The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 781, 12 October 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1878.

We have read the talcs of hardship portraying the suffer ngs of the people of those districts in Otago lately visited by floods, until we have felt grateful for the position of security from such visitations we enjoy. But it is scarcely possible to realise a full sense of the suffering and danger through which these poor people have passed, and their accompanying loss. It is bad enough for men to be necessitated to leave their homes to seek on a dismal wet weary night a dry patch upon which to rest the soles of tlieir feet; but it is worse when women and children are in terror driven from their homes in order that they may bo saved from death by drowning, all thenworldly goods gone. To dwell upon the disasters arising out of the late floods in Otago is to engender a feeling of warm sympathy for those who have suffered so much. We are glad that the people of Canterbury have thought of Otago in the time of their trial and difficulty. To Mr. John Ollivier is due the praise of having instituted subscription lists in Canterbury to assist the sufferers, and to the people of Canterbury is due the gratitude and admiration of the people of this provincial district for having shewn a desire to assist those who have been brought to the verge of ruin. Dunedin intends to take some steps to render immediate help to such, and it is probable that Oamaru may bo called upon to perform her part in this work of charity. If she is, we have no doubt that, as heretofore, she will not be found wanting.