The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1896-04-11
Australia's Varied scourges.
Typhoid Fever and DIphtheria Follow
ing the Great Heat and the Electric
storms
From the N. Y. sun.

From the N. Y Sun.
Australia's scourging by no means
ceased with the passing of the terrible heat
wave and the subsiding of the electric
storms and cyclones which followed close
on the heels of the heat, as told of in the
Sun recently. The last mail adyices from
the sorely afflicted continent tell of wide
spread epidemic of typhoid fever, direct
consequence of the heat. Almost all the
wells in many districts were dried up, and
creeks and rivers ceased to flow. A water
famine resulted, and the inhabitants were
compelled to use impure water As a re-
suit typhoid broke out, and the mortality
from the disease was, at last accounts, even
greater than that caused by the terrible
heat. Melbourne was badly afflicted.
The fever wards in the hospitals soon filed
up, and very many patients had to be
turned away. The same conditions OBJ
tanned in Alexander, Wagga and Water
loo, and outbreaks of typhoid were report
ed from very many parts of the continent
Diphtheria, too broke out in many places,
and caused many deaths.
The storms that followed the heat inter
rupted communication, blowing down tele-
graph wires and washing away blidges and
roads, and when the last mail advices left
Australia, but meagre reports were obtain
able of the death and destruction caused
throughout the continent and in Tasmania
and New Zealand by the extraordinary
climatic conditions. After the heat and
the storms came earthquakes. They were
not serious, and no considerable damage
had been reported at last accounts They
were most felt in Queensland The earth
trembled and windows ratified and crockery
was shaken from shelves. Half a dozen
towns in the colony reported having expert
enced the shocks. The shocks passed from
east to west
The Australian papers are filed with
stories of the great heat and storms and
the loss of life and property resulting there
from. The greatest heat recorded during
the hot spell, which occurred in January,
was IN Adelaide, 1929 in the sun and lilo
in the shade; in Melbourne, 1929 in the
shade; Hopetown, 1130; Swan Hill 116o;
Bourke, 11S0, and Mildura, 1909. In
Bourke, N S. W, town of 3, 900 in-
habitants, thirty-fve people died in one
week of heat apoplexy People fell in the
streets and died without regaining con-
sciousness. A woman attending her dying
husband became suddenly i'll from the heat,
and died an hour before her husband A
son-in-law Of these two died from the heat
while making the funeral arrangements.
Many people were found after the heat
was over, dead in the country roads and
in the fields. The railway departments of
the various colonies made special reduced
rates to enable people to escape to the
cooler districts of the Australian Alps and
the residents of the plains fed to the
mountains panic stricken.
Millions of fish perished in the lakes
throughout the country, because Of the
water drying up. The pelicans profted
rather than suffered by the heat. They
thronged the banks of the lakes in thou
sands, gorging themselves on the fish
exposed by the evaporating waters. Birds
fell from the trees and died in great num-
bers. The wax cells of beehives melted
and imprisoned large numbers of bees,
which were thus smothered in their own
sweetness. Cattle and sheep died in
droves all over the continent, and the
price of stock has gone up greatly. Smelt-
ing was suspended in most of the mining
towns, and surface laborers of all kinds had
to cease work The grape crops in many
districts were ruined. In Sydney hum
dred tons of ice were consumed daily, and
the supply of lemons was completely used
up.
Serious fires occurred not only in the
bush and the country districts, but also in
the cities, started by spontaneous com
bustion Extra guards were placed at many
factories and warehouses to watch for and
guard against fire generating in closely
stored goods. Bush fires prevailed all
over the country, and the fate Of many
settlements is still in doubt.
The damage in Queensland from the
storms which followed close after the heat
was very great, and only meagre reports
had yet been collected three weeks ago.
Houses and buildings of all descriptions
were swept away in the floods, and the
damage to crops, almost ready for the
harvest, was enormous. The Comet River
rose forty feet in twelve hours, the Noga
twenty feet, and the Yama twelve feet.
At Payneham the English church, one of
the finest structures in the colony, was
levelled to the ground by the cyclonic
gale and the succeeding foods. At
Gympie the mines were flooded, and all
mining operations in the district we're sus-
pended Great suffering prevailed in all
quarters heard from, and great destitution
must result from the ruin of the crops
1t will doubtless be many weeks before
the complete story of Australia s extraordi-
nary climatic scourage is learned, and all
the indications are that it viii be ter
rible and sorrowful tale
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