THE LATE FLOODS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1366, 14 December 1872, Page 2

THE LATE FLOODS.

The following particulars ot the damage done by the late floods in the Hokitika and Arahura Rivers are ■ given by the Westland Register of Thursday :— ' The destruction of #he Arahura Bridge occurred very suddenly, nothing appear* ing ten minutes before to indicate any such event. At half-past ten, a great volume of water, bearing on its surface many and large trees, came pouring down and the heavy mass of timber becoming impacted against the piers of the bridge,* by its weight broke through the solid structure and caused the fragments ok two spans of about 120 ft in length to rushY with it to sea. Mr Thompson,- the resident proprietor'of the bridge, reports that he has never known the Arahura so flooded. The punt with its gear has gone down the river,' and at least half a mile of road, a mile distant from and below Hungerford's Bridge, opposite M'Mullen's is washed away. A- boat for passengers will be plaped on the Aver and thp ford will be opened should the 1 river »ay£ sudl sided sufficiently to permit of their use by this day. The neighbors and townspeople sympathise with Mr Thompson deeply in this new misfortune. In the Hokitika river, : the force of the current carried away a large slice of the upper half of the isjand, scoured away about one and a-half chains of Mr Harker's ground and all his fencing, Mr Sbrtegast's fencing, the Chinamen's garden, and the upper and inside portion of the race-course fence. MrQlossop'isa serious loser by the, flood— -the highest by . four inches ever experienced here~for besides the destruction of his newlyerected fence,his garden is much damaged. Mr CrjQSSQp removed his goods, from thatj portion of his house nearest the river to the bar of his hotel, where he erected a platform. "Mrs Glossop was placed in a boat' this morning, and remained in it, with some valuables, until the afternoon, when the water subsided. The bank of the river, near the Islay Hotel, has scoured considerably, and ,it has washed away to within six feet, of Mr Gloaaop's house, which he purposes to remove forthwith. ■ -"f Among the many injuries to property caused by the recent freah, we have to chronicle the loss of the wire attached to Mr Hawkins' punt. vAn enormous tree, with branches sticking far above ttriwaten caught the wire and tore out the post to which it was fastened on the south side of the rjvgr. The wire was dragged along for some distance and k nor quite us* less. ■ ' • • '-\ : <■[ o A son of Peter Mullin, residing in Tapper Gibson's Quay, aged about eight or mne years, was standing on the river bank, by the wing dam, by the punt, when the earth caved in under him, and he was precipitated into rivfjr. He would infallibly have been drowned bit? fot- tyS courage and presence of mind of Mr Lennie, bootmaker, also of the Quay, who jumped into the water and rescued him from his imminent danger* It is more than probable (says the Star) that damage has been done above the Kanieri, as a large quantity of timber and what appeared to be the remains of a bridge were carried down by the current this morning, The yiotOruto Oomptny'j

claim, Kanieri, is swamped, and it is rumored that Mr Lang's house at Longford is destroyed and that he and his horse were drowned, and we fear that in the course of a day or two, muoh loss of life and property will have to be chronioled. The Christchurch coach started on Thursday morning and returned to Hokitika in the evening, having effected a junction with the coach from the other end, this side of the Taipo. The West Coast Times learns that besides the damage to the road, which we mentioned yesterday, there is a gap at Rocky Point, beyond the Taipo, by the carrying away of a culvert. This will necessitate the keeping of a coach the other side of the gap, and the conveyance of the mails, &c., on horseback, across the space which was spanned by the culvert. Passengers will suffer but little inconvenience, as the space to be traversed on foot is quite dry.