The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-03-25
DEAIHAND DESTRUCTION FOLLOW THE STORM

painting her house.
The banks of Nuuanu stream from
King street to Vineyard street were
lined with sight seers all this morn
ing, attracted by the tragic and ex-
citing events of yesterday afternoon.
The water had gone down to the pro-
! portions which it has maintained for
several weeks past, but there was
abundant evidence of Yesterdays tor
rent. The end of one truss of the Ber-
etania street bridge. where it was
struck by a scow, rests on the bot
/ tom of the stream. The damage is
not great. however. just above the.
/ bridge, Il section of the wall of the
stream about forty feet long lies top
! pied over in the water. It was carri-
ed over by the pressure of the water
that flooded the area between Bereta-
/ mia and Kuku streets almost to
| Kaumakapili church. The breaking
of this piece of wall was really the
salvation of an immense amount of
]
some lives. This area was formerly
| the bed of Nuuanu stream. before the
stream was Strengthened, and is now
| largely occupied by one and two sto-
ry frame buildings occupied by ma
tives. Chinese and Japanese. Before
the wall broke, the water had risen in
many of these far up in the first sto-
ry and but for the break some of
them would have been carried away.
Mute evidence of the terrific force
of the torrent which broke through
the wall lies on the very brink, of the
stream in the shape of a mass of
railroad rails, twisted and bent, which
was torn up and carried twenty or
thirty feet.
Near Vineyard street the bed of the
stream has been filed up to a depth
of three or four feet with sand and
boulders washed down by the torrent
from above. Some of the boulders are
as large as an Office desk and must
weigh several thousand pounds.
Above Vineyard street, on the EVA
side of the stream. a cottage occupi-
ed by Chinese family, was caught
by the flood and carried about $50
wards, where it struck and was held
by some trees. But aside from being
flooded, no damage was done, even the
furniture not being overturned, and
baby that was asleep was not even
awakened
Miss Peabody's residence on the
same side of the stream, but below
/ Vineyard street, was flooded all over
the lower part and n detached por-
ton of the house was overturned.
At the st. Louis college the ground
and first floors of buildings were
flooded.
Lower down the stream on the
same side the Aala district was COW
cred with water to a depth of five or
six feet in some places. The current
was not strong, however, and no dam
age except by flooding was done.
4hb Jlt Nuu'Ill avenue DlltSf, JuSb
above Pauoa, the water broke over the
bridge and the approaches, making
the avenue impossible. Near there a
house was carried away by the wa
ter, tioated some distance and finally
split into two parts, the detached por-
tions finally grounding at some dis
tance from one another.
. Possibly the greatest destruction to
property was in the Waikiki and Pa
hoa districts, which were flooded by
the drainage from Manoa valley. The
rice and taro fields were swept away
in the yellow flood that poured for
hours over the banks of the many
small streams, and swept on toward
the sea. From the Waikiki road maui
ka as far as the eye can see the coun-
try is a great lake. Scores of Chi
nese gardens are flooded and destroy
; ed, and in many places dykes and
dams are swept away. Duck farms
were swept out of existence and the
feathery inhabitants scattered all ov-
er the great lake. Horses stood in
the various pastures up to their mid
die, thoroughly chilled with the cold
rain. It will be impossible to estimate
the damage done in these districts
until the flood subsidies, but it will be
very considerable.
King street, from Kapiolani to the
Waikiki road, was n perfect lake, fed
by two rushing streams that came
down Victoria and Piiloi streets and
numerous smaller streams that found
their way through private property
The lake broadened, as the flood in.
creased, until it stretched over the
grounds surrounding many of the
finest residences on King street.