The morning call., 1891-09-16
RISING RIVERS.
Spanish Provinces Swept by
Floods.
Thousands Of Families Rendered Home
less and Suffering for Food.
The Catastrophe Unparalleled In the History
Of Spain-Rslief Fund Started
by the Queen.
Special to THE MORNING CALL.

MADRID, Sept. 15.-Tbe floods which
caused so much damage and " hich are al
ready known to have resulted in the loss of
thousands OF lives have been general in the
south of Spain. The damage done is terri
BILE in its extent In the province Of Toledo
the rush Of water from the Consuegra River
was so sudden and unexpected that hun
dreds of people were drowned In their beds.
Four hundred bodies have already been re-
covered, and at least one hundred corpses
can be seen floating in the swollen river
A national Relief Fund has been opened,
and all the newspapers announce that they
are ready to receive donations The grape
and grain crops were destroyed throughout
the flooded sections of the country.
A dispatch from the Mayor of Consuegra
calls earnestly for aid, and states that there
were already 1900 victims by the floods in
that city. 1t was not at first understood to
mean that such large number of people
had lost their lives, as mortality so over
whelming was deemed incredible. but it is
now reasonably sure that between 1900 and
1000 have been drowned.
Survivors report that an earthquake was
felt just before the inundation took place
According to the last census Consuegra had
a population of 1921, so that if it be true
that two-thirds are drowned, the catastro-
Pile is unparalleled in the history of Spain.
The most hea trending scenes have taken
place. In one house alone twenty-five peo-
pie perished, and their bodies have since
been found. One family of eleven perished
utterly, and their bodies we're found cling
ing to one another.
Every town and village on the banks of
the Amargullo appears to have been flooded,
and the overflow is from two to six feet deep
over an area measuring hundreds of square
miles.
The Minister of Public Works has gone to
the scene of the disaster, where over one
hundred bodies have already been recovered
This, however, is the report from only three
or four small places. Reports from Valen-
cia and Andalusia are almost equal hat
rowing The city is in state of great ex-
citement, and the railway stations are be-
seged by families seeking their incoming
relations and news of the people supposed
to be lost.
The Queen has sent her private Treasurer
with 10, 900 duros in cash and unlimited credit
at the bank for the purpose OF aiding the
sufferers.
The overfowing of the COnsuegra threat
ems te cause further damage Two-thirds
of the houses practically destroyed are still
standing, but the foundations are sapped
and they threaten to fall at any moment.
The families saved from drowning are In
great distress from want of food. An esti-
mate, classed as a moderate One, and which
is within rather than over the actual num-
ber places the total death list at 1000.
Large numbers Of cOrpSes still rest where
they were found. Unless soon inferred an
epidemic of fever is feared. So far as pos
sible the bodies of the drowned are being
gathered from the streams, mud-banks and
ruins ana are being buried in trenches.
Many of the bodies found are entirely nude.
showing they must have been washed from
their beds.
Unhappily the worst Is not yet known
and months of terrible priyatOns and ex-
treme suffering are before the utterly I'M
poverished survivors. The crops are gone,
their cattle swept away, their houses ruined
and all that would enable them to earn
their bread has vanished beneath the tor
rents of water which have rolled over the
towns and villages. fields and farms. The
extreme distress and the positively ravenOus
feeling Of starvation prevailing IN many
sectons of the flood devastated country has
another, and if possible, backer side.
Bands of desperate men determined to
obtain bread at any cost for their hunger
Tortured families have been driven to max
ing rdluS UPON anu plildSiHS luo DuIluiDSS
where they expected to find food. Troops
have been instructed to take the most severe
measures to protect property. Two thou
sand kios of army bread have arrived in
the flooded districts. When the Government
delegate in charge of the first consignment
of bread arrived he was beset by famishing
Inhabitants, male and female, the majority
half-naked or clad in rags, most of them on
their knees.
The Queen has subscribed $4,000 to the
relief fund. and the Bank of Spain has
added $1,000.
At Almeria the food has stopped opera
tions at electric-light and gas works and
the city is in total darkness. The river
Andary has OveIf1owed its banks. convert
ing the valley into vast lake. 1t is ssti-
mated that over 5000 head of horses and
cattle have been drowned. The police have
succeeded in suppressing the pllage. Food
is rapidly arriving for the sufferers. Fresh
corpses are being discovered all the time.
Altogether sixty persons have been found
in the public hall where they were over
taken by the flood in the midst of . we'd
ding feast.