GREAT FLOOD AT BALLARAT.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 217, 18 November 1859, Page 3

GREAT FLOOD AT BALLARAT.

' On Saturday night/ says the Ballarat Star, 1 we were again visited with a thunderstorm of greater magnitude and of longer duration than that of the two preceding evenings. The thunder waß loud and long continued. The rain came down in torrents, and the bed of every creek soon became a foaming torrent. The roads and streets in the lower parts were literally torn to pieces, and at half-past ten o'clock it was apparent that the Main-road would be deluged. Tbe rush ol water at Rodier's Creek was very strong, and the little gully was quite unable to withstand the shock, for boards and sticks, sand and sludge, and debris of every description, choked up its mouth. Onward came the waters, tearing up the planks on the footway, and in a few minutes the groundfloor of the Star Hotel (where there were several persons playing bagatelle and attending a concert,) was several feet under water. The inhabitants of the Main-road closed their stores against the invader, and in many instances bolsters and bed-ticks were used to keep out the foe. Tha people attending the Charlie Napier Theatre, on coming into the street at the termination of the performance, found (those who wished to reach the township) that their retreat had been cut off, and many of thera with philosophic determination, waded knee-deep through the water. By twelve o'clock the street, from the Hermit's Cave to Tuxon a*d Co.'s store, was completely under water to the extant of three feet, and near the Duchess of Kent Hotel it was more. The footwalks on either side of the road were also impassible, and a knowing 'jarvie,' wishing to make a' penny' by tbe event, carried hundreds of persons backwards and forwards ail night for the modest charge of 6d. each. From twelve to two o'clook in the morning the water hsd reached its highest point. The Mainroad [ people were busily baling out water, removing their property, and adopting such means as the exigencies of the case required, and many of them remained up all night. On Sunday morning, at an early, hour, large numbers of persons were busy at work clearing the sludge out of their premises and from off the footway before their doors. In the Duchess of Kent Hotel there was an alluvial deposit about six inches' in depth, and in fact it was the same in every place where the water found access to. The Main Road itself was covered over with a coating of from six inches to a foot of sludge, and the water channels and gratings were completely choked. The old houses opposite to the Duchess of Kent Hotel were half covered with water, and presented the appearance of a dismasted ship at sea. It has been said that " Nero fiddled whilst Rome was burning," and day after day we Ijear something about the sludge channel or deputations, or communications to the Government on the subject, and the public has been assured that the thing would be done at once, and that in a few months at least the water channel would be cut, but how, unless the new Government doessomeJhing. Wfe find that only a few preliminary steps have beep taken in the matter, as if to lull the voice of the pi^blic on the subject. It is true that a fpw months ago the road Engineer bad the bridge of Rodier*s Creek raised a little but the planks on the footway were allowed to retain their old level, and the work at best was but a makeshift. The people on the. main declare tbat now, when the water ftyws oyer the culvert, it cannot find an outlet, and consequently it most remain as an ornament on the principal thoroughfare of Ballaarat. We have no doubt now that the floods are over and the fine weather setting in, but that the Government will get the work done at once, especially as the summer months are upon us, when floods are of rather rare occurrence. We have not heard the value of the amount of property destroyed, but it must have been very great.

1832, was got by Patron out of Maid of Kent by Soothsayer—-Patron by Partisan. .Wilhelmina, Flying Buck's dam, was bred by Mr. H. N.; Simson in 1843; was got by Romeo out of Moss. Rose by Emigrant out of The Driver mare. Wilhelmina is also the dam of Flying Pieman. Jeannette, Balloon, Hurricane, Flying Doe, and Madame Carandini. Romeo was bred in 1829* and was got by Partisan out of Vice by Oiseau out of Wire (sister to Whisker) by Waxy out of Penelope by Trumpeter ont of Prunella by Highflyer, <fcc. Emigrant was by Tramp out of the Biucher mare, grandam by Camillus, &c.. The Driver mare was bred by the Earl of Bgremont in 1801, and was out of The Herod mare, dam of Precipitate and Gohanna. The Driver mare was sent to the Cape Of Good Hope in 1816, and was imported from thenoe to Sydney. Flying Buck i3 a long low bay gelding, about 15 hands 1£ inches, of very peculiar shape; his head is rather large, but lean, and every expressive of determination; his aquiline, or, as usually called, Roman nose, giving him an undeniable game look, to say nothing of his very full bright eye, equal to any we ever saw. His neok is thin and muscular, set on a beautifully formed shoulder, deep, slanting, and powerful. His back is very short, his body, rather light and'long, but round and symmetrical, quarters well furnished, but not elegant; a slight droop at the tail, whioh is thin, destroys the line of beauty. L*gs flat, short-jointed, and as hard as nails ; girths in the middle of his belly, gitihg him a peacocky look when mounted. Stride easy and long. Little Yeend, who rode Flying Buck, is the sou of Mr. Henry Yeend, an old and esteemed sportsman of many years standing, and it was in consequence of the friendship which exists between him and Mr. Yuille that he allowed his son to ride the colt. The lad was born in Hobart Town, and was thirteen years of age on Monday last. . He has frequently shown great ability in the pigskin, aud has won many victories for his father; and his jockeyship on Daniel, for Mr. W. P. Simons, at the last Geelong races, must be in the recollection of all our turfites. Tbe result of the race shows that Victorian racing stock is not to be surpassed in any of the colonies, and it may be as well just to remark that of the first six horses, four were bred in the colony, viz:—Flying Buck, Nutwith, Praxitiles, and Alice Hawthorn. This triumph of the Williamstown horse was known there a few minutes after the race was won, and in the evening the bells rang, and tlie good people of the fishing village regaled themselves with the best that its inns oould supply at the expense of the owner of the champion. The great winners were Mr. Yuille, who had to receive, besides the stake, about £7000; Mr. H. N. Simson about £6000; Mr. Disher about £3000, and the people of Williamstown about £6000. The ring are all winners over the race, and the chief losers were the visitors (especially from Sydney and New Zealand) and the general public— -Bell's Life in Victoria.