Serious Floods

The village of Rushden has suffered very much in consequence of the heavy rains. Many of the inhabitants have been seriously alarmed, and quite an exciting scene has taken place. The farmers will suffer a good deal; many of them are prepared for bad weather, and adopt the necessary precautions to avoid damage as much as possible. Had such a thing been considered at all likely, the villagers of Rushden would have provided against the overflow of the brook, which occurred on Tuesday. The rush of water along the brook was so great and violent, that the park wall, under which the stream passes, was forced down, and in a very few minutes afterwards there was a great flood. The water speedily reached Mr. Skinner's premises; a pig that had just been killed was washed away, and the "scratch" followed it. A huge log of wood was swept away from Mr. Knight's premises, and the water rose to such a height that difficulty was experienced in removing women from low-lying premises. A wall on Mr. Scott's premises was destroyed by the flood. At Mr. Claridge's shop men entered the water up to their waists to render assistance to the female employees, who were ultimately rescued. Cause for anxiety, however, was not yet removed. A trolley was employed to convey the women to a place of safety, and when the horse got to a spot where the rush of water was strongest, fear overtook him, and he refused to proceed. The brute made a desperate effort to return, and succeeded in turning sharp round and breaking both the shafts of the loaded conveyance. Several women fainted, but thanks for the conduct of powerful and plucky men, the women were removed from the trolley, and all escaped without bodily injury, Mr. J. Sargent, whilst attempting to carry one of his children out of danger, was overpowered by the force of the water, and but for ready help which was close at hand his position and that of his child would have been extremely critical.

P. C. Tack, whilst rendering all the assistance in his power, narrowly escaped being jammed against a wall by a log of timber which the force of the water swept along as it would a piece of straw, but with a crow-bar he succeeded in diverting the course of the log, and so escaped. The warehouses of Messrs. Colson, Sargent, C. Sanders, and W. Claridge were more or less flooded, and in Duck-street many houses were damaged by the water, which covered the ground floors to a surprising depth. At the time we write (Thursday) it is still raining, and the floods are increasing in the district around. At Higham Ferrers, near the railway station, the water which has overflowed from the river is unusually deep.

FLOODS—The result of the heavy rains we have experienced during the past few days was strongly in evidence on Monday morning when huge volumes of muddy water came pouring down into the low-lying part of Rushden, causing the brook to overflow its banks, and covering the public road from the fountain on the green to Messrs. Colson & Co.'s factory, and from thence down Duck-street, with water, varying in depth from six inches to two feet. The residence of Mr. S. Knight, sen., was one of the first to be invaded by the advancing flood, and all approach (vehicular traffic excepted) to Mr. W. Claridge’s factory was cut off; would-be visitors to a sale in the Wellingborough-road district could only do so by making a voyage across the surging flood, while some of the inhabitants of Duck-street and the vicinity had the floors of their living-rooms covered by the unwelcome stream, and were compelled to remove themselves with their goods and chattels to the regions above. Lower down the same street the force of the stream made itself manifest by giving the finishing touch to a barn occupied by Mr. J. Knight, the property of Mr. J. Jacques, the entire wall, roof, &c., being carried into the stream, while the foundation of an adjoining washhouse was partly carried away, and the shape and comeliness of the wall considerably altered for the worse. The falling of one of the 'bus horses in the main stream caused no inconsiderable diversion and some trouble; local trap owners did a busy morning's work in carrying flood-bound passengers from land to land at a penny a time, while railway drays that chanced to pass that way, were stormed by a resistless host, who were consigned "intact and in good condition" at the new station to station rate "free gratis for nothing." This state of things continued until shortly after one p.m., when dry land once more was seen, the waters subsided, and the vocation of the ferryman was no longer necessary. Local residents state that the water was quite as high as when a similar occurrence took place about nine years since, when unfortunately more serious results attended it.