Well,
in an alarmingly short time that innocent-looking little creek had
become a roaring, foaming black river, carrying tables, chairs,
washstands, little bridges - in fact everything it could tear up - along
with it to the valley. Many of these pieces of furniture lodged
against the carriage bridge that was just below the store where we
were, making a dangerous dam, so a man with a stout rope around his
waist went in the water to throw them out on the bank, but he was
tossed about like a cork, and could do nothing. Just as they were
about to pull him in the bridge gave way, and it was with the greatest
difficulty he was kept from being swept down with the floating
furniture. He was dragged back to our basement in an almost
unconscious condition, and with many cuts and bruises.
The water was soon in the basements of the stores, where it did much
damage. The store we were in is owned by a young man - one of the beaux
of the town - and I think the poor man came near losing his mind. He
rushed around pulling his hair one second, and wringing his hands the
next, and seemed perfectly incapable of giving one order, or assisting
his clerks in bringing the dripping goods from the basement. Very
unlike the complacent, diamond-pin young man we had danced with at the
balls!
The cloud-burst on Mount Helena had caused many breaks in the enormous
ditches that run around the mountain and carry water to the mines on
the other side. No one can have the faintest conception of how
terrible a cloud-burst is until they have been in one. It is like
standing under an immense waterfall. At the very beginning we noticed
the wagon of a countryman across the street with one horse hitched to
it. The horse was tied so the water from an eaves trough poured
directly upon his back, and not liking that, he stepped forward, which
brought the powerful stream straight to the wagon.
Unfortunately for the owner, the wagon had been piled high with all
sorts of packages, both large and small, and all in paper or paper
bags. One by one these were swept out, and as the volume of water
increased in force and the paper became wet and easily torn, their
contents went in every direction. Down in the bottom was a large bag
of beans, and when the pipe water reached this, there was a white
spray resembling a geyser. Not one thing was left in that wagon - even
sacks of potatoes and grain were washed out! It is a wonder that the
poor horse took it all as patiently as he did.
During all this time we had not even heard from our friends next door;
after a while, however, we got together, but it was impossible to
return to the hotel for a long time, because of the great depth of
water in the street.
