The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1917-01-30
CLOUDBURST GAVE
WEIRD EXPERIENCE
Automobile Thrown into River
and Two Survive Almost
BY a Miracle

H1LO, January 2i-Onp Of the most
remarkable accidents which has ever
taken place along the Hamakua Coast
occurred last saturday evening when n
small Ford automobile. No. IL, with
four Japanese in it on the way 20
wrestling match in lIilo from Honomu,
sank into the food waters Of a cloud
burst along with the bridge which IL
was travelling over at full speed ut
the time Of the accident . ST"
Two of the passengers in the car,
Sumana and Matsuda. were drowned
and their bodies evidently washed out
to sea, while Kawabe. the driver of the
machine is in the Hilo Japanese hos.
pital, where he WAS brought yesterday
morning on the first train through to
the city from Honomu. "..'-. t...
The other passenger. who was on the
front seat ut the time of the accident,
Is in Honomu and is recovering from
his weird experience His story of the
accident only hints at the horror of
those in the machine ms they rode at
full speed toward death, and IL was
only by a miracle that Kidam Hokan,
this survivor, escaped being carried
over the high falls into the deep pool
fifty feet below. ivy
II was to Policeman Abe. of the Hilo
force, that Hokan told his story yes
terday in HOnOmu ~
awe were coming in to Hilo from
HonOmu," said the survivor, "1eaving
Honomu about six o'clock. 1t was
raining some, but not very hard. When
we reached the bridge it seemed TO
sink down as soon as the front wheels
reached it and as the machine ran over
the bridge it sank into the flood until
the water came up to my waist and
then the car turned over and L was
thrown out. E.sr
"Just before the machine turned
over looked back, but the two men in
the rear seat had disappeared, so had
the driver. II was a terrible thing to
have the machine going across the
bridge as it sank down into the food
with a frightful noise Of crashing and
grinding. 1t just sank down in the
water before it turned over and broke
to pieces.
"When / was thrown into the water
I was swirled down toward the falls.
which ! could hear roaring with a
sound like n great surf, but just be-
fore l got to the edge of the falls a
current threw me in toward the shore
and | managed to catch hold of a
branch and dragged myself into the
bank and climbed out
tWhen. j looked up toward the
bridge it had gone and not a sign of
IL was left. The automobile had also
disappeared and so had my friends.
/ am glad to hear that Kawabe is
alive"
Just before the bridge went out in
the sudden food of the cloudburst Oki-
gawa Waichiro was headed for Homo.
mu in a one horse buggy. He saw the
light of the automobile coming and,
not wishing to. pass the car with his
horse on the bridge, stopped the animal
at the curve at the edge of the gulch.
81 saw the light coming and stopped
at the end of. the bridge" said Wal
chiro to Policeman Abe yesterday. "a
moment later the ear ran onto the
bridge and saw it sink out of sight
until the lights went out. There was
a terrible noise which rose above the
roar of the food and then the bridge
and the ear disappeared"
Waichiro turned his horse as quick,
ly as he could and raced back fol-
help, but it was only the next day
when some remains of the car were
found and no trace of the dead men
have been discovered yet. Ten min
utes before the accident three white
men in Car No. s36, driven by TAM
motto, drove over it on the way to Hilo
to attend the Burns Club celebration