The Maui news. [volume] (Wailuku, Maui, H.I.) 1900-current, 1915-12-31

Overwhelmed by a cloud-burst on
the mountain slopes above Kihei, last
Sunday, eight persons lost their lives,
in what is one of the strangest TRACE
dies that ever occurred on Maui. An
entire family-father, mother, and five
children is wiped out, and a young
woman, sister of the mother, was also
a victim.
The unfortunate family was that
of Manuel Pacheco, a locomotive crane
engineer, employed by the Kahului
Railroad Company. The other was
Miss Virginia de Arruda, of Kula, a
sister of Mrs. Pacheco.
No one witnessed the accident
which must have occurred while the
party was crossing small ravine in
buggy. When one of the bodies was
discovered the following day by a
Japanese cane contractor, named Ke-
kuda, the alarm was given and after
several hours search, all of the bodies
were found, four of them completely
buried in a deep bed of mud, and two
of them about mile down the noun
tain side from where the tragedy &C.
Cured.
Just how the awful affair occurred
will probably never be exactly known;
and to anyone visiting the scene, the
fact that it did occur seems mex
plicable. There is no stream at the
place, which is in the cane fields about
midway between the Pulehu and Wal
akoa plantation camps. Except dur
ing Kona storms such as occurred last
Saturday and Sunday, the whole dis
trict is absolutely dry. Vat the point
where the bodies were found, plan
tation railroad track crosses a very
mall ravine on an earth and masonry
IL some ten or twelve feet high. On
he upper side of this embarkment a
plantation wagon road also crosses the
arroyo. Two large iron pipes two
to three feet in diameter are laid
under the railroad fill, to carry off
the water from occasional storms.
The wagon road passes between the
railroad embarkment and the intake
opening of these pipes. The basin
formed at this point is very small
only few rods in diameter, while the
running UP through the cane fields.
The most probable explanation of
the accident is that the party was
caught by a wall OF water from the
hills above, when they were half way
across the basin. A great whirlpool
probably developed from the floods
striking the embarkment, and by the
suction through the culvert pipes.
Some of the children may have been
thrown out of the rig, and in trying
to save them, the rest of the party
NAV have been engulfed. From pre-
: yious flood a heavy deposit of sticky
mud may have already been there,
in which all were caught as in quick
sands. The water marks on the en-
bapkment show that there must al
one time have been eight or nine feet
of water in the pool. When Deputy
Sheriff Ferreira and party of search
ers visited the scene on Monday, there
was scarcely trickle OF water, though
the mud deposit was waist deep, ana
If was only by wading through this
that the bodies were discovered.
Strange to say the horse which
Pacheco was driving escaped, ana
with it the buggy, which showed no
signs of damage, though it was cover
ed with mud and cushions were ms
sing. The horse had started towards
home and was taken in charge on sun
day evening at the Pulehu camp. It's
appearance did not arouse any eX-
xiety. as it was simply supposed that
the animal had broken its hitchlng,
at some place where it had been left
standing.
Searchers for the bodies failed TO
find those of the eldest son, Manuel,
Jr., and that of the baby, in the mud
of the basin, and they were later locat-
ed almost mile below, having been
carried through the culyert pipes. The
baby's body was found some distance
in cane field, and the boys among
some brush in which it had been
thrown by the water.
All of the bodies were taken to
Kuau, where they were buried on
Tuesday in the Catholic cemetery.
both natives of Maui. Both had been
both native of Maui. Both had been
raised in Kula, but for number of
years the husband had been working
for the railroad company, and had re
Gently been put in charge of one Of
the big cranes at Kahului. He was a
good workman and well liked. His
wife was formerly Miss Jessie de
Arruda, whose parents still reside in
Kula. Miss Virginia de Arruda, who
also lost her life, was her sister and
had been living with the family in
oh a1tNf 20.