The White Pine news. [volume] (Ely, Nev.) 1906-1910, 1908-12-06
Uidely KnoWn
FdDOrite is Back

incidental 10 Associated Press dis
patches of recent date the following
from the Reno Journal is of inter-
est.
Cash Smith is coming home. lie
of six foot seven inches and deadly
football propensities. whom the OPP
posing eleven used To protest when
he played against them on the Uni
yersity of Nevada football team, will
arrive in Reno today or tomorrow
from San Francisco. Cash" has just
returned from Costa Rica To purchase
new ontfit for his metalurgy and
assaying work. His old property was
recently washed away in a deyastat
ing flood which swept the Central
American country.
Cash tells of an Unprecedented
storm which spread ruin and death
everywhere in Costa Rica. 1t rain
ed for 80 days and washed ont rail
roads and towns Smith says he was
living with several other mining en-
gineers near lie Carlo river when the
storm burst. Ills own story follows:
That storm and flood was called
temporal by the Costa Ricans.
Some such thing comes along every
year, but this was the worst in 10
years. and literally transformed the
face of the whole country. Hills
were washed away Qr cut in two by
the unheard-of downpour streams
that had not run for years sprang in
10 rivers; lakes and ponds spread
over miles of territory. and roads and
trails and railroad tracks were OBJ
f liberated as completely as though
T -.
whelming effect of the temporal can
not he described.
From the skies came down a solid
mass of water all during October and
from the mountain canyons the great
bodies of water simply rolled over the
lower levels To the sea carrying not
only thousands of the native houses
and plantations. but hundreds OF peo-
pie. II would be hard to say how
many people were drowned. but per-
haps 500 were lost. rhey had abso-
luteiy no chance TO save their lives.
Il lived in a good frame house
made of hardwood. and considered
our position safe. until one night
when the Legarto river rose and be-
gan 60 tilt the house That river, or
dlnarily. is only creek that man
wades across, and here il came in the
dead of night, roaring and raging
along like the Sacramento river I'm
flood time.
About us were houses aud cat
tie and animals of all kinds. even 10
scores of alligators and poisonous
snakes and reptiles, squirming and
wriggling along in the food. We es-
capped contact with these thing only
TO face starvation on land, for we had
nothing To eat but tortilias, or native
corncakes, for three long weeks.
The mines were filled up, effect
ually stopping all work. All roads
and trails were obliterated. Twenty
miles of railroad connecting Pun
IA Areeenas, on the coast with San
Jose. the capital. was destroyed and
swept into the sea. rails. ties and
bridges.
THE loss To the country has been
/ immense. but nobody knows what fig
ures will express it, Thousands of
houses and plantations were lost and
several hundred natives drowned
Cassius Smith, known as Cash,
was one Of the greatest football play
ers the west has ever seen. Ii is on
record that no one has ever been able
/ to stop his progress on the gridiron,
once the ball was In his hands. His
remarkable physique. which served
him SO we'll during his recent exper-
fences. made him the original tower
of strength" He was an athletic idol
while at the local college and there
will be many welcoming hands to
greet him on his return.