The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-03-10
LATE NEWS From sgd
NEY, AUCKLAND AND
SOUTH SEAS
Brisbane is Visited by Terri
bic Flood Which Re udeys
Many People Home
less.

BRISBANE, Feb. 9th.-Brisbane has /
been visited by a calamity in the /
shape Of flood which is beyond COM |
parison more disastrous than any ever |
before experienced in Australia. Rain |
had been falling almost constantly |
for some days, but, it being for the |
most part light, no serious conse- |
quences were expected until last Fri |
day week, when reports from the
Upper Brisbane watershed showed
that n heavy flood was inevitable,
and all possible efforts were made to
prepare for it, But the very worst
fears that could have been enter
/ tanned fell far short of the terrible
| reality. The high flood of 1890 made
! the record up to the present time, and
| it was thought that the limit Of possibi-
/ lily was then reached. Unfortunately,
! however, that flood has become al
most insignificant by comparison
with the present disaster. The waters
rose very rapidly, and the level of
| the big flood had been reached. Still
| the rain poured down increasingly,
! and the waters continued to rise until
the maximum height was reached
Yesterday night week, the level being
then about twelve feet above the flood
| of 1890. The scene was then terrible.
A very large portion of Brisbane and
suburbs, and the whole of the sur
rounding country in every direction,
were inundated, the water being in
many places over the tops of the
! houses. In Brisbane and its imme-
date vicinity some thousands of
houses were submerged, and many
hundreds of families were forced to
seek such shelter as was Obtainable
on the higher ground, many
losing all they possessed, and
barely escaping with their lives.
Rescue boats were hard at work in all
directions, removing the people to
places of safety. Many were clingiDg
to their places so long that they could
only be removed with the greatest
difficulty. Everything possible was
done to afford shelter to the homeless
i and to relieve immediate distress, but
1 the misery among the poorer families
was very great. y large portion of
the city itself was under water, all the
wholesale warehouses and many other
business establishments being flooded
in Queen street, the principal business
street. The water rose to height of
about 6 feet in the front Courier office
flooring, and all the lower floors of the
premises in that locality. The ma
than 40 feet under water. South Bris-
bane suffered more severely than the
north side, the whole of the business
portion and large part of the resi-
dence area being totally submerged
In Stanley street, the principal street
in South Brisbane, the water must
, have reached height of 20 feet in
places, and in more exposed Localities
the destruction was appalling. Hun
= dreds of houses were swept bodily
away and carried down the river, OF
piled against the railway embankmen
which runs through that portion o
the town. The lower part of Kanga
roo Point has been almost entirely
swept away, what now remains being
simply mass of wreckage in heaps
The Gilbert Islands.
By an American vessel, the Tarawa
which reached Sydney direct from th,
Gilbert Islands, there arrived two re
J. representatives. of the principal firm
doing business in that group. The!
report that since the islands wer
taken under a British protectOrate
very marked improvement has takel
place in the social and commercial
habits of the people. The rules lai'
down by Captain Davis, of II. NJ. s
Royalist, at the time of the declara
ton of the protectorate, for the guild
e ance of the chiefs in their dealing
s. with the natives, have in the mail
n been followed, and this splendid archi
. pelago at no previous time in its his
tory has been so prosperous as it is a
n present. The tribal wars, the veXa
tious and tyrannical laws, the corpora
furnishing of females, and many Othe
Vi semi-civilized customs are no longe
practiced or enforced. All that
~ wanted nOw,n say these visitors, 81
that duly qualified British Residen
~ be appointed by Her Majesty" Amer
leans and Germans residing in tn
group unanimously praise the actiO
taken by Captain Davis, and heartl
welcome the advent OF a stable COY
ernment under the British flag. Sue
is the testimony of the gentlemen VIII
have now arrived in Sydney, and the
many years Of residence in the grOul
and personal knowledge of the con
l. mercial habits of the people, as we
NC as the resources of the islands then
ct selves, make the testimony of speeds
to value. With regard to the trade
the Gilberts, they state that the e,
port of copra is chiefly direct
Europe. Business on a considerab
scale is done with San Francisco, an
two Sydney houses also trade wit
the group. a strong feeling is ente
tanned in the islands with respect
visits made by labor-recruiting We
sells, and it is fervently hoped tn;
the traffic will be prohibited. Re
pecting cablegram published froI
our London correspondent to Il
nc effect that @ movement, headed
% King Tebureimoa of Butaritari, W.
Ire afoot to petition the American Co
is eminent TO protest against the Bri
IRE ish annexation of the islands, az
- asking for an American protectorat
'o' the passengers by the Tarawa sta
that the Butaritari monaTch's inf
ence is of minor Importance, takiT
the whole of the inhabitants, fOreig
and native, in the Gilberts, and tn
when they left there on the Sth of la
month the position of affairs in Il
- group was as stated-enthusiastic
the British administration through
. out the islands.-lSydney Herald,
EnofEIcr Wreck.
Another wreck of a Sydney-own,
NJ vessel is reported. The news can
T. from the Solomon Islands by Il
81 schooner Renard, and is to the e1fe
Io that when the Renard was in Il
~ group she fell in with another islal
trader, the Lillian Grace, and from h
obtained brief particulars of the 10
Of SanIHxr of This MOI