AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 733, 8 November 1869, Page 3

AUSTRALIAN ITEMS.

VICTORIA. HEAVY FLOODS. —GREAT LOSS OF LIFE AT BALLAB AT. '

(From the Melbourne correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald.)

October SI, 1869. Since the date of my last letter, "Victoria has been ! visited by disasters by fire and flood. We have ' had, moreover, what might have been, and was at ' first supposed te be, a repetition of the wreck of . the Dunbar at the South Head. To take the events ■in order. The rains which fell on Friday in the western parts of the colony did not exhaust themselves until they had fairly reached the borders of New South Wales in the east on Monday. It lias been the heaviest rainfall we have had for a few years, and continued in most places without intermission for nearly two days and nights. The country about Balh.rat suffered severely, including the towns of Clunes, Creswick, Talbot, &c. • The inhabitants of Clunes suffered a double calamity. A fire broke out on Friday, which destroyed nearly all one side of a street, and before the ravages of this dread element were stayed the people were overtaken witli a flood which submerged a portion of the same street and its neighborhood. Of all the towns, however, none suffered half so severely as Ballarat. There is a small stream, called tire Yarrowee, which runs through the heart of Ballarat East, and it ltas a couple of tributary creeks. These were so swollen by the rains which had fallen up to Saturday morning that culverts and bridges were burst up or carried away, gardens entirely destroyed, many houses partially submerged, and a considerable number of the principal shops, hotels, and places of business in the main road and Bridge-street deluged, so that the roaring rushing flood made a clean breach through them, and in some instances goods, stocks in trade,, furniture, &c, were carried away by the torrent. Of the state of matters in the flooded quarters, after Saturday's rains, the Courier gives the following account: — Sunday morning broke with a drizzling rain, and it was only then that the full extent of the havoc that had taken place was ascertained, Bridge-st. presented a scene indeed pitiable. Scattered about in all directions lay the planks and debris of all kinds that had drifted either out of the shops or with the various currents that had discharged themselves into the street, while a layer of inullock an inch deep covered, the footpaths and the street. At 11 o'clock the Eastern Council mot, and decided to U3O every exertion to olear the footpaths and water channels. Men were put on at double wages, and the firemen of both the brigades, assembled by the tolling of bells, set to work with hose carriages and apparatus to wash the footpaths. The borough Engineer, Mr Young, was present, superintending the work and giving ' directions as to the most urgent works, and those , from which accidents were to be feared. The Earl of Zetland hotel was kept open for those employed by the council, and the members of the brigades ' were promised double wages. All worked with a will, and ere nightfall, the street down as far as ( the Charlie Napier was for the most part cleared. Traffic was entirely suspended on (Sunday.

The catalogue of disasters and losses which follows the above, with the account of property destroyed, lives imperilled, and families rendered homeless, shows that the calamity was the greatest which has ever visited the town of Ballarat. The destruction of property, however, though extremely distressing; is not so appalling as the loss of life which was supposed to have occurred at one of the large mines in the neighborhood. The Great Northern Junction Company's claim lies at the foot of our extensive range of hills. On ordinary occasions the water from these hills finds its way across the plains into the natural channels and creeks; but on Saturday the rush of water from the ranges was so great that it swamped all the laud round the pit's mouth, and began to run down the shaft rapidly, cutting for itself a channel, and carrying with it all the floating debris, so that it was dangerous—indeed almost impossible—for the men to ascend. At this time there were fifty-eight miners below. After almost superhumau efforts forty-eight of them were got to the surface, but many of them barely escaped suffocation from the force of the descending body of water which they had to encounter all the way up. The blood was flowing from the ears and noses of several of them when they reached the surface. The quantity of water which poured into the mine may be imagined from the fact that it stood at ninety feet from the bottom, nof only filling each of the shafts to that height, but also the drives or chambers, extending laterally for a considerable distance. The chamber in which the men were left commenced to branch off from the main shaft at a height of sixty feet from the bottom, and, as this chamber rises gradually from thirty to forty feet, there was just the possibility of the poor fellows retreating into the extreme corner of the drive, and having air enough to keep them alive until the waters were drawn off. As to two out of the ten, it was considered certain that their lives had been sacrificed, for one was fatally crushed by the cage, and another was drowned. The utmost power of the pumping machinery was employed to raise the water, and medical men and all necessary appliances kept at the mouth of the pit ready on the first moment of any favorable tidings of the men coming to the surface ; but it was not until after mid-day on Tuesday that the drive in which the men had taken refuge was pumped out. Seven of them were then discovered alive, and it is easy to conceive the joy with which they were received by their families and friends. Happily they had some food with them when the waters imprisoned them; but it is difficult to understand how they could so well have survived a three days' detention in au underground atmosphere where a lighted caudle would not live. It appears that the eighth man was in a lower drive, so that his chances of escape were of the most slender kind. The pumps, however, were kept at work, and on Wednesday the manager was able to get at the chamber in which the missing man was supposed to be imprisoned. To the great joy of everybody the poor fellow was found alive and brought to the surface. He was soon restored to his distressed family, and seemed likely to recover speedily from the effects of his entombment. The following is the man's own account of what happened during the four days he was in the pit: —

1 have had nothing to cut since Saturday; I did not feel very hungry; was thirsty, but afraid to drink the water. I was praying and crying all the time. Believed, from the exertions I knew the men would put forth, that I might he saved. Did not sleep all the time I was buried. 1 did not know anything ahout tho other incu. Was by myself all the time, up to my waist in water, and shivering with cold, if I was not of a strong constitution I shouid have died long beforo now. My candle went out as soon as the water came in. Can scarcely believe it is Wednesday morning. Do not feel unwell. I heard some one shouting for Smith and M'Donald, and 1 said " Here's Smith," and then began to pray again. They came to mo and let me out. "May God bless Mr kobertson, and all the others that assisted in rescuing mo.

The rain only readied Melbourne and the surrounding districts on Saturday morning, and the quantity which fell was inconsiderable. In the middle of the day it ceased, but a change of wind came up in the afternoon and a steady rain began to descend, increasing gradually through the night, «uicl accompanied by violent gusts of wiud, This

continued throughout Sunday, although during the litter part of the day was finer and became a thick drizzle which seemed to penetrate everywhere, but did not add very much to the body of water which. had-.then accumulated. The river Yarra for many mites' above the city had been gradually rising, un - ' til its banks were overflowed wherever there was low land lying land adjoining it. In many localities houses and factories uear the river were invaded by the rising waters, and considerable damage done. In the immediate neighborhood of Melbourne the flats were mostly covered. Tha , course of the Sandridge-road was only discernible bythe row of trees which line it, and a small portion of the St. Kilda-road was under water. On Monday morning there was a cessation of the rain,, and the waters slowly abated. Th-3 after part of that day was fine, and Tuesday was warm, with a dry north wind blowing. This told rapidly on tha flood; and as the great body of water round the southern flaHs found its way into the bay, the waters aloug the low levels of the Upper Yarra rapidly retired within the river's banks, so that by Wednesday most of the submerged lands were free of theoverflow. Some injury has been done to riverside properties, but it is far less than occurred in either of the last two floods which visited the city ; aud the incalculable good which the country has derived from the soaking rain far outweighs the comparatively trifling losses which have been sustained in the neighborhood of the city. Crops of grass aud cereals which a fortnight ago appeared to be utterly valueless on account of the drought have now. recovered, and are in many places promising to be unusually heavy and abundant. In the midst of the unintermittent downpour o* Sunday which caused the churches and the streets to be almost deserted, a rumor obtained currency amongst the few persons who were abroad that the fine new iron ship, the Victoria Tower, on her first voyage from Liverpool, had gone ashore, at the; Heady, and that bodies of the crew and passengers had been washed ashore. The frightful story sent a thrill of horror wherever it went, and many were not disabused of the mistake as to the reported loss of life until Monday morning, when the capers gave the particulars of the catastrophe. [We shall endeavor to publish the account in- our next issue—Ed. H.B.T.]