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Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 107, 8 May 1871, Page 2

\L Encroachment of the Sea at West(port. — We are indebted to the proprietor of the Westport Times for a slip containing an account of the damage done by the sea at Westport. " The rough weather that set in on Wednesday lass. resulted in large encroachments upon the beach at the rear of Gladstone-street. On Wednesday evening a considerable body of water swept over the beach, lodging on the lowlying portions of Freeman and Molesworthstreets. This was, however, but a precusor. During Wednesday night the storm iucreased, driving home a tremendous surf, and the tide of Thursday morning did a serious amount of damage. '"At the end of Freeman-street, and on each side of it extending to the slaughter-yards on the spit and northwards along the beach, a strip of ground, iv many places a hundred feet in depth, has been swept away ; the flagstaff is threatened. The signal shed had to be removed. The bonded stores of Messrs. Bailie & Humphrey, Powell & Co,, and Mr. John Corr were condemned by the Collector of Customs as dangerous, and the contents removed, part to a building formerly used by Mr. D. Leslie as a bond, and the remainder to the Government receiving shed. The residents of the streets exposed to the tide were swamped out of their houses. A number of dwellings near St John's Church were also flooded, the occupants escaping by means of drays. Dr. Thorpe's residence was surrounded by water, a boat plying between the house and terra Jirma. fc Qf the old .cemetery not a vestige remains, arid ou its site the sea has formed a channel, but without breaking through. In north Gladstone-street nearly all the houses were flooded, and high water mark may now be defined as about thirty, feet distant from the fences at the rear of the buildings in that quarter of the town. It was feared that the following tide would be attended with the most disastrous results in Gladstone-street. However, at daybreak the following morning the storm abated, with a probability of the wind shifting, and fortunately for Westport, such was the result. At night there was still a terrific swell, but it lacked the assistance of a gale to drive it home with sufficient force to inflict further damage. Large bodies of water were swept over the beach, but it was evident the crisis was past. Yesterday the weather was calm and clear, and the sea fast subsiding.