*
A NIGHT OF FLOOD AN
MUDDY currents of water are flowing rapidly beside the housetops of this town. Growling winds are driving people to madness apart from the gradually rising water. It is a typhoon and it seems that the gods are angry.
The continuously falling rain adds to the terror of the people perched on their roofs.
It is midnight now, but there is still no sign of the rescuers,
One can see nothing but water all over this sunken world.
Roofs are packed with people, like ants surrounded by drops of water, helpless and pitiful Occasionally, you see Zragments from houses upstream following the currents of the raging river, slamming the houses nearby like hammers, tending to knock down the houses.
Once those were beautiful cherry trees now they are like ghosts, without leaves standing
By
JOHN
CHAN
at their hoofs and feet to their necks. Slowly the water rises, even the people on the tops of
Page
FLOOD AND TERROR
Fastest men in the world
The Canberra bomber
.. by Henry Lewis
RECORD BREAKER
their houses have a feeling of "I'M
new danger rising below their feet. But time creeps by like a snail. This adds to man's despair and fright; they know they have to meet death.
The dark grey things in the there lonely and weeping with sky dance round and round like the wind, washed and scraped ink poured in a moving pond of cruelly by the water from the water........I can see that they are sky.
devils laughing and shouting up there making their jokes at the helpless people down below. Aroused by the wind, the devils dance more madly.
And the sky? The dark grey sky that brought all this mis fortune to the people? The clouds throw down their spears of cold liquid and fill the river, the land.
Men can escape, cattle and poultry cannot. They cry when they feel the cruel water rising
is your name O'Rielly?
O'RIELLY, A FAMOUS OLD IRISH NAME, MEANS "GRANDSON OF RAGHALLACH # (THE SPORTIVE ONE)
© 1950 TIS
Katany
12-1
But then here comes the sun! The sun is taking his post in the heavens now; he is the Emperor and the king; he brings hope and life, and the world becomes bright and lovely.
Confusion
The
their people cast away
heads. despair and raise their Where are the dancing devils? They have disappeared. Dense clouds take their place; they used to be so mean and dark, now they are embroiled by golden threads. These are still -all is still now, except for the slowly rising sun which drives the running water off the land. The water is now 'dropping, drooping, dragging its way back to the river after night of confusion and des- truction.
a
-
The sun has his power, he drives off the devils, clears the skies and dries the land the people.
Yes everything is still silent except for the flow water on its way back to
river.
for
afraid the news is bad. Looks as if you'll The time when have to scrub," said the Met. Officer sym- pathetically.
Wing Commander Roland Beamont blinked his still sleepy eyes. It was four in the morning and outside the Meteorological Office all was dark and quiet.
Charlie
Roger,
Roly Beamont flew Britain's
Canberra across the Atlantic twice
in one day
Now they had tall winds and their average speed was around
intended to make aviation
This was the day when he "TCA to Canberra," he called.
his- "I think Ocean Station tory by being the first man to is off the air." cross the Atlantic and return to "Canberra to TCA Britain within a day.
thanks," said Beamont, "What's the form?" he asked. The breezy Canadian came The weather expert told him. A back chattily: "I was reading the 1,000-mile long stretch of route, 150 miles wide, was being level you guys are going to t 600 miles an hour. The return
the paper this morning. Is it on the
swept by high winds. Winds right round on the other side and that were up to 250 miles an fly straight back?”
journey seemed to take no time. hour in places and averaged
"Yes, that's right," said Bea- tacted Aldergrove and was hom- at all. Then Watson had. *`con- an hour for a mont. over 100 miles third of the route;
"Gee," said the Canuck. “What ing: Beamont considered. It was a heck of a way to spend a day.".
Tea time certainly not the weather he had The Canberra screamed on- Since they had left rain had hoped for. But then the weather through the clouds. Then
100 begun falling. It was a real was not likely to improve much miles from the Newfoundland British welcome. They strained if he postponed the attempt. coast the skies cleared and then their eyes for the agßeld ; as was they saw the fir trees and silver Hillwood began the et-down. lakes and the white concrete At 2,000ft. they were still But though winds would cer- runway of Gander.
cloud and rain. tainly slow his outward journey, by Beamont's watch, though in or overhead," warned the con- It was just turned 11 o'clock "Canberra, You are very near they should speed his return.
Canada it was only just, after trol tower. Still they could
see nothing.
Autumn was coming on; it August 26, 1952.
breakfast.
Then, "You have overshot.
'We're goingʻ seven. Canadians were ... at He turned to his navigator, Beamont had arranged lunch Steer 310:" Squadron Leader Denis Watson, in a private house, five minutes'
The Canberra“ turned, still who was making calculations on drive from the airfield, so that descending and they came out of his pad. "We're going," he said, they would not be bothered by the cloud and the runway was Their aircraft was a Canberra wellwishers and the curious. right beneath them and they jet bomber. Beamont was and Now a car took Hillwood and were down in time for tea.. It and still
pilot for Watson
eat. Beamont was just after 4.30 pm English Electric who make it. stayed by the Canberra to in-
They had returned 1 in three He had set a new official spect the engines when the cowls hours 25 minutes at an average Atlantic crossing record in 1951, had been removed. flying from Aldergrove, Northern Ireland. to Gander,
of
the
The sun will take command in the day, and the moon at night. No more devils will bother the land again.
soon
The people will
come down and start their daily life again, and the animals and poultry are saved from death.... -Credit card to John Chan, Kowloon.
MAN IN THE CROWD
K
Credit card to Linda-Christine Sun, Kowloon.
is--chief test
Newfound-
land, in 4 hours, 18 minutes.
off to
Off again
speed of 606 miles an Four.
Their total flying time for the 4,144 miles. was 7 hours 59 minutes. From the time they
Now he was at Aldergrove Then he went to lunch. His left Aldergrove until their refurn again to set the seal on the Can- crew had already finished their was 10 hours, three minutes. berra's performance with the steaks Beamont was just half- As they drank these tes in double Atlantic crossing, the way through his when the tele- triumph, the first men to crass never-before-attempted feat. phone rang and a Canadian voice the Atlantic in both directions The black sky was just begin- told him, “All” ready for you, in a day, a telegram of con- ning to pale with the dawn as sir."
-gratulations from the. Queen was Beamont led his crew aboard, He left his foot and they ran handed to Beamont. Watson and Flight Lt. Peter for the car. Then they were Later Beamont and his crew Hillwood, the second pilot. The back in the refuelled and check- were to get the Royal Aero Rolls-Royce Avon engines ed Canberra. At, ten minutes Club's Britannia Trophy for the past one, Hillwood lifted her into year's best performance In the
screamed alive.
He taxied the Canberra to the the sky. end of the runway. He talked to the tower on the radio.
Then: "Aldergrove to Can- berra. Clear to take off."
"Roger." Beamont gave * thumbs-up signal and the Royal Aero Club's official observer dropped a white flag and started Ja stop watch.
Then Beamont took the Can- berra speeding down the runway, off and round in a steep climbing turn, coming back low over the control tower where more ob- servers watched. The time was 6.35 a.m.
Beamont set the Canberra on a half-hour- climb. Watson worked at his navigation table. They
were unlikely to catch even a glimpse of the sea all
way
clouds.
across, so low were the
At 9.13 they were
point of no return,
past the 1,000 miles
from Ireland. 1,000 miles from Newfoundland. flying straight
and level in the teeth of th-
wind and still unable to
anything but dirty clouds.
いわゆ
But Watson contacted an American weather ship at this point and confirmed their posi- tion. They flew on.
They failed to contact the next weather ship. A Canadier airliner pilot somewhere nearby in the murk overheard therr calling it.
air.
'Twins at a party'
Credit card to Antoine Rozario, Kowlo
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