LATER DETAILS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1712, 1 April 1913, Page 5

LATER DETAILS.

. A SCARCITY OF BREAD. RESIDENTS HOPEFUL. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Goro, March 31'. Tho flood has gone down considerably, .although the river is still high. Tho estimate of tho damage conveytd in last evening's message appears to bo not much exaggerated, aild residents do not yet fully realise tho extent of tho ruin.

A Duuedin business man'' who was stranded in Gore during tho flood states that tho disaster in tho Goro district was tho biggest thero had ever been in- New Zealand. .Ho .thinks the damage in Goro is under-estimated at .£IOO,OOO. Tho fjdntlenum visited the Mataura paper mills, and btatcs that tho damage was deplorable there; almost a complete devastation. Tho damage in Mataura is estimated at .£20,000. Not a singlo settler cscaped. ecathless throughout tho length of the Mataura River. Some individual farmer's losses are authentically reported to be a thousand pounds. Tho Mayor's Appeal. Tho Mayor of Gore, Mr. I'oppelwoll, lias issued the following letter to tho citizens:— . . ' A terrible calamity lia9 fallen on. tho town, bringing much distress to . many of tho poorer citizens. This will surely call forth the sympathy of' every resident of the town. Those who happily do not feel tho direct effect of tho distress will have to mako sacrifices on behalf of those who are practically homeless. A Citizens' Committee lias been appointed to inquiro into) and provide I'or, all pressing .rases, ami I confidently appeal to citizens to subscribe freely towards the relief of those who may be in .want itlii'ougli the iiocd. A telegram has been received by Mr. Anderson, M.P., from the, Prime Minister, expressing his sympathy. Gangs ol' men aro working on tho railways, and through connection has been established on tlm Kingston lino, which was damaged bet-fen Nokomai, Parrawa, and Garston, except fcr a quarter-mile between Nokomai and Parrawa, where tho passengers walked. The Switzers line is in a deplorablo slate. There are numerous bi'eakouls, rails and sleepers being removed bodily. Tho Dome Creek bridge is reported to be washed away. I.t will lie fully two weeks before the service is again', established on tho Switzors-Rivers-tttilo lino. Thero-is a scarcity of bread in Gore, only two bakers to-day being able to bake. T.lie others hope to si art to-morrow. Their supply linn been eill oil', but it is tiiiprd (hilt it will bo resumed by the end ol' <i«> week,. U le unknown wlitm tlm cloclrio lHit-

ing in the town, will bo resumed. As to provisions, many 'neighbouring settlors have eent sheep and other articles of food into tho town of (lore, milkmen being ppecially conspicuous in this respect, Offers of Help. Tho "Ensign" published a four-page paper late to-day, "after a great struggle, by tlio assistance of a traction engine and iv thirty-foot bolt 011 to shafting, all the motors having been ruined by tho water." tho proprietary leteived a cablegram rom a Sydney finu to-day, promising tho first offer of assistance, Numerous telegrams lmd been received,l expressing sympathy and, offering help, but residents are quite hopeful that tlio town and district will recover before long. , Over a thousand Messages were handed in to tho local 1 tolegrilph office to-duy, and tho staff has dono great serviooiind deserve the greatest credit for lino work, considering the great difficulties under which they worked, and tho fact that they had 110 adequate light. ■ FLOODS RECEDING. Invorcargill, March 31. u S " o,)^s nro everywhere receding, but tho damage has been very extensive in the country districts. Tho weather is now fine. ''' """ ;'

IN MID-CANTERBURY. DAMAGE TO BRIDGES. • (By Ttiߣraph.~Pre6s Association.) , J , Ashburton, March 31. v i iV..P ,nl, May tho Raugitata River had fallen 10 feet and is now* almost down to normal. A strong staff of railway moil worked continuously from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on. Sunday and got through an almost incredible amount of railway bridge repairs. Work was actively continued all day to-day and by noon tho loop had almost been completed for the working of the donkey-engine and crane, and' piledriving was commenced . this evening, llicre is a lot to do, but tho chances c\i*o that on lhursday- mormug repairs will nave been so far advanced as to. allow all trains to pass slowly and safely over,the bridge. All the trains have been much delayed again to-day and will be to-mor- » •. • , express from . Dunedin, which as due at Ashburton at 3.15 p : m„ was just two hours lato, and the.second express from the south was ono hour late, bouthward-bouud trains have all left Ashburton in good time, but they must reach limaru correspondingly late. • ■ One effect of the flood in the .river was tho destruction of thousands 1 of ''rabbits. Ihe traffic bridge, seven miles above tho railway bridge, seems to have escaped and the Ashburton County Council is satisfied that it is quite safe for all classes of traffic with the possible exception of heavy traction engines. _ Word lias just been received that tho Kailway Department is temporarily stopping the mid-day mixed goods and passenger trains from Christclnirch to Timaru, and from Timaru to Christchurch. Tho announcement is also mado. that until repairs are completed passengors and light luggage only will bo accepted for conveyance beyond Haling (which is 20 miles from Ashburton and right oh the north bank of the R-angitata River,within 300 yards of tho bridge) southward or beyond l iP northward. All heavy goods traffio wds of courso stopped without notice oh Saturday niorniny.

DELAY TO EXPRESS TRAINS. T , . ' . Tlmaru, March 81. It is not known for certain, buti it is hoped that tlio Rangitata railway bridge trill bo repaired and fit for iiso by Wednesday night. The expresses from the north were one and a half and two and a half hours late to-day. The second oxpress was a long one, and as trolleys cannot bo-(used as the pile-driving gear is. in the way, all tho hiegago. and mails had to bo carried along tlio sheep bridge alongside the railway bridge. This is quite an easy and safo bndg3 for , passengers, the, only real inconvenience for them being the delay. ; a ( 1 TERRITORIALS HELD, UP. Christchurch, jfarch 31. Three lmndrol West Coast Territorials, who started from Yaldhurst wimp for homo on Friday, aiid who were compelled to return. owing to floods having interrupted railway.- communication over , 'a part Af the distance' betweenCass and Bealey, resumed their journey to-day. 'A special train left Springfield t with cars, cattle-truoks, .end a baggage wagon. for them tx) continue their interrupted homeward journey. They will bo taken by train as far as safe travelling will allow over the unopened portion of the railway beyond Coss. HERMITAGE STILL CUT OFF. ' •' Timaru, Marcli 31. Up to tlie, present the only communication to and from the Hermitage has been by pack-horse. The roads aro being repaired, and it is expected (that cars will get through to-morrow. Some tourists got down to Pairlie to-iughtv

, IN SOUTH WESTLAND. GREAT LOSS OF STOCK. I?AMIS SWAMPED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Hokitika, Maroli 81. To-day a correspondent of the "West Coast Times" gives a very, doleful account of tlio flood damage in South Westland. In describing the havoc played by tlio Wanganui River, which is_ about 50 miles south of Hokitika, the, writer says that a fine paddock, tho property' of "Mr. I\ Hende, adjacent to the bridge, is now nothing but a river bed, a portion of tho stream having gono right through) it. • Settlers , found, it necessary to . uso a boat to get tho sheep off liarts of the ground, and carcasses of dead sheep aro to bo seen floating about, tho paddocks, while others aro suspended on wire fences. A farm recently purohased by Mr. P. Hansen, a resident of tliis district, has also been badly damaged,-and inanv of his oattlo'and sheep drowned. ■ Thero wero two feet of water flowing through tlio Little Wanganui Hairy Factory, and tho road Jeading thereto has been go badly cut away that the suppliers cannot at present reach tlio factory. "Most of tho livo cattle," continues tlio correspondent, "wero to be seen on tlio high ground available. It was reported that a party of men, to tho number of 18 or 20, who wore engaged road-making, wero missing, but they havo since arrived safely at Harihari, a few miles distant from tho river."

A ilaxmill at AYaiuix;a. much further 6011 th, is reported to boldly; damaged, and about thirty tons of lias wasliod away. _ Until tlio flood subsides it will not bo known what stock has been lost, but tho number is known to bo very considerable. As oridence of tlio severity of tlio flood, tho correspondent concludes by stating . that settlers could not get to their paddocks and cowsheds and wero uuablo to iniilc (lieir cows for twenty-four;--hours. Die floods'wero equally severe in tile Kokatahi and Koiteangi districts, portion of llio road between Hokitika to tlieso places bcitig covered with water to a depth of from four to six feet. .Bridges and culverts havo been badly damaged.. It transpires that two . spans of the Teremakau Bridge, which is \ south of Greymouth, have been washed away. They were each 80 feet in length. A portion of tho bridge, almost intact, lies on the riverbed and some of it is piled up on tho sen bench. The Mayor of Kumara, Jlr. ,T. A'. Murdocli, coimmmicaled with tho Grey Harbour Bonrd authorities who, in resiwnso to his request, sei|t up their rocket ap* ]inratus. By this means a wire was thrown across the river and passengers including suppliers to the creamery," aro in tho meantimo beiug carried across in the cage.

Tclegrapliio communication is cut off Okarito (eighty miles south of Hokitika) and Okura, 120 miles further down. It is expected that tlio damage lu thesa iiavra is of, a serious nature. Although reports have been current that lives of settlers linvo been lost at Littlo \\anganui, inquiries bo far go to show that tlio rumours aro incorrect. IN DUNEDIN. T ~ ' Dunedin, Marcli 31. In threo firms alone 500 hands ha-ic been temporarily thrown out of work in ■ consequence of the tstopnngo of tho Waipori electrical pbwer. Efforts aro being made to run. by gas plants meanwhile. It is hoped to give Irvine and Stevenson s, freezer a few. tons of power tonight. otherwise .£3OOO worth of stuff will 1)0 destroyed, A-big gang of worknieii is employed at ho N'oipori iluniiug, end it is hoin-ll v illi (mo weather the troublo will bo got over b.v Wednesday morning,