SWEPT TO DEATH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19505, 13 June 1925, Page 9

SWEPT TO DEATH.

BURSTING OF A RESERVOIR. SCOTTISH VILLAGE WRECKED. LOSS OP FIVE LIVES. Five persons—four children and a woman—were swept away and drowned when a. reservoir at Skelmorlie, a Firth of Clyde holiday resort, burst its banks on the afternoon of Saturday, April 18. A large hydro was flooded, a cottage was swept away roads were torn up, the village was plunged into darkness by 'damage to the electric power station. and the track of the torrent became a tangled mass of debris. A woman and four children lost their lives in the awful disaster. One house was completely wrecked, and three children who were in it were swept to instant death. The’ large hydro, with its holiday guests, was flooded, the electric power station was so damaged that the place was in darkness that mkht, roads were torn up, and tho body of one of the little victims was lost in the debris. . The West of (Scotland has recently Buttered an unusually hoavy rainfall. Isoariy 2m 1 were registered at Skelmorlie on the hriday night alone, and this is believed to have been the cause of the disaster. The water in the. reservoir had risen to an abnormal height, but there was no reason to anticipate the tragedy. RUMBLING AS OF THUNDER. The only warning was a rumbling as of thunder, followed by water pouring through a small gap iu the side of the reservoir. In a few moments, with a roar, the full force of the water in the overcharged reservoir burst its bonds, Birchburn Cottage, the home of Mr Dallas, a contractor, only about 100 yards below the reservoir, caught the full fury of the torrent and disappeared at once eo completely that not one stone was left upon another. Here, in the garden, wore playing the two little sons of _Mr Dallas, aged eight and five, and his niece, Winifred Menhennet, aged 10, who had come from Glasgow on a holiday. These three children were the first victims. Mrs Dallas stated:— . j “Tho water descended like a great wall,: and my little ones were carried from me. When the water began to come down she realised the danger and tried to get her two little children and her niece out of the way. They were playing outside the cottage and appear to have stood terror-stricken unable to move. Mrs Dallas called ior help, but by this time the full fury of the flood had como down, and the mother had the anguish of seeing her home and her little ones washed away. All that' could be seen were pieces of furniture being swirled down the hillside. The flood then raced through the grounds of Mrs Adams's house. Mrs Adams herself was in tho garage trying to start her car, and her niece, Ursula Scott, of Edinburgh, was playing in ihe garden in tho direct track of ihe deluge. WOMAN’S HEROISM. Mrs Adams’s first thought was of the child, and she heroically rushed to her aid, but before she could reach her she was herself caught up by tho flood and carried away. It is thought that she must have struck her head against some heavy obstacle, and so met her death. Her dead body was found not far away from her home. Her car and garage were carried sonic distance. The body of Winnie Menhennet was. re covered from the torrent lower down the hillside. Captain and Mrs Scott, who live near by, saw her in the flood, and went to her rescue. With great difficulty Captain Scott dragged her from tho water, but she was then dead. The body of Frederick Dallas woe found not far from his home, but that of his brother was found nearly buried in the sand of tho seashore nearly a mile away. He had been carried through gardens, over roadways, ami across the main road right down into the sea. It was high tide at the time, and not until ebb tide was his body recovered, Only the slightest turn of the flood averted further loss of life. Right in its path stood the buildings of the Womyss Bay Hydro. Fortunately, just above tho grounds the roadway narrows into a lane, and this diverted the torrent. But tho basement of the building was completely under water, and while the electricity power station was wrecked, the dining-room, kitchen, offices, and conservatory of tho hydro were flooded Seeing the rushing waters, a girl in the hydro told some of tho staff, but they only laughed, treating tho warning as a joke. In a few moments several rooms were flooded, and tables, chairs, etc., were floating about. So quickly did the water invade this part of the building that members of tho staff had to escape by a window. Tho 60 guests were greatly alarmed as the wider rushed thiough tho rooms. Tho men took off boots and socks and hurried to rescue the ladies from the rising tide and get them to a place of safety. Owing to the damage the guests had to dine in the writing room by tho light of candles, the village being in darkness owing to the electric power station being put out of commission by the water. The scene on the following day was one of such rcrrible devastation that one could do little more than sketch the chief features. Roadways had been torn up gardens, hedges, and walls had been demolished as if by an earthquake. Part of the mtAn road between Glasgow was torn open by a cleft 10ft wide and some 40ft in depth. The bridge at First Avenue had been swept away and barricades had been erected across the road. The main road between Glasgow and Largs also had to be closed. Many other roads were Mill under water. When the newspaper correspondent visited the site of the Dallas cottage he found a lake where only a few hours before the children were playing in the sunshine, and ducks were swimming on it. Near the road were fragments of a broken .bedstead and a sodden picture or two. CHILD’S LAST LETTER. Many people had wonderful escapes. Mr Twoeddale, whoso house, “Glencairn,” is within a tow yards of the reservoir, stated that but for tho fact that hia house is built upon a rock it would almost certainly have shared tho fate of Mr Dallas’s cottage. When Mrs Adams rushed to the aid of her niece, one of the maids was in charge of Ursula Scott’s little brother in the garden. The water swept by only a few yards away, leaving her in safety Elizabeth Dallas, the only remaining child left to her unhappy parents, had been sent on an errand some distance away. Otherwise almost certainly she would have shared the fate of her brothers and cousin. Winnie Menhcrmet’s parents said she was to have returned home on the day of tho tragedy, but by the morning post they received a letter in wlrich she wrote: “Dear Father and Mother, —I am going to stay another week, because I aan so fond of this place. lam having a good time and am going to make the most of it while I am here.”