and he had no doubt the working men could raise
in that way £lO,OOO. He gave £25. (Cheers.)
The re-olation was carried.

Mr. J. Yeomans (town clerk), Rev. J. Aldons,
Mr. C. Doncaster, and Mr. T. Chambers were ap-
pointed honorary secretaries of the committee.

Mr. W. S. STANHOPE, of Cannon-hall, said he
would call a public meeting in Barnsley, and he had
no doubt that meetings would be held throughout
the length and breadth of Yorkshire.

With regard to Mr. Dodworth's suggestion, it

appeared that the workmen of Messrs. Guest and
Chimes, of Rotherham, had agreed to give the sum
of £lOO, at least, by setting apart portions of their
earnings.

Mr. S. ;G. CRESWICK, of Ecclesall-grange, sug-
eested that property owners who had houses empty
shoal, offer them to persons rendered houseless by
the flood. (Cher: 79
Mr. MARCUR SMITH, age2t to the trustees of the
Duke of Norfolk, announced that thei would sub-
scribe liberally, but he had not yet received in-
structions as to the amount.

Several suggestions for the collection of old cloth-
ing, the distribution of coals, &c., were made, and
on the motion of Earl Fitzwilliam, seconded by
Lord Wharncliffe, a cordial vote of thanks was
passed to the Mayor.
The committee met at 5 o'clock in the Council-
hall, and began operations at once. At the close of
the meeting the following subscriptions were an-
nounced :—Earl Fitzwilliam, £1,000; Town Trus-
tees, £500; Lord Wharncliffe, £200; Charles Cam-
mell and Co., £200; Milner and Sons, Liverpool,
£100; Harrison, Hawson, and Co., £100; Martin
and Hall, £100; Mr. Benjamin Huntsman, £100;
Mr. George Dawes, £lOO ; Marsh Brothers, £100;
Mr. J. F. Mappin, £lOO ; Thomas Rawson, and Co.,
£lOO.

Other subscriptions were afterwards received,
raising the total to over £ll,OOO. Mr. Roebuck
telegraphed that his Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales will head the subscription.