LAND SLIDES

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 306, 20 September 1921, Page 6

LAND SLIDES

TWO BIG SLIPS ON HUTT ROAD UNEMPLOYED TO SHIFT THEM MUCH MINOR DAMAGE Rain was badly needed in Wellington but scarcely in such quantities as fell during the week-end. Tho heavy rain brought down several slips on waterlogged hillsides- One of the big items oj expenditure incurred during the weekend will be the removal of two slips which occurred oh the Hutt Road. Ono of these was in a spot about ten chains on the city side of the Ngahauranga Railway Station, where about 1000 yards of rotten rock and mullock fell sway, and covered about three-quarters of tho way across the road. This slip may lead to more trouble, as the face above looks anything but secure. That the fall did not block the road was fortunate* as there were many hundreds of motorcars from the country which had to use it on Sunday and yesterday. The second slip, of about the same dimensions, occurred on the Hutt Road at a place opposite Rocky Point, nearly ■half-way. beAween Nlgahauranga end Petone. and this will take some time to ekAr away. Only a few boulders reached right across the road, so tl.at vehicular traffic has not been.; blocked at. all.

Among tho minor mishaps was a small slip in the bank at Grant Road (opposite Aorangi Terrace). Here, too, the drain became blocked by the detritus brought down by the torrents of water from tho hillside, and not being able to get away, the water overflowed into private property to the alarm of the residents. Tho city engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) was roused from his slumbers at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning to attend to this trouble. Another slip occurred in Wellington Terrace, lat the) lieiad of Boulcott Street, where the bank supporting a section of Wellington Terrace is partly timbered up. The part that slipped away, taking a piece out of the road, was between tho boarded section and the steps. , A resident of Frandi Street, Goldie s Brae, had an unenviable experience on Saturday night. A portion of the high bank behind his residence fell at about 10.30 p.m., 'fend striking a fence at the rear of the residence, diverted its course, and hurled itself like a miniature avalanche against the rear wall. .The occupants of tho house were in a room at the back at the time, and it seemed to them that a violent earthquake had taken placp. Tho concussion, according to one of the occupants* was very severe. It is estimated that about fourteen cubic yards of earth struck the house,, leaving soil to a depth of four feet, after the slip, the rear wall. The wall, which is of wood, was bent, but not broken, and considerable repairs will be necessary. The occupants of the house were unable to open the back door until the slip had been cleared. . Miramar which is difficult to drain owing to its flatness, was partly under water on Sunday. The Park at Miramar North had been transformed into a' bi" sheet of water. The low-lying ground south of Broadway, which is occupied by Chinese market gardeners was also under water, and the pwners of those acres of long neat rows ot sprouting vegetables must have suffered considerable loss, though water was the element mostly desired by them. The back yards of many of the houses along the northern end of the Miramar golf links were still inches deep in water yesterday afternoon. , , There were minor floods in other parts of the city, which have given the corporation outdoor staff a busy time for the past forty-eight hours. Work for the Unemployed.

The Mayor (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.) stated yesterday that tho unemploye would be put on to the work of clearing away the slips on tho Hutt Road, commencing this morning. On communicating with Mr. Judd (at the oorporaTion yards) he had ascertained that up till 3 p m. yesterday 110 men had registered as desiring relief work, a proportion of which would no doubt be engaged on the work of clearing away tho slips on the contract plan. Of those who registered a good number of tho men gave addresses outside Wemngton, some from Petone, many of them being young unmarried men. Mr. Wright made it quite clear ttiat such men would not be employed- Wellington had quite enough to do to find money for employing its own workers without having to shoulder, the 'burdens of those from other boroughs beyond Greater Wellington. It might be haid in certain cases, but that could scarcely be helped at a time like tho pres ent He again emphasised the point that P ©nee would be given to married men with families, and such men, ifl the wanted such work should register j a? once at the corporation yards at Clyde Quay. _____