Milford chronicle., 1896-05-22
DISEASE scoURolNe AUSTRALIA
Typhoid Fever and Diphtherla Epidemic
on the Island Continent

DISEASE SCOURGiNG AUSTRALIA
Typhoid Fever and Dlphtheria Epidemic
on the Island Continent.
Australians scourglng by no means
ceased with the passing of the terrible
heat wave and the subsiding of the cleo
I trio storms and cyclones which followed
close on the heels of the heat The last
mail advices from the sorely-afilicted
continent tell of a widespread epidemic
/ of typhoid fever, a direct consequence
of the heat Almost all the wells in
many districts dried up and many creeks
and rivers ceased to flow. A water
famine resulted, and the inhabitants
were compelled to use impure water.
As a result typhoid fever 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 flied up and very
many patients had to be turned away.
The same conditions obtained in Alex
ander, Wagga and Waterloo, and out
breaks of typhoid were reported from
very many parts of the continent. Diph-
iberia, too, broke out in many places
and caused many deaths.
The storms that followed the heat
interrupted communication, blowing
down telegraph wires and washing away
bridges and roads, and when the last
mail advices left Australia but meager
reports were obtainable of the death
ard 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 rat
tied and crockery was shaken from
shelves. Half dozen towns in the col
ony reported having experienced the
shocks. The shocks passed from east
to west.
The Australian papers are filled with /
stories of the great heat and storms |
and the loss of life ard property re-
sulting therefrom. The greatest heat |
recorded during the hot spell, which |
occurred in January. was in Adelaide |
172 degrees in the sun and III in the /
shade; in Melbourne. 112 degrees in /
the shade; Hopetouu, 113 degrees:
Swan Hill. ZIG degrees; Bourke, lis /
degrees, and Mildura, 100 degrees. In
Bourke, n. S. W., a town of 5000 inhab-
itents, IS people died in one week OF
heat apopleXy. People fell in the
streets and died without reGaining con-
seriousness. A woman attending her
dying husband suddenly became i'll
from the heat and died an hour be-
fore her husband. 4 son-in-iaw 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 depart
lnents 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 persisted in the lakes
throughout the country because of the
water drying up. The pelicans profited
rather than suffered by the heat. They
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 numbers. The wax cells of bee
hives melted and imprisoned large num-
GERS of bees, which were thus smothered
in their own sweetness. Cattle and
sheep died in drOves all over the CON
inent and the price of stock has gone
up greatly. Smelling was suspended
II most of the mining towns and surface
aborers of all kinds had to cease work.
lhe grape crops in many districts were I
aimed. In Sydney 100 tons of ice were
consumed daily, and the supply of :
emons was completely used up.
Serious fires occurred not only in the
)ush and the country districts, but also
n the cities, started by spontaneous r
Extra guards were placed
It many factories and warehouses to
watch for and guard against fire gem =
rating in closely stored goods. Bush
Tres prevailed all over the country, and
hS rate " hAelil HclllcAutulS Is sui IN il
oubt.
The damage in Queenstown from the
forms which followed close after the .
eat was very great, and only meager re-
orts had yet been collected three weeks
go. Houses and buildings of all de-
were swept away in the floods, =
nd the damage to crops, almost ready
II the harvest, was enormous. The
omet rose 40 feet in ~ hours, the Noga
D and the Yama 70 feet. At Payneham
he English church, one of the finest
ructures in the colony, was leveled to
he ground by the cyclonic gale and
le succeeding floods. At olympic the ,
lines were flooded. ard all the mining =
perations in the district were sus-
ended. Great suffering prevailed in Z
] quarters heard from and great desti- c
ltion must result from the ruin of 2
lie crops.
It will doubtless be many weeks be- T
re the complete history of Australia's L
climatic scourge is II
armed, and all the indications are that e
will he n terrible and sorrOxvf11l tale ~