INUNDATION OF PORT ELIZABETH. 343 



weight some considerable distance The houses below Mr Powell's 



were shaken to their foundations, and those in which Mr Archibald and Mr 

 Atkinson lived have been vacated because, in their present state, they are 

 untenantable. The road, from one end to the other, is a series of winding 

 rivers, varying from four to eight feet deep. 



" As may be imagined, the rush of water from all these approaches to 

 the Hill caused considerable damage to the houses and stores on either side 

 of the streets stretching from Market Square to the North End. The 

 premises right and left of Main Street, extending from Messrs Geard & Co.'s 

 * to J. 0. Smith & Co.'s, suffered more or less severely, and great is the 

 destruction of property in some of the stores — especially in the cellars — 

 in which some had fine goods packed. Mr H. B. Christian was engaged 

 with seven men for hours damming up his lower store, or the loss there 

 would have been immense. 



" From J. 0. Smith & Co.'s on the sea side, and Sherman & Co.'s on 

 the hill side, down to Mr Crage's place, Mason's Hotel, and Janion's, the 

 houses were mostly literally swamped ; and the heaps of rubble, sand, rags, 

 bones, turned out and piled up in the streets, showed to what an extent the 

 inhabitants must have suffered. Then, lower down, Bishop's (late Stolle's) 

 butcher's shop fell in with a crash. Between John Tes's place and Mr 

 Pearcey's the water came down like a cataract, driving before it huge stones 

 and rubble, and depositing it to the height of a good-sized mountain near 

 Mr Cunningham's. Rising to the height of some ten feet in Mr Farrell's 

 yard, the water burst through the window at the back, and this being 

 fortunately in a direct line with the passage leading to the street, it found 

 easy egress in a roaring torrent. Then, considerable damage was done to 

 the stoep near Mr John Geard's store, at the corner of Korsten Street. At 

 the upper end of Frederick Street, the back wall of Mr Walker's stable was 

 driven in, when a perfect mill-stream rushed beneath, making its way across 

 South Street, considerably damaging Mr Pearson's shop in its course. Mr 

 Pearson, with his wife and family, left the building during the night, 

 thinking that if they remained they would be washed out. From this point 

 the stream rushed on, hissing and roaring, down towards Solomon's Row, 

 entirely destroying the first and second houses on the right. Then, this 

 impediment removed, it rushed down the row, with the roar of a waterfall, 

 to the beach. 



" Out towards Mr Dent's place the country had all the appearance of a 

 huge lake. 



" Returning towards the Town-hall, we may state that the Market Square 

 is literally cut to pieces, and that a house belonging to Mr Inngs, situated 

 in Military Road, was knocked over with a fearful crash, the occupants nar- 

 rowly escaping with their lives. 



" Yesterday morning, we regret to say that a poor fellow, named Simon 

 Maddan, lost his life while endeavouring to recover some drift-wood near 

 Baaken's Bridge. He rushed into the stream, which did not appear more 

 than two or three feet deep, and he must have been sucked up by the sand, for 

 he instantly disappeared, and his remains have not since been recovered. He 

 was a well-behaved hard-working man, and had been in the service of the 

 Harbour Board some eight years. A man called out to warn him of his 

 danger, but it was too late — he was already in the stream. He has left a 

 wife and five or six children totally unprovided for. 



" The beach speaks with terrible eloquence of the roughness of the storm. 



