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Mrs. B. H. Bentley suffers serious injuries

Mrs. B.H. Bentley, of Upper Blarchmont, was the victim of a serious accident on Monday morning. She was engaged in hanging the household washing on the clothes line when the line, without warning, broke. Mrs. Bentley fell from the platform on which she was standing and in doing so broke both her wrists and also fractured one leg just below the knee.
She was taken to McDougall Hospital, and latest reports state that she is normally recovering. Her many friends regret her unfortunate accident and hope for her speedy recovery.

Kimberley students pass music exams

The following is a list of successful candidates in examinations held recently by the Toronto Conservatory of Music in Kimberley, B.C. The names are arranged in order of merit.

Piano Grade VIII: First Class Honours - Christina M. Watson. Grade VI: Honours - Deryl Giegerich; Maryan Maciejewski. Pass - Louise Backstrom, Graham Poole. Grade IV: First Class Honours - Judith Chisholm, Irma Maartrnan, Nora Mamie (equal). Honours - Catherine Austin, Winnifred McKay. Grade III: First Class Honours - Elisabeth Mary Parks. Grade II: First Class Honours - Anita Fisher. Honours - Hugh A.H. MacLellan, Billy Austin. Pass - Carrie Anne Nesbitt. Grade I: Honours - Tanis Adele Mason.

1948 - Floods devastate big portion of city

Damage may exceed $500,000

What everybody has dreaded and feared for years has happened. Mark Creek, which runs through the densely populated part of the city, rose to record heights on Sunday and Monday and in its wake the flood waters left a devastation that has appalled and shocked the people of the district. Total damage is expected to exceed well over half a million dollars. Twenty homes have been engulfed in the raging waters, bridges have been destroyed, streets and railway tracks have been extensively damaged, and many buildings have been partially wrecked, some beyond repair.

The late spring that kept the snow in the hills from melting, coupled with heavy record warm rains, was the cause of the disaster. Rain fell throughout Saturday and on Saturday night it reached torrential proportions. The raging waters early Sunday struck fear into those living near the creek and homes were quickly emptied of furniture.

1948 flood in front of Sullivan Motors on Wallinger Avenue

The first building to go down the stream was a garage near Wallinger Street bridge. This was quickly followed by other garages and smaller buildings, and as water undermined larger buildings they plunged into the water. A jam occurred when a big building jammed the creek about 400 feet west of Wallinger Avenue diverting half of the water over to Wallinger Avenue. It tore huge holes in both the Avenue and Rotary Drive, and flooded every house below the tracks north of the creek.
Basements and floors of Muraca's Grocery and the Kimberley Trading Company were flooded with the yellow muddy waters and extensive damage was done to merchandise. The situation had become serious and every piece of equipment of the City and also that of the C.M.&S. Co. that could be picked up in a hurry was brought into service. Cats, tractors, and bulldozers all played their part, and the breach was stopped.
But banks were crumbling all along the creek for nearly a mile, and hundreds of volunteers were at work, frantically putting in logs, trees and sandbags to hold the banks, that were undermining homes. Cables were placed on houses to hold them from the water. In a few instances these efforts were successful, but unfortunately in many other cases the untiring efforts were of no avail. All through Saturday night, in a drenching torrential rain, hundreds still laboured along the banks to protect their homes while hundreds of volunteers gave their assistance. During Sunday the city buses toured the city requesting sacks for sand, which were later picked up by the Boy Scouts.
Mondays record came Monday morning and the water had risen three feet overnight due to a second heavy rainstorm. Banks began to give way in all directions and houses were going down the stream in a seemingly endless procession. They comprised all sizes from the modest two roomed home to those costing $5,000 to $6,000. They were the life savings and pride of their owners. Forty-eight hours previously their walls were filled with happy contentment, but they were being plunged into the water to be torn to pieces by the flood waters before they had travelled 200 feet. The sight was appalling and the owners of the houses which still stood wondered how long before theirs too, would be swept away. Some, alas, did not have long to wait. The destruction was spread from 1,500 feet north of Wallinger Avenue to the end of the Anglican Church hill where three splendid homes were lost and three more wrecked by continual undermining. Cables were thrown around several houses along the creek, and they were pulled back with cats before they tumbled into the water and blocked the narrow sections.

Sunday was a holiday for C.M.&S. Company men, but even with that handicap every available piece of equipment and every man that could be reached was thrown into the battle. On Monday, when men reported for work they were divided into groups with a foreman for flood control work. The men worked their regular shifts, so that throughout every 24 hours from Monday, the work of clearing obstructions, diverting the water, blocking vital breaks, etc. was carried on without interruption.

Gangs of men swarmed the side hills cutting small trees to dam breaks, and trucks filled with rocks poured a continuous stream on the brush to hold the breaks. Blasting obstructions in the streams went on day and night for over a mile of the creek.

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Salute to Kimberley - Page 21

Mrs. B. H. Bentley suffers serious injuries

Kimberley students pass music exams

1948 - Floods devastate big portion of city

Damage may exceed $500,000