tt; COTL.A.
On Saturday night, the eastern extremity of the town of Greenock and part of the adjacent village of Cartsdyke were intimidated by the sudden influx of an immense body of water, which burst through the banks of a reservoir, called Whin Hill Dam, the property of the Skews Water Company, and was poured upon the low grounds with a force that bore t very thing before it.
" For saute time before the flood reaeltel the house,, the noise made by its -ipprouch was he:nil by numbers, whe were utterly unable to conjectnre the td' the emlunds wiiich assailed their cats,—some supposing them to proceed ?rout a : midAt and violent gide of wind ; wldle others conceived them to be -ia:,sed by the rapid progress of tammeous heavy-loaded vehicles on sonic of the distant streets of the town. The real cause, however, was soon apparent ; for, shortly utter eleven o'clock, an MI111(111; body of water came rushing down Czerkliurn, bearing t. tin it several hate trees ; and having swept away the .ubst:;:.tial bridge miter it near Cartsbern House, proceeded along the street of lie ..aine name iu a maid mass upwards of seven feet deep. Nor was this street the on :1y channel through which the waters found their way to the river; fur, 'creaking down the wall of Mm. 31‘Far1itne's tannery, by the side of Cartsburn, t sprced across the tauwork, and burst in the back doors and windows of the house, at the head of Stanners Street, in Cartsdyke, while another mass came round the top, awl flowed down the street with scarcely less impetuosity than Cartsburn Street. The main branch of the torrent, on meeting with ob- struction on the north side of Rue-end Street, rolled rapidly to the westward Along that street as far as to Virginia Street, passing up with great rapidity the various streets on the south side of Rue-end Street. The first appearance in -So Andrew's Street was very striking. Coining in the direction it did, the inhabitants were impressed with the idea that the sea had burst its bounds, and was about to submerge the town. Almost immediately after, however, this recoiling stream was met by one of the direct branches of the main torrent, and was driven back with great velocity. That portion of this branch which could not find vent by Caruock Street broke down the walls of a coal-yard and stable; and rushed across the gardens between Cartsburn and St. Andrew's streets, overthrowing several strong walls in its course. " To give any thing like an adequate idea of the appalling scene, when the torrrent was at its height, to those who neither saw it at the time nor have since witnessed its desolating effects, is absolutely impossible. From the sud- denness and overwhehniug force of the eruption, it was well calculated, under the most favourable- circumstances, ao strike all who were near it with terror ; but when the hour at which it occurred, and the darkness of the night, are taken into consideration, it will easily be seen bow much its dreadful character was increased. There can be no &milt whatever, that these circumstances added materially to the amount of mortality which it has occasioned. Many of its victims were surprised in their beds, and drowned before they could leave their houses; while the fate of others was doubtless accelerated by the means to escape, which, in the confusion and darkness, they had erroneously adopted."
The Greenock Advertiser, from which we have taken the above general description, supplies copious particulars of the loss of life and damage to property occasioned by the flood. Many persons were drowned in their beds ; others were forced into the torrent, and cling- ing to some articles of furniture, or the trees and planks which were borne down upon it, were afterwards picked up in the river. " When the water burst into the house of William Docherty, which is the first at the head of Stanners Street, both the apartments were nearly filled to the roof in an instant. lie and his wife seized a child each, and rushed to the front-door. By this time the back-door had been completely broken in; and the eminent, rushing through the passage into the street, closed the front-door against him as he was running out, and held him jammed in that position till the flood subsided. His wife was also pressed against the door with him, and succeeded in preserving herself and the child. The husband's right arm, which is very severely bruised, was outside the door, while he continued I/id- ing up the child inside with his left. In the confusion of the moment they forgot a child of two and a half years old in bed, and being utterly unable to re-
lieve it, it was drowned
" On the opposite side of the street, in the house of a man named ItI‘Diar mid, hinuelf and two children were drowned. Iu the next house the whole family were saved in an extraordinary manner. On the water entering the house, the husband and wife seized two children each, and got on the top of a
table. The water continued to rise rapidly every second, until it reached within a foat of the roof. The parents continued to hold the heads of the children as high as they could, till the mother (the seater having reached her mouth) exclaimed, Edward, Edward, all is over !' Happily, at this moment the water subsided, and gradually descended till they were all enabled to escape."
The ground-floor of another house was occupied by a grocer, named Beattie- " The first rush of the water burst in the front-window, and the inhabitants endeavoured to save themselves by getting upon chairs and other pieces of fur- niture, which were soon afloat. Alr. Beattie clung to a sofa, with his wife, whose head he with great difficulty kept above water. Fortunately, the table at which they had been sitting in a back-room, and on which stood a lighted lamp, was also borne aloft so erectly that the light was not extinguished. This enabled him to use the best means of escape; which he ultimately effected by a winding stair at the back of the house communicating with floors above, the residents of which were ready to assist them. A child 'belonging to them was first picked up in a state of insensibility, but by using the proper means was completely restored." Several persons escaped by those:above them breaking through their floors and pulling them up. A vast quantity of articles of every de- scription were carried away. One tanning establishment was cleared of nearly its whole stock, and in another property worth 13001. was destroyed. A flint-mill near the reservoir or dam was completely demolished. Several bridges were swept away, and trees of all sizes were mooted up. Horses, pigs, cows, carts, and waggons were forced down time torrent to the river. Pieces of rock and earth, weighing two or three tons each, were dislodged. The time occupied in this exten- sive destruction was very short- " The torrent took only ten minutes to rush past Cartsburn grain-mill ; the pe title COI n.cted with which bad a very narrow escape. In the town, from the various obstructions it net with, it of course took a longer time to dissipate, but even there it had fallen comparatively low within about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes of its first appearance. It oas as near as possible a (matter past eleven when the tom rem made its first appearance in such a way as to txcitc alarm ; and by a quarter to twelve, although the streets were still covered with water, it was not iu such quantities as to endaeger life, and was becoming less every minute."
About forty persons were killed ; the greater number were children. Every humane :assistance has been given to the surviving sufferers. A meeting was hastily assembled, and about 700/. subscribed immediately. Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, heading the list with 200 guineas for the Shaws Water Company, and 100 guineas for himself. The Town- Council held a meeting to take ineasures for administering necessary relief to the destitute, and a public meeting for the same purpose was held on Tuesday. The quantity of rain which fell in the forty-eight hours preceding the bursting of the dam, was no less than 3.I; inches by the ruin-guage ; the whole quantity which had fallen from the 1st to the 20th instant had been only 2 inches. In the spring of 1813, the banks of this reservoir gave way, and con- siderable damage to property was done in nearly the same track. The breach was not filled up till 1821 ; when the reservoir was judicially in- spected, and pronounced to be sale. In 1829 it was purchased by the Straws Water Compaey, to increase the supply of water for the town of Greenock.
There was a dreadful storm on the Northern coast of Scotland on the morning of Wednesday the 18th. " The previous night was clear and calm, and the aurora borealis more than usually brilliant. The morning was equally fine, with a mild breeze from the southward, when, about half-past ten o'clock, it veered suddenly to the north, and in a very short time blew a perfect hurricane." Eight fisting-boats, belong- ing to Peterhead, Gardenston, Johnshaven, and other places, and con- taining forty-eight men, were lost. Several coasting-vessels were wrecked, but their crews were saved. On the land, houses were un- roofed, stacks of hay and corn blown away, and much other damage to property inflicted.
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