The Sun.
London, England, 1838-07-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 9, 1838.

be about a yard and a-half. Every bridge from Whitworth to
Rochdale has been carried away by the flood. Messrs. Twee.
dale at Broa,dley, have suffered considerably ; their dyeworks
are situate on a brook, called the Healy-hall Brook, which
shortly before 1 o'clock on Wednesday, contained scarcelj
any water; about 1, however, the storm commenced, witl
terrific claps of thunder and fearfully vivid lightning; if
continued till about half-past 2, with but little intermission,
accompanied with a storm of hail and pieces of ice of extra.
ordinarn size, which speedily destroyed all the windows of
the upper works. The weight and pressure of the flood
burst the bank of one of the lodges, and the whole force of
the swollen stream coming against the gi.slicuse of the
works, which was a small stone building, carried by an arc',
over the brook, and situate about a 100 yards higher than:
the dyehouse, actually uplifted it and bore the building.
containing three retorts weighing from 25 to 30 cwt. each,
down the stream and upon its surface, till it came in contact
with the upper end of the dyehouse, which it struck with
such force as to drive in part of the wall, thus giving entrance
to the flood. The water speedily covered the lower floor of
the building, carrying all before it; and when it forced its
way through the lower end of the building it swept away be-
fore it about 130 bales and packs of wool, some of them
weighing 7001 b. each. Mr. John Tweedale, his son, and eight
or ten of his hands, were some time in a situation of consider-
able peril. They were in the drying-stove, whence they
made their way to a room where Mr. Twecdale broke a win-
dow and called for help ; a number of the bands outside atl
length succeeded by means of ropes, planks, &c., in bringing,
them all safe out of the drying-stove, but when they landed
them they were nearly up to their necks in water. Four
horses in a stable were with difficulty rescued ; a man broke
the window, and when he entered he found them up to the
shoulders in water ; in a shippon adjoining the stable, a little
boy, son of the cowkeeper, had crept for safety ; he was heard
screaming, and some persens who were going to his assistance
saw him attempt to catch at a pole, but he was immediately
swept down the stream and drowned; his body has not yet been
found. A large cart at the bottom end of the warehouse was
swept away, a large boiler of 10 horse power which stood out-
side the warehouse was also carried away, and a stack of be-
tween 70 and 80 tons of hay from beneath a French barn. In
the smithy of the establishment nothing was left but the
stithy. A great quantity (probably 50 tons) of sawn inch and
inch-and-a-half boards for flooring, which were piled in two
large tiers, were entirely swept away. Such was the force
of the flood, that most of the bales and packs of wool were
burst, and, we believe, only two or three of the whole bales
have been recovered; and a very small quantity of the tim-
ber. It is stated that a quantity of the wool was intercepted
in its passage down the flood and stolen. A gentleman
named Cross, who was fishing in the brook before the storm,
was detained five hours before he could cross it, and Ise
states that the water rose at one point not less than four
yards in twenty minutes. The old mill at Healey-hall-
bottoms, which was used for finishing flannels, is stated to
have been entirely carried away, as well as a number of
small bridges. At the new mill of Messrs. J. Schofield and
Sons, at Buckley, near Rochdale, on the Hamer-brook, all the
panes of the upper flier of the mill were broken, and a large
long thick wall was washed down. At Benfield-hall, near
Rochdale, at the print-works of Messrs. W. Benecke and
Co., upwards of 200 panes of glass were broken, and part
of the lodge-bank was washed away. Several parts of walls
were dashed down at Makeant-mill, about three miles be-
low Rochdale. At the fulling mill at Manwood, belonging
to Mr. J. Gibson, a great quantity of pieces and dyewood
were carried away. At Spotland bridge, 200 yards lower en
the same river, the whole of Mr. Whitaker's premises were
swept away within less than two hours from the commence-
ment of the storm. Three men stood for a long time on the
steam-engine surrounded by water. Mr. Whitaker is the
greatest sufferer in the neighbourhood; his dyehouse, his
stove, or dry-house, the building where the wet flannels
are dried after being dyed—his all, the labour of a life, are
a wreck; this is not all : 400 pieces of flannels finished,
others in an unfinished state, together with a quantity of
wool and indigo, and other dye woods, amounting to 800/.,
were borne along by the raging torrent. Messrs. B. and W.
Turner's mill at Black Pets, about three miles from Roch-
dale, has also received considerable damage from the floods ;
many others have had the lowest room in the mill or
factory laid under water, and the machinery spoiled in
many instances; mill-dams and weirs have been borne
down, and fields of hay-grass laid under water and
covered with sand or mud. Nothing like the extent of
the injury is yet ascertained. Several lives have been
lost. At a little distance from this place three men were
caught in a coal pit, and had not time to escape from a watery
grave. They remain yet buried in the pit. By three o'clock
on the Thursday morning several cartloads of the pieces, wool,
tubs, barrels, trees, and other articles, were gathered up in
the fields near the gasworks, which had been covered with
water; many of the pieces were torn into threads, and so in-
jured as to be of little value ; the damage done within a few
miles of Rochdale cannot be estimated at less than 80,000/.
Is is somewhat remarkable, that at two miles distant, on the
southern side of the town, scarcely any rain fell, though the
streets were six or seven inches deep in water, and had all the
appearaece of a river for nearly an hour. The greatest
part of the rain fell between Whitworth and Rochdale. At
Littleberough, Heywood, and Middleton, there was scarcely
a shower.