THE FLOODS AT MOUNT IDA.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 49, 7 January 1870, Page 3

THE FLOODS AT MOUNT IDA.

: 0n Thursday and'Eri&ay of last weefca: very doiisMeratle'ambiirit of fain-fell' throughoiifciliis district, and in consequence trie Oddfellows' pic-nic were postponed' iintit Saturday, which turned out in every respect a beautiful day, and one well adapted to ensure the success /of such ;a gatherings On Sunday morning, however, at about six a.m., •rain again: commenced to fall in torrents, and continued a perfect do wnpour fbrjupwards of : twelve hours. ' The water rose with immense rapidity in the Main: Oully, washing away the -bye'-} washes, and filling the races of the two Dead Levels with tailings and debris, inflicting heavy damage upon the works •of-both companies., rAfc present it. is impossible to give an estimate of the extent of damage done.; It, is anticipated, however, that it fully six 'weeks; toDputr the "first Dead Level race in the same state of repair as previously; to the flood; while doubts ■ure entertained if it would be worth the requisite labor and expense to.attempt to reinstate the second Dead Level race i_at s all,:: even though the*■" estimated amount of goid lying in' thfe, race ap-jj : proaches, we believe,; The bridge which crosses: these^races at the foot of the hill, is completely carriedaway, and Avill require a considerable sunvto re-erect. The,neighboring rivers, the the Taieri, and the Ewebum, havebißjin, andiupito the present time (Tuesday) remain "We fear that the floods up and down the eouhtfy have been equally severe, as the down: coach from Clyde did not put in an appearance yesterday (MonCreek — : whither alight coach "was dejspatchedto;,bring forward the mail and any passengers; should it be found impossible to-get-the big coach across the gap which had--been 'occasioned by the carrying avvay the, culvert near Woodney 's. Among the several injuries .sustained we may; mention-that to Messrs. Coppers- tunnel, vto'.repair.; : -which';: will costprobably^£3oo. - quar-

Ctaims to a grater or" lesser extent. In fact we are, : wb think, justified in saying that few (if-any) have escaped loss.

Considering that- this flood is the heaviest witta. which this district has hitherto 1 been visited, we have reason to. fear that when reports reach us from the low-lying country in Shag Valley, and other places, much'damao-e to the crops will be reported. In addition to other losses sustained, we may mention that the. sheep washing apparatus of Messrs. Sanders of the Kyeburn Station, with-the exception of the iron boilers, has been completely washed away, and '■ that many. sheep have been lost by drowning. " '. ' FURTHER P^KTICtrLAUS. Wedhesd at - Mo RsriKG.—The rain, which on Monday shewed some sign of abating, fell frequently during the night; and during the'."major-part "of yesterday again descended 'in torrents. Though" we have no further particular to report, those which had already occurred have necessarily become more heavy from the utter impossibility of attempting to effect auy repair of" the damages down. Communication up and down still interrupted. No sign of the coach.

TkuESi)AY."--Testerclav 3 tLe weaker, "though still having a lowering appearance, was fine, and warm-—a few mild showers falliug during the day. Towards evening it became evident that the: clouds had exhausted their watery; contents, and that the apprehension of further dosses and injuries from flood was at an end. To-day. the weather is warm an d genial, though .-• the clouds still continue to hang- heavily on the high ground. IVom a person who- alrrived irom ; punedm we> fr ear that the coach arrived atthe usual hour on Monday at Hunter's Hotel, Shag Vallev, but was unable to cross the river, and that as there appeared little probability of the river falling sufficiently to allow, the coach to cross with'safety for some days', the driver, Mr. Deviue, contemplated returning to . Palmerston, and. thence proceed to fetch the mail, wiiicli.should leave there this day (Friday). " 'Our informant sfeates that he.had to swim the Shag river .011 horseback, and that the Kyeburn, which had been extremely high,"was forded by him not"without 'some■': difficulty. So deep, indeed, was the water on the' flat round Mr. Malloch's. hotel,- and: so strong the. current; that it is reported Jo have been dangero us to pass from • the -house to the smithy adjoining. The Taindpes not appear, to haye been so heavy-in tha lew country, i and no ac--count of damage or loss of any kind has yet; reached us. ; The crops are described; as being safe, and looking welL Of the up-country coach we have°heard nothing further than th at it was unable to cross the Lauder, near Clyde, on Monday last. T The Taieri is still high, and reported to be uiifordable. Every effort is being made to repair damages, and we have been informed that °the second Dead Level are determined to make an effort to put their race again in order, and recover, if possible, °the gold which now lies buried therein. We are sorry to state that the damage done to : the works of Messrs. Cooper ara even greater than we at first anticipated..: