Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc. — 1885-09-19 (Denton, Greater Manchester, England)

DESTRUCTIVE FLOODS IN INDIA. Mnst distressing accounts are being received in Calcutta of the destruction wrought by the floods throughout a great portion of lower Bengal. Baboo Joykissen Mookerjee, one of the largest landowners in the province, writes to an Indian newspaper that a great portion of the districts of Burdan and Hooghly, almost all the cultivable land in the flowrah district, the subdivision of Ghats!, and a large part of the Midnapore district have been more than a fortnight under water, that the rice crop is entirely destroyed, that the juts and sugar-cane crops are greatly damaged, and that many thousands of ryots have been rendered housele.ss and destitute. He strongly urges the Government to postpone the payment of the instalment of land revenue due on the 28th inst. The central and eastern districts have hardly fared better. Whole tracts have been under water for days, and not only have the crops been ruined or seriously injured, but the mud-built homesteads of the ryots have positively melted away. A considerable portion of the Eastern Bengal Railway has been carried away, and the Central Bengal line has also suffered. The East Indian Railway has been breathed in one or two places. The official reports tell almost the same tale from every district. Thus the Collector of Midnapore reports that the floods are going down, but that much damage has been caused in almost every part of the district. The Collector of Hooghly says that the prospect of the crops are unfavourable, particularly in the Jehanabad subdivision. The Collector of Howrah states that nearly three-fourths of the rice crops have been destroyed. The Collector of the Pergunnala says that the crops are suffering greatly. The Collector of Moorshedabad says that most of the crops have been destroyed, and so on. There was not much rain during the last few days, and although showers , have fallen, it is hoped that there may be a I break of some duration. According to the latest I news, the water is beginning to subside in most places. It is possible that the inundation may not be, after all, an unmixed evil, as the winter crop will probably be a very good one, and tanks that have not been filled for years have been thoroughly replenished. There will, however, be a great amount of immediate distress. In fact, it has already appeared. Appeals are being made to public charity, and liberal donations are flowing in; but it is probable that private efforts will not suffice and that Government aid will be required. As an example of the abnormal nature of the recent rainfall, it may be mentioned that two stations not far from Calcutta have already registered over 30 inches in excess of the annual average.  'lwo sons of Mr. George Sudson, a farmer, of Kirtnancham, near Congleton, were in charge of a reaping machine at work in the harvest field, when the horses attached to it, frightened bythe report of a gun, became restive, and knocked down the younger brother, a lad aged 14. The machine passed over his body, cutting off an arm and a leg, and severely injuring the skull, inflicting injuries which, it is stated, cannot but prove fatal. The elder brother had a very narrow escape. . .  MAN named William Robertson, a photographer, went to the police-station at Ramsgate the other evening and told Superintendent Buss that he wished to give himself up for murdering his wife, Annie, at 241, High Holborn, about four and a half years ago. He found her in bed with a' man named George, and stabbed her. Inspector Buss asked him whether he was sober, and knew what he was about. He replied that he had had a little to drink, but was quite sober, and was fully aware of the nature of the confession he had made and signed. He was brought before the magistratcs, when he denied in tots the statement he had made on the previous evening, and mid he was mad drunk at the time. The Chairman said it was a very serious matter, and the prisoner would be remanded in order that inquiries might be made about him. ME.