Show RAINS AUSTRALIA heavy downpour causes rivers of country to overflow great havoc Is wrought and people are compelled to seek refuge on roots and in trees one on whole family drowned sydney N S W tho the great event of tho the year thus tar far in australia has been the disastrous floods tn in tho the no northwest of now new south wales caused by a phenomenal rainfall the varl oua rivers overflowed banks and poured a their heir contents over the surrounding sura plains and into adjacent towns tamworth was the first to be ba submerged then followed narrabri abrl abri wee wan waa moreo Warl alda and ov a number of smaller towns morea is aa a thriving town near the gwydir in miles iles from sydney it is the present terminus of the railway to the northwest and to is surrounded eur rounded by far stretch h ing plains of porous black soil rich with luxuriant grass on which browse thousands of the mayor of moree who happened to live a little distance out of town was cut off by the floo flood a and nd had to i wade vade with his family through rough b r four feet of water for a corrugated iron roof where he remained under the sweltering sun for three days dayi till the water subsided fortunately he had plenty of provisions in the house and was lucky enough to catch a drowning sheep as it drifted past which was speedily killed and cooked so BO soon as the stove had sufficiently dried in this as in many similar cases the telephone proved of immense use enabling the inmates to communicate with the jowh and to arrange for the sending out of a relief party to rescue a boat load of people who had cap sized in front of the mayors house and had been forced to remain in the trees all night in another case a brother and sister were perched on a roof for three days I 1 and a boat was hurriedly constructed d in town to take them some food funds were immediately started in sydney and in different towns jor or the relief of the sufferers which speedily amounted to thousands of pounds almost everybody lost something thing many being totally ruined while several lost th their air lives in oneo one case a whole family including women and children at wee waa where the flood was at its worst left their homestead in a boat accompanied by a police constable the current dashed them thein against a tree the boat capsized and the whole party was drowned excepting only the constable who to not expected to recover in another case which illustrates the wide extent of the country devastated by the flood a whole boatload was missing for a week carried hither and thither by the current curreli and seeing nothing but water during tho the whole time since 1864 no other such calamity has occurred in this part of australia and those who remember the good flood of that year say that this was still worse the most remarkable feature about it was the promptitude and celerity with which the people eve everywhere ry rose to the occasion relieved the sufferers ye repaired paired the bridges mended the roads burned the carcasses cleaned their houses hou ses restored their communications and in fact did everything that tha was humanly possible to undo the damage which could hardly have bd been en foreseen and little of which dould could have been prevented in any case |