THE HURRICANE AT LABASA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1367, 19 February 1912, Page 2

THE HURRICANE AT LABASA.

UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCES,

A SCENE OP DESOLATION,

(By Telcßraph.-Spccial Correspondent.) Auckland, February. IS. , A graphic account of the trying exparfc ences of a family residing at Labnsa (Fiji) during the hurricane which swept tho ■ group at the end of last month is contained in a letter written by a lady'to, a _ relai'ivo in Auckland. Tho writer's des.c'ription'of what took place makes inter- , csting reading:— ■ ; ,' , l

1 "East Saturday (January 27) it begim to blow and rain rather severely," The Jotter opens, "but as we .had been having bad weather ior the whole of the preceding week no one was alarmed. J)uring the night the wind and rain became moro Violent,-' and about} 4 a.m. part of our , roof went oil'. The rain poured, in everywhere, and in a very short time .we .-were • ankle deep in water all over (he house. Then the end of the verandah (which iyas reeded in) biow in, and carried away , the other end of the verandah with it.

"The ice-chest, milk sale, and every- . thing movable on the verandah, went overboard with all their contents,'' my . husband and I were wot lo the skin, but we managed lo keep the children dry by piling all (he clothing we could get on them before everything' got wet. About ! 8 a.m. we thought it timo (o get out, to .between the gusts we got on to the • front verandah, crawded under the house, and got into the bathroom, which, lieing • on the ground, and being protected by i tho tanksfrom the full force of the wind, was the safest plnco in the house. Wat stayed there all day, and although tho floor was all wet and muddy, it was drier than any other part of (he Ticuso. My husband nuyiagni to get into (ho kitchen I and secure some tinned meat and biscuits, so we did not starve. "By night * the wind had dropped, so we all got iniu the dining-room, which fortunately had tli# roof left on, and wo slept on th« table, and in chairs that night. "Never will 1 forget tho scene of desolation when we stood for a niinu'.e or so on (he front verandah on our' way down to the bathroom. Prom (he foot of our hill to the hills on the other side of fho river w'as one immense sheet of water, ; with only (he tops of the trees above it. Tiiis flat was where our canefields were the day before, but we could have gone • in a boat over the cane to Lubusa had ' wo wished.., The coolie lines were unroofed, also-the stables, and the big fodder store near the stables was down. ; There was about .t'loo worlh of maize and rice in it. ■ The coolie nloro .was Half-full of .wiitei', nfld mud, and almost.everything | in it spoilt, so that is another heavy loss. As for the cane, we cannot estimate what } the damage will be, but it is sure lo ba , I considerable. It will tell -when the ' crop is being cut later. "The most troublesome part of (ho business, as far as I am personally con- i corned, is that our tanks were so knocked about by the sheets of iron hitting them that all the. water leaked out, and as tho , spouting around the bouse is torn away wo have Ho means of catching any. AVe are carrying water from a well in tho , coolie lines'in buckets, and.it is dirty, and tastes nasty. AVhcu you also consider that nearly every article of clothing in the house was not only wet, but , muddy, you can imagine how lovely it is to get denned up again. However, wo ore belief oil' than lots of other prople, ', so T ought not to grumble. ' "The hill just at the back which gave us the mud, also saved our house from lieing blown away altogether. Our nearest neighbour lost his dwelling. It collapsed like a bouse of cards. He has . Ix-e-a living with us since. The resident next; to him again lost his house also, ami his wife and her baby were five houn , ill the wind and rain. Part of another gentleman's house was blown away, and his wife has four little children lo look after, so she put in an awful time, too. ; On the diiv after the blow a baby was ' born vtqyfflie of our neighbours in her bathroom, which was the only habitablo . part of their house." The Colonial Sugar Refining Coiupany.s ( steamer- Fiona, which arrived at Auckland from Fiji early yesterday morning, . was at Mnlau discharging cargo when tho , storm came clown with great fury. Tho vessel was to .have left for her next island port on the Saturday,- but was delayed until the Sunday morning. The delay was considered by the officers a very ■ lucky one, for otherwise the steamer would have been caught at sea by (he. hurricane. Althonch the Fiona had two anchors down and the engines were goint full speed against the wind, she drngged licr anchors, and was driven ashore. Fortunately she struck a soft patch, nad was floated off on the Monday afternoon Kverytliitig movable on dock went overboard, a boat was lost, and two lighters into which the Fiona had been discharging coal, sank. _______