DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 103, 18 February 1893, Page 2

DETAILS OF THE DISASTER.

(Post's Correspondent.) | The destruction of the Victoria Bridge, which was 1080 ft long and cost about a quarter of a million sterling, occurred at 4 o'clock on Monday morning, at which hour a large crowd hnrl gathered on the high land and approaches. The first portion to go was the third span, where the flood waters were running strongest. There was one loud crush, which shook the earth and . made the surrounding buildings tremble, then one great convulsive heave, and the wrecked portion went down ihe river. The other portion followed rapidly, and in less than half an hour more half the bridge had disappeared. Nothing was left standing to mark the spot where the massive structure had stood. Numerous explosions did damage in mining districts, as compressed air escaped from shafts to the buildings erected above them. In one instance massive beams were carried hi<;h into the air and scattered in all directions. In the North Glanmire shaft a column of water was thrown to a height of over 100 ft. When the flood was at its height the picture was one that will live for ever in the minds of those who witnessed it. The Albion Bail way Bridge over Breakfast Creek could be located only by the tops of the girders. The whole of the Eagle Flat farms were submerged, while in the north the surging waters thundered down Kedron Brook to the Serpentine Flats, cutting off all communication with Nundah and the country towards Mudgee. The state of affairs at Kangaroo Point is indescribable. On every hand there is evidence of ruin and misery. Not a house remains intact, nothing but pile after pile of timber, and heaps of bricks and iron. A telegram from Friars, Mary River, states that there has been immense destruction of property there, the country for miles on either side of the Mary River being devastated. The loss to settlers will be enormous. The scene of desolation nt North Brisbane is fearful, and the damage there will amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is estimated that 500 houses passed down the river within a few miles ot Brisbane. One man counted 100 pass down and strike against the Victoria Bridge within an hour Six in a row came along together, and smashed to pieces' against the structure with a loud 1 report. The water was 30ft deep in Stanley street, South-Brisbane, and the damage done by water and mud to all kinds of stock is enormous. 1 The waters have been slowly sinking, and as they subside more and more is seen of the extent of the destruction. Hundreds of houses undoubtedly found their way seawards, and others lie piled in the river one on top of the other, forming a striking monument of the greatest disaster that has ever fallen on Queensland. Stanley street, which runs parallel with the river, is virtually in ruing, one-half the buildings in the thoroughfare having either been washed away or forced into positions rendering them uninhabitable. All the disinfectants in Brisbane have been secured by the civic authorities for cleaning the streets, &c. Several more bodies have been found, and it is known that seven or eight people have been drowned in Brisbane alone. An enormous amount of looting is being carried on amongst the goods swept away. The police are fully occupied, and are unable to deal with the thieves. A number of young men have been sworn in as special constables to deal with the salvage, with power to arrest anyone found pilfering. The flood waters have now almost subsided, though the river is running strongly. Everybody is busy repairing damages and clearing away the accumulations of filth, the stench from which is abominable. At Brisbane, the gunboat Paluma, the steamer Elamang, and the hulk Mary Evans, were washed on the Banyan walk of the Botanical Gardens, and were not able to regain the river before the retiring waters left them high and dry.