The Minor Family of Somerset

Information on Great Tidal Wave of 1929
The following letter arrived at St. John's November 21, 1929 fro
mMr. Ern Cheeseman of Port au Bras, appraising hisbrother Jac
k of the terrible tidal wave disaster a Day or so before.
Port AuBras, Nov 20, 1929
Dear Jack,
Just a scribble to advise you of the terribletime we have had h
ere. We wired you yesterDay but most likely you will receive th
is first.
I hardly know how to begin but here is the gist of what happene
d MonDay evening at 5.20. We had an earth tremor, all the house
s and ground shook for about five minutes. This put everyone i
n a panic. Women screaming and praying and men stood silent an
d scared. But we were just trying and had finally succeeded i
n quieting the women we had a tidal wave of the worse kind. Eno
rmous waves twenty feet high swept into the harbour on the othe
r side. The waves seemed to begin at Charlie Clarke's, the Bell
aventure wasanchored outside and did not move with the first wa
ve. This proves it mounted its force inside of her but passed u
nderneath her.
Charlie Clarke's storewent first taKing Henry Dibbons' with i
t into the Pond taKing everything as it came with a thunderous r
oar. It swept around by Ambrose's up to Jack Bennett's out ou
r way bringing all the houses and stores that stood in it way.
Then all the boats wen made, came in on Jim Cheeseman's place, s
wept everythingof ours up to father's front door. The harbou
r was cleared out by the firstwave. The the second one came an
d brought it all in again. Such noise andscrunching you neve
r heard. By this time we had all fled to the hills, the highes
t place we could fine from where we watched the third wave com
e and go.
You could hear the poor humans who were caught, screaming, wome
n and men praying out loud. Oh God, Jack, it was terrible.
Anyway, the harbour toDay isclean of every store and eleven dwe
llling houses with a loss of seven souls.The houses destroye
d were W. H. Clark's, George J. Abbott's, william Fudge's, Henr
y Dibbons' (bottom), John S. Dibbons', Thomas Benton's, T. W. Ch
eeseman's, Joseph Cheeseman's and Jenny Cheeseman's.
Lives lost were Mrs. (Capt) Sam Bennett, her brother Henry Dibbo
ns, Mrs. Thomas Fudge and three daughters,and old Mrs. Willia
m Allen. To dte the following bodies have been recovered. Mrs
. Sam Bennett under the Government Wharf, Mrs. W. Allen under To
mmy Clarke's and Mrs Fudge and one daughter, the second oldest p
ucked up by ThomasShave's in Path End. Everybody is miserable
, nervous wrecks and in need ofhelp immediately. All pepole w
ho had food for the winter lost it in their stores. We must hav
e flour, sugar, tea, molasses, beef and pork immediately.the G
overnment will have to send relief soon as possible. Everythin
g we have is gone and we are ruined. What we have in the shop t
he law has orderedus to give out in relief which is only clothe
s and groceries.
The two freaksof the whole things was the following: Henry Dib
bons arrived in the Bellaventure in the evening, anchored outsid
e, the first wave did not bring her in,the second one did, an
d she came in with her riding lights burning; twice inand out a
bout ten knots an hour, and man could not steer her better. Th
e last time she went out she anchored herself where she was eh
n it began.
And you could not moor her better. Her windlass is out and sh
e leaks some but sailed to Burin yesterDay under her own power a
nd foresail. How she escaped isa miracle, but how HYNES' littl
e boat escaped is a greater one. She was about the worse here
. She was tied to the "ane" was never seen until toDay, hermas
t appeared out from Burdge Cove.
All boats from the harbour were lost except Ambrose's and George
's. Ambrose's was badly damaged. George was unhurtexcept a br
oken main boom. The first dory was hooked by a cod jigger throw
n by Charlie Clarke. ToDay everything is dismala