CAUGHT IN A FLOOD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14235, 1 March 1917, Page 8

CAUGHT IN A FLOOD.

THRILLING EXPERIENCES. i . .. . .^_.. i . ... ■!'. .'.r?' ,':' r '.' ,±~ ■' ■NARROW ESCAPES FROM DEATH. Mr and Mrs J. Brake,- of Cheddar Hills, Pakotai, North Auckland, had thrilling experiences during- the northern Hoods early this month. Mr Braise, formerly was proprietor of Brake's stables, Christchurch, and , he and Mrs] IJiako spent about.so years of their Jives m Canterbury, where tliey have many ■friends. . Mr Brake has / supplied tlie •iij'tteltou Times with a grapluc account ol the trials he and his wife had to meet ■m the "Fay X,orth.'.' His letter is, as follows ; • • ; , THE ALARM. t "About 10-30 a:m.. ion: Saturday, Febiruary 3, I was writing to my mother, and had just told her I was writing to tiie accompaniment' of thunder, ; lightuiing, • the roar of flood water,, rain, crushing ■ timber, and rumbling ia.nd f^ips. 1 could see .great .trees thrown about like corks iv the swollen stream, and a deluge of muddy water- and. tim^ ber coming down a little creek Jiear 'by. After another .thunder crash, mjr^wife remarked on a very tm pleasant smell lik» that of stagnant water, and. a little later told me that water was streaming under our house and. verandah. I went to look, and decided that it was a serious -matter,, so, taking my wife on my backM carried her through the water to a higher and smaller- building used by us as a bedroom. We stood m a tanall verandah watching the storm, and. I think my wife must have .thought a crisis at hand, for coming close to me >he said, 'We will both go together.' ! Meantime.?. l had kept a keen lookout If or a slight hollow m the hill behind v*, and suddenly, about twenty yards awaj% I saw the ground break up into little ripples and 1 knew that a land slido was coming. A "CLOSE CALL." "Holding my wife, we watched it come^ down towards us, and gently Jaut irresistibly pushed . tho house over.** .1 missed part of Jho spectacle of the lioUse, as I was^prepaj'ing for a jump with my wife on to .the' last 'portion of the A\\) I could.- daro .wait fur,,. Thew lrealisad that tho* slido had missed us us by about foui* feet. I saw the chimney end uf the housoa-cafh tho foimiing tjinber-lnden , creek, and ns i tho land slide pushed the .'house down it fell m pieces with its contents Jntp tho bpiU. ing Ho*)d a few feet, below, :md was gone iv nu instant. A great slide of mud covered some; wreckage that did not reach the creek. My wife and*! quickly stepped out, and, as the fence had gone, Are got on to tlie centre of a ridge as soon as possible. Then I Jet the dogs loose, took a Jittle shelter against a slump, and got a. ( piece of old horsecover, to .protect my wife from the terr!fio rain storm. IN ,A- TIGHT PLACE. "It was. difficult to. tell \v_here to go, as the hills were being scored with land slides all round us. At last we went to our cowshed for a little shelter. Then, seeing our little building still upright. 1 chanced it and got a small tarapulin and some blankets and dry clothing, and we camped m tiro cowshed for the night. We had had breakfast, and at night a drink of milk, and a.s a raging impassable torrent was on three sides of us, and a moving rango of hills behind, nnd all our home and its contents gone, we were m a somewhat tight place for food. 1 prepared for the next step. I saw my hack pn a hilltop admiring tinchanges m the landscape, so' I caught him, and was lucky enough to salvage "my saddlo and bridle and two pack saddles !>jm the wreckage and ;mud. "The big stream had almost doubled its bed during tho storm, but I thought I could cross, as by this time there was very iittle timber floating down. I tricked my hack into entering a small creek and drove him down it to the main stream, as the banks elsewhere .were too high and sleep. My \ wife did aiot like being left. As a matter ol fact, there was nothing to like about the whole job, but it had to be faced. h

reached »a neighbor's, and while he obtained, an axe and a tent, lib wife gave me some breakfast and a billy and some -provisions, and we started for horne — the cowshed. A XBW HOME. ;^ '•Mr friend boiled the i billy, I milked my cows— some, of -them—and fed my. calves; My 1 neighbor's \ son came over, and we pitched the tent and ''started' -a new home again. ■ One of my neighbors found that we could not ba reached on the .telephone, o,ur,s having gone with the house, and when lie- ascended a hill and saw that our house had disappeared, he received a. shock ; but > presently he saw 'my dogs bringing m some cows. J.-e then felt relieved, dndicaine to "see me. He- and his, -son suddenly had- 'found themselves m deep , Raters m their abode. ■ Grasping what theyi could carry,, they struggled; to higher; ground; Some big stumps staved off the whirling timber, from their . House, however, • ;and it stood. , , Tliey lost' practically aIL they had there. , ; ; v N . ... '„,,. LAND SLIDE'S GREAT STRENGTH. "Monday morning broke wild and stormy, but calmed later. .After seeing to my domestic animals, except our good old cat, who spent most mornings m an easy chair by the fireside, I went over some of out* section. I found my horses safe, though weather-beaten. One I had about our homestead ; another was cvt v off from his mates by a great slide that started some ten chains/up, a pleasant valley. It must have had a great impetus, as it swept right through abqiit four chains of heavy standing bush, smashing every tree m its path) and leaving a scar about fourteen chains long by more than two chains wide, and finishing, up m the Opoiiteke Stream. 1 surmise that this slide dammed up the stream till it gathered u.p great volume and then burst, and, like a tidal wave, swept all before it, even two big Government' bridges, one finished nearly twelve months ago, but not used, as.no earth approaches had. bean made. The Government for some reason, appears to linger over these jobs, as 1 know of one that stood' for nearly two years 'without' approaches, but as.* it was for jbackblocks 'cockies' chiefly, of course there was no hurry. I could tell some Parliamentarians some, true .tales that would 1 , 'bp'pu their oxen ton time« more than: they a m opened by tho tourists, who fly. over our best roads, specially [prepared for Ihpin m the good old summer time. THE- LOSS. "Hqweyer, I* have my own row to hoe. I have lost considerably — my ."separator, shearing 'machine, cooking utensils, crockery,, two kegs of staples, all bur best clothing, sewing machine, books, many tools hard to replace, about £20 [Worth pi grass seed, about one mile »l iencing, and, so far, I do not know how, .much stock. I am loath to investigate. .In any case, I must lox)k to the ■pi-oviaiofi part first, and as we can only climb, -.-over hilltops and ridges where at present, no tracks exist, it is not a pienje. I had paid more than £5 to our storekeeper a . few days before for supplies ; they have gone, and 1 have only the debit m my pass-book left. Our son, our' only helper and companion, is m France doing his duty, and other help, here is practically non-obtainable, so I must try and yet my wife out to civilised parts and 'kee.p the home fires burning till our boy comes home.'"