The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-11-18

The rain I'm Hilo began Thursday
November Z. the gauge at the Waiakea
Mil registering 1.35 inches on Friday
and Friday night the precipitation was
1858 inches and during the forenoon on
Saturday six inches Of water fell be-
tween the hours OF a. m. and II a. m.
This heavy precipitation extended from
the sea shore to the Volcano House. The
Waikiki river became Niagara.
Crowds of people walked To the bridges
at all hours on Saturday through the
terrific rain to witness the spectacular
punging and tossing Of the waters Of
the Waikiki as they came with catapult
force against the solid masonry Of the
electric light house and the stone abut-
ments of the bridges.
At o'clock Sunday morning the rain
gauge showed that 1853 inches of water
had fallen i'm the previous twenty-four
hours. This infinite volume of water
was racing through Hilo to find its level
i'm the sea. As the darkness came down
upon the city Saturday night the
clouds Rugged closer to the earth and
their nexhaustible contents came down
in avalanches of drops and sheets Of
spray.
A little after o'clock the heavy tail
race at the electric light station was
jerked from it's cement foundation and
anchorage of steel bands and carried
like drift wood down the river The
pipe was of iron and over two feet in
diameter but It was tossed about like
straw. 1t was soon discovered that the
head gates near Rainbow Falls were
clogged and no water was coming down
the big sluice to turn the electric dy-
namos. Manager Sedgewick went at
once to Rainbow Falls. where he found
the sluice head buried beneath silt and
water to the depth of three feet. 1t was
out of the question to open the clogged
water head.
Therefore Hilo went to sleep wet and
in darkness.
Late Saturday afternoon grave trou-
BILE was brewing in another quarter. The
bed of the Waiolama stream had be-
come a lake. The outlet of this stream
was formerly at a point on Front street
now occupied by Hackfeld's lumber
yard. The canal cut to the Waiakea
river mauka of Front street, to divert
the course of the Waiolama, was given
more work than it could do. The whole
district south of Church street and ma
kai of Volcano street was flooded. Many
houses occupied by japanese, Chinese
and Hawaiians were covered with wa
ter on the first floor and were in i'm
minent danger of being carried from
their foundations by the rising waters
Ponohawai street was covered with wa
ter coming up to the bed of hacks'
Front street was sheet of water, COW
cred with floating pond lilies, from
Hackfeld's coffee mill to Davies ware
house. The big 300 foot warehouse be-
longing to Hackfeld & Company was in
Mr.. Hamburg down were on the spot to
do what they could to avert disaster
The warehouse was stored with all
kinds of merchandise.
When darkness came the grade in
Front street still stood a substantial
barrier between the lumber plant and
still rising waters. At 10 o'clock the
current broke through the loose soil
beneath the macadam at the corner OF
the planning mill, on the city side of
the big 800 foot dry shed which pro-
tected 5000 900 feet of dressed lumber.
The freed waters literally scooped
their way to the sea soon creating
channel eight feet deep and forty feet
wide across the road The water main
to Waiakea was snapped and that sub
urb, though submerged still was water
less. The soft sandy soil soon crumbled
from beneath the foundations of the
planning mill and the dry lumber shed
and tall piles of lumber toppled over.
Sunday morning revealed a state of
wreck and confusion in that lumber
yard. The dry lumber shed was tilted
toward the new Waiolama river, made
during the night and its long roof was
torn and mangled as if touched by the
breath of a Kansas cyclone.
Damage had been wrought during the
night, according to Mr. Hamburg, of
from $4,000 to $4,000. The Hackfeld
force was on hand bright and early at
the work of salvage. In the afternoon,
Sheriff Andrews sent down a gang of
twenty-one prisoners to aid in the work.
All day the wreckage was viewed by
crowds who ventured out between
showers to see what the rain had done.
Later in the week the workmen We're
set to transferring lumber to the mauka
side of Front street where vacant lots
were available.
Tuesday Mr.. Scott and Sheriff An
drews put a gang of men at work filling
up the creVasse in Hilo's main tho
roughfare. Wide difference of opinion
prevailed on the best mode of repairing
the damage. Mr.. Scott opposes the
suggestion to make a permanent outlet
for the Waiolama waters at this point
because the tide and surf would cause
constant trouble in filling up the mouth
of the channel or sluice box. He favors
widening and cutting deeper the canal
to Waiakea. Mr.. Hamburg believes
that il would be better to make per-
manent outlet at the point of breakage.
AS a temporary makeshift the gap
gill be filled over a culvert by s feet
the matter being left for final decision
to higher authority.
The ravages of the flood along Vol
cano road are frightful. That highway
has been denuded of top dressing from
the witty to the Volcano. 1t is rOugher
than an abandoned turnpike. The
bridge at four mile was submerged bur
ii withstood the food.
At eleven mile. the rainfall is reported
80 inches in As hours. With this re-
markable down pour II is said no appre-
ciable damage was done i'm the cane
fields. A resident at that point was In
the city Monday He describes a pecu-
liar phenomena, witnessed by himself
and many others. He said the water
would come down the slopes i'm sheets
as high &c three to five inches i'm depth
This water would seemingly be swal-
lowed up by the earth. 1t was this
phenomenal absorbing power of the vol
canic soil that prevented the food from
accommodating i'm an enormous wave
which would have swept everything be-
fore 1t. Back of the city three or four