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Clutha Leader, Volume V, Issue 222, 11 October 1878, Page 7

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(Daily Times' Correspondent.) September 30. A second and larger flood resulted yesterday, after sixteen hours of an incessant downpour of , rain. The flood exceeded that of Wednesday by two or three feet, and was at its height about eight o'clock yesterday morning. The Shotover, Arrow, and Kawarau rivers presented grand, and at the same time distressing, sights by the numberless evidences of destruction they bore mockingly along beyond the reach of the spectators, on their banks. Large trees, two, three, and four feet in diameter, -washed out by. the roots, were , tossed about like mere toys by the muddy waves ; and amongst the immense quantity of .rough "timber ' ruthlessly swept, away, now and again squared and dreaded

beams, parts of machinery and ' mining plant, were plainly visible, giving tokens of the terrible damage done by the flood, which will involve many months of patieni toil to repair. The few vestiges of the tracks and bridges left by thef ormer flood were completely effaced or destroyed by its successor. The only bridge remaining intact is the Shot over Bridge, at Arthur's Point ; and not one of the roads or tracks, whether high-roads or bye-roads, is passable even for pack or saddle horses. Landslips are common in every direction, and many dwelling-houses are threatened with destruction by them. The Lake at Queenstown is rising rapidly, and is demolishing the oldei wooden buildings on the Lake side oi Beach-street, where the water is between three and four feet deep. The inhabitants are betaking themselves and their belongings to higher and safer situations. At Arrowtown the river steadily encroached on the town sections, and. Mi W. Lock's bakery,' a three-storey stone building, was considered unsafe, and left by its occupants. The Kawarau River resembled more an arm of the lake than a river, and the site of the proposed bridge at Owen's Punt was submerged^ five or six feet, a fact which the persons who support this site as the most suitable for a biidge should give some little consideration to. The boat for crossing foot passengers was moored to the hotel door, at a height of nearly 25 feet perpendicularly above the ordinary water level, and a waggon, left in the road near Owen's Hotel, was covered to the top of the front wheels with water. News reached here from Skippers stating that the Phoenix (Messrs Bullens' quartz mine) Avas covered by a landslip, consisting of many thousand tons of debris, and that the other mines of the same locality suffered more or less. At Maeetown a number of miners escaped with their bare lives, leaving their hiits and the property contained therein to the mercy of the flood. The crops will suffer to a considerable extent on account of excessive moisture, but as the rivers of this district are chiefly rock bound and confined to deep channels, there is no danger of inundation to any extent. Owing to communication being interrupted, provisions, such as flour and butcher's meat, have been very scarce, and at times unobtainable. Telegraphic communication with Dunedin was interrupted yesterday by the line below Roxburgh being washed away by the Olutha. No mails have arrived here since Tuesday night week last. The Kingston-Invercargill railway has suffered, and communication is stopped. October 1. Queenstown was visited by a large number of Arrowites to-day, as the flood here had gone down to below danger point, "and work of all kind had been suspended. Horses, however, could not get through, and a part of the journey had to be performed on foot. The water had risen considerably since yesterday, and the lower part of the town presented a deplorable sight. The water on Beach-street \vas about five or six feet deep, and Eichardt's Hotel was flooded throughout the basement storey to a depth of four feet. Furniture of eveiy description was floating about in all directions.. Mr Hotop, chemist, removed in time, and none too soon, for his building was the first to succumb. Cash's Victoria Hotel was fast becoming a complete wreck, and the Prince of Wales Hotel followed suit. Towards noon a breeze arose, blowing from the north-west, beating right into Queenstown Bay. By this time the timber from the neighboring yards had got afloat, and made sad havoc amongst the frail buildings. Reing tossod about by the surf, the logs acted like so many bat-tering-rams, beating in doors and windows everywhere. Attention was directed to Davis's stone brewery, which was not expected to weather out the storm ; and it was not long before it came down with a terrific crash, hiding for a moment its downfall by a dense cloud of dust, which, on clearing off, revealed a barren island in a waste of water. The Masonic Hall, was exposed to the full fury of the waves and floating beams, and had holes rammed through its stone walls, which are about eighteen inches thick. Fears are entertained of Mr Eichardt's Queen's Arms Hotel, a substantial and magnificent twostorey stone building, as the margin between it and the Lake, even at low water mark, is perilously small. Under the circumstances Mr Eichardt has removed to the family hotel lately occupied by Mr Powell. The Lake side of Beachstreet may be pronounced as doomed, also the Queen's Arms stables, and other similar buildings. The subsiding of the waters of the Lake is regulated by a veritable iron gate situated at the junction of the Arrow and Kawarau rivers, which is probably not more than 70 feet wide. It is this part of the river which causes Lake Wakatipu to rise during rainfalls. All that portion between this point and the Lake is from 200 to 900 feet wide. The surface area of the Lake is 120 square miles, and a depth of 12 feet over this extent means about 300,000,000 gallons of water to be discharged through a crooked gorge 70 feet wide. From this it will be seen that the Lake cannot but go down slowly. Landslips occurred to-day at Mr Scole's (late Elliott's) farm, covering many acres, and Mr Okan's hotel at Franktori was threatened with demolition by a landslip. October 2. The flood in the Arrow and Shotover rivers is subsiding fast, but the water at Queenstown is only very slowly going down. There are no disasters to report, except that . the land about Mr Boyes' home station is showing signs of slipping, and the residents ; have removed their furniture and valuables to situations of security. The destruction of property, whether public or private, is enormous. No : loss of life haSj up to the present, been reported, and it is only fair to mention that Mr H. A. Stratford, KM. , the officer in charge of the district, has done all that lies in his power, either by his personal exertion or by the influence of his position, to relieve the distress prevailing throughout the district.