view raw text
SURPLUS WATER IN AUSTRALIA. Floods have recently caused extensive damage in Australia, the race course at Flemlngton being completely submerged. The waters broke over the eastern bank of the Saltwater River, and In a few minutes the race course was completely under water, and In some places there must have been at the full flood a depth of ten feet, the shoulder of the seven furlong post, ten feet from the ground, being just visible over the water. The flood spread to the grandstand, invading the rooms, and when the secretary of the club visited the course the depth of water In the public luncheon-room was about six feet. The seats and tables in the members luncheon paddock were floating about. The rain gauge on the race course recorded 239 points, but it was the great rush of water from the northern reaches of the Saltwater that caused the damage. On the course itself the third jump on the steeplechase track, a log fence, was bodily lifted and carried close up to the stone wall. The stewards stand and the judges box stood out spectrally over the waste of waters.
