THE FLOOD IN TEE GREY VALLEY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1331, 4 November 1872, Page 2

THE FLOOD IN TEE GREY VALLEY.

(from our own correspondent.) I The Grey Valley ha^a^.n b en the Bcene of a flood, which at oi c time threatened to be as d' -i-ructive in its consequences as the great one at the beg' lning of the year. After a fortn: ?ht of unusually fine weather, it began to ra ; n on Tuesday, about sundown, and continued without intermission unt !1 . nine o'clock the following evening. The rivers and creeks heading from the east and south-east came down in volume on Wednesday morning, and by noon the Ahaura had attained its ordinal/ flood level. The Half -Ounce end Napoleon mails arrived at Ahauia punctually to time, but aa the river was dangerous the punt was not workable, and the mailman was reluctantly compelled to remain. The river was steady for an hour during the afternoon, but at sundown it commenced to rise again with unprecedented rapidity, and by nine o'clock it was within 18in of the highest flood-mark last February. The water began to fall in about half an hour after Ihis, and continued to subside slowly during the night. All the lowlying country was submerged, and general traffic was n6t resumed until Friday morning. The Grey River did not rise at the same rate as the Ahaura, and to this may b y e attributed the comparatively small amount of damage done. The town-" ship at the Little Grey Junction was about 2ft under water. At Totara Flat a strip of bottom land, near the river, with some f enciug was taken from the farm of Mr Donald. The tramway of Messrs Montgomery and Co. lost a few hundred feet of the rails and ballasting. At Ahaura a new four-wheeled waggon, belonging to the Messrs Rankin was carried away from the landing. Another waggon, the property of the same owners, was fortunately secured in time. The stamper ■ boxes belonging to the quartz - crushing machinery of the Energetic Company at Murray Creek were also at the Landing waiting for conveyance to Inangahua. One of them was in a dray near the receiving stores. This one is safe. The other was suspended from a triangle just below the boat landing, ready to allow the waggon to pas 3 under it-and take it on board. The foundations of the supports were washed away and tftfe stamper-box sank in the river. It is not yet known how deep the water is where the machinery lies, but the legs of the sheers are floating above it, and act as buoys to indicate its position. •It is expected the water will be low enough to set about recovering the box by Monday ; if not, an expert in such matters has given the representative of the company here the consolatory assurance that it will come to the surface in nine days, "when the gall breaks." These stamper-boxes weigh over one and a half tons each, and they were the only remaining portion of the Energetic Company's machinery still at Ahaura, the rest of it having reached its destination. Great fears were entertained for the safety of the people living in the locality of the old Ahaura township, and of those at the foot of Moonlight Creek, but owing to the relatively . small rise of the water in the Grey River little or no damage was. sustained. These remarks will -also appjly to the townships at the foot of Nelson Creek, Camptown, and the Twelve-Mile Landing. The resident of the latter place, as usual, suffered most inconvenience, but so far no serious injury is reported. There is a singular fact in connection with these heavy floods which has been noticed by ferrymen and others whose business compels them to closely watch the rise and fall of the water. It is remarked that the rivers reach the highest point and begin to fall about the time of the turning of the tide at Greymouth. Mr B. Gou»h, who has kept the ferryboat and punt at the old and new Ahaura for nearly seven yearr, and others have observed this remarkable phenomenon, and it has especially occurred during the last great flood and also on this occasion. This cannot •be accounted for by the backing up of the water in the river by the incoming tide, for it is more than thirty- miles from Greymouth-; to Ahaura, following the .course of the stream, and the latter place is at an elevation of several hundred feet above the seaport. Much anxiety was felt for the safety of Greymoulh and its inhabitants, especially in the lower part of the town, and the telegraph office was besieged by inquiries seeking information as to the effects of the flood when it was supposed to. be at its height. By arrangement, telegraphic communication was kept open with Greymouth till near midnight on Wednesday, about which time the welcome intelligence was transmitted that all danger was past. f The thanks of the residents here have been publiply giye,n tq Mr Berraud; the officer in charge" of the telegraph station, for the courtesy evinced by him in furnishing the latest information as it arrived. Travellers up-country will have to exercise caution for a few days, because the several fords and crossings of the rivers are all altered, as usually happens after one of these general inundations. "'■

Sufferers by the late flood at Ahaurs were busily, engaged repairing damages, recovering submerged property, and securing " flotsam and jetsam " all day on Saturday. As soon as the water had sufficiently subsided, Messrs White and Garth, the contractors for conveying the Energetic Company's machinery to Murray Creek, set a number of men to work to recover the stamper-box which disappeared in the river during the flood. As soon as the exact .position of the box was 1 ascertained,* the rest of- the work was soon performed. "Sheers were rigged, and the immense mass of iron was raised from its watery bed and deposited safely on dry land. The remains of the waggon of the Messrs Ran kin were discovered embedded in the shingle on one of the beaches near the old Ahaura. The framework, axles, and iron work, with one wheel, were found together, and a close search was being made for the three missing wheels. Apart from the loss sustained by Rank in Brothers by tlie ' destruction of this waggon, a special interest was attached to it from its being the first vehicle of the sort manufactured in the Grey Valley. It wad made entirely of native timber, by Mr Felix S.tratford, at the Little Grey Junction. The iron work was wrought by Mr Thos. Hamilton, of the same place, wd these two artisans turned out a first*

class avticle, finished in a ' thoroughly workmanlike manner. Old residents felt rather proud of it, as it wai tooled through the streets by the accomplished whip wlv had charge of it. It was worth fully Ll( J to the owners at the t ; me it wa3 carried away by the flood.