CAUGHT IN A FLOOD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 6

CAUGHT IN A FLOOD.

Wm ■•.■>;','.' '." s —■*■ ■ , '■■•■■ ■ a SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE. { An exciting adventure befell Mr. R. R. Scott, the Aeokautere storekeeper and - postmaster, on Saturday (says Monday's Manawatu Daily Times). . Mr. Scott drove 1 v into town in the morning, across the Fitz- •;--.-. Herbert bridge, and on his return journey took a short' cut by way of Lancaster's lord, across the Manawatu River, having |pV/ ; been . told by 'two acquaintances who had previously crossed by that route, that the ' ford was " all right." S/"! On reaching the centre of tho river, one ' of the two horses he was driving, a young te 1 animal, refused to face the stream, and turned its head down the river, with the fe': result; that horse, vehicle, and occupants ■were carried away by the current. Fortunately they had not progressed far when C ;'•'-, the wheels of the trap caught in a log, •/ - bringing it to a standstill. The occupants "' of the vehicle, Mr. Scott a his nine-year-old son, and an. elderly man, found themselves ';■ in an extremely precarious position. The river was rising, and the water was already flowing over the bottom of the cart, ;/ and almost level ( ith the horses' backs. •V For about an hour and a-half they remained, in this position, trying to attract the ' attention of someone on the banks, until £■; they were seen by some men who were fi,''"!; employed carting metal on the river bed. ..' Mr. J. Lane's son Fred., who was driving y<\ a, dray, at once unharnessed his horse, and ;- rode into the river to their assistance. He ;-. V first unhitched the horses attached to the ii \ ' almost submerged trap, and the animals '< , when let loose at once made their way to '■■-'-" the shore. He then turned his attention to the occupants, bringing them one by ?, one to dry land, making in all four trips. it, He also rescued the mail bags. His per- -.'"/■'••' formance was a plucky one, and was carried '*■'■'< out with coolness and presence of mind.