Southern Floods.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 215, 1 April 1913, Page 5

Southern Floods.

ESCITIXG EXPERIEXCES AT GORI MAXY G-ALLAXT RESCUES. CHEAT DAMAGE IXFLICTED. 8 SCARCITY OF BREAD. By 'Telegraph—Press Association. Gore, Last Night. I The streets are again nearly clear ol I water, but many low-lying sections an still inundated. The condition of th< interiors of houses and business estab lishmerrts is indescribable. 'Every de- ; scriptmn of goods—counters, shop cases and broken glass mirrors—are mixed up ill a ruined condition. This morning there is "bright sunshine, and the street fronts are lined with goods to dry, but a large amount is only fit for the rubbish heap. The majority of the shopkeepers i worked all day yesterday, endeavoring to effect some sort of order in their houses. Furniture is littered everywhere, covered with a thick <l<;pos'it of silt. People are working strenuously to clean and dry their dwellings, but the majority will be unable to sleep in their houses for some days. Tn most cases the mattresses are soaked and worthless. Many families are almost destitute. There is a grc ( at scarcity of bread, as only two bakers as yet arc able to bake; but the others hope to resume to-mor-row. The schools will remain closed this week, in lieu of the mid-winter holidays. t Xumerous narrow escapes are recorded, but no loss of life occurred. A man named Cox, a local butcher, was. with others, engaged in rescue work when the cart capsized, pinning Cox against a hedge, where he was kept for over two hours in the water. Fortunately, he was able to keep his head above the water, and was finally relieved by means of ropes almost in a state of collapse. Cox is suffering from pleurisy. Another man, Adam Hoffman, n well-known loeal footballer, rescued scores of people in East Core by means of a large raft, holding a dozen people, towed with a boat. Numbers suffered severely from! exposure, being scantily clad on the roof-tops throughout, the day. The local Chinese gardeners had a, very trying' experience. They had to seek refuge on the house-top at four 'o'clock in the morning. The house finally floated away, but (lie Chinamen were able to reach the roof of a leanto, wliiiSi was almost .submerged. They could not be rescued.till late on .Saturday afternoon, v.'liev. a boat was successful ill reaching them. The railway surfacemen had a most strenuous time. Gangs have been working almost continuously for the last 24 hours, with the'result that connection was established on the main line. A gang worked all night repairing tlm wash-out in East Gore. The work was completed at 7.15 this morning, and the express passed through twenty minutes late. The breaches on the Waikaka and Kingston lines are expected to be completed to-day. wesept about a quarter of a mile on the latter, where passengers have (o walk.

The Switzers line is reported Id Ijo in a bad state. Washouts arc numerous, ami ill some places ten font, of the embankments have bien washed awav and rails and sleepers shifted bodily for a considerable distance. Several washouts fully a quarter of a mile long and a dozen smaller ones are also reported. j The Borne Creek bridge was washed ' away, nnd it is expected to lie a fortnight, before there is a full train service on the line again. The washouts between Tliversdale and Ma burnt bridge are very serious. ■ Practically the whole ballasting "it the Waipounomn Flat has been washed away, and the rails in some instances have been removed to •> distance. Horse traffic between "Riversdale and Waikaia was effected yesterday. Tt is not expected that electric 1 i"ht and power will be available for Gore til! Wednesday, owing to the generators and dynamo being submerged. I At Matnura the town water is temporarily cut oft'. Onlv the Catholic and Presbyterian Church services were held locally yesterday, with small attendances. At Wyndham, the Miniihau banked up and flooded Wyiidliain. though not so badly as at Core. In the Main street there, business places suffered severely, and individual losses are great. Tlie Wyndham railway line between the town and the traffic bridge was seriously damage;). Stock and crops there were almost totally lost. Practically the whole island was under water. There were washouts at Mataura and

15rydone road. ' The Wendon correspondent (if tlu 1 Elision writes: —At (lie eonflnenee of the Waikaia anil MaLuira rivers (here is an immense lioilv of water. some (wo \ miles wide. Fences have been lorn down and the approaches washed awav from (lie bridges. hi (lie meantime the district is isolated from vehicular traffic. Many fanners fortunately got. all their stuff in: but there are miles of fencing to rebuild. Creat losses have heen suffered in the shape of we I stacks and damaged "rain. FLOODS I.V CAXTEKKUKY. DETATXKD TEH KITORTALS RELEASED. Cliristeliurch, Last Xiprlit. Three hundred West Coast Territorials, who stalled from Yaldlmrst camp for home 011 Friday, and who were detained. ow in? to the floods havin;; in- J ; terrnpted (lie railway communication for part of the distance between Cass and Beaiey. resumed their journey tor day. A special train left Springfield. 1 with Empire cars, cattle trucks and liajrgage wag arm, for thern (o continue I their interrupted homeward journey. ] fliev will lie taken by train as far as

lafe travelling will allow over the un jpened portion of the railway beyuiu A SCENE OF DEVASTATION. APPEAL FOR RELIEF. SETTLERS NEN'I) IX FOOD. (lore, Last Night. Later.—The Hoods have gone dowr eonsidera My, although the river is stil high. The estimate of damage conveye< in last evening's message appears to be not much exaggerated, and residents d<: not yet fully realise the extent of tlu ; ruin. A Dunedin business man who was stranded in Gore during the flood states that the disaster in the Gore district is the biggest that ever took place in New Zealand. He thinks the damage at Gore is under-estimated at £IOO,OOO. The same gentleman visited the Mataura Paper Mills, and states that the damage is deplorable, There is almost complete, devastation. The damage at Mataura is estimated at .€20,000. No!, a single settler escaped scatheless throughout the length of the Mataura river. Some individual farmers' losses are authentically reported at £IOOO.

The Mayor of (lore (Mr, Poppclwell) lifts issued the following letter to the citizens: "The terrible calamity that, has fallen on" the town, bringing much distress to many of the poorer citizens, will surely call forth the sympathy of every resident of the town. Those who happily do not feel the dire effect of the distress will have to make sacrifices 011 behalf of those who are practically homeless. A Citizens' Committee Ins been appointed to enquire into and provide for all pressing cases, and I confidently appeal to the citizens to subscribe freely towards the relief of those who may be in want through the flood." A wire has heen received by Mr. Anderson, M.P., from the Prime Minister, expressing his sympathy. Clangs are working on the railways, and through connection has been established on the Kingston line, between Nokomai, Pareawa and Carston, except for a quarter of a mile between Nokomai and Pareawa, where the passengers walked. The Rwitzers line is in a deplorable state. There are numerous washouts, the rails and sleepers being removed bodily. The Dome Creek bridge is reported to have been washed away. It will be fully two weeks before the service 1 is again established on the SwitzersEiversdale line. There is a scarcity of bread in Gore, i only two bakers to-day being able to bake; lmt the others hope-.to resume tomorrow. The water supply has been , cut off. but it is hoped it will be restored by the end of the week. This aspect of the matter is serious, as it interferes with the sanitary service. It' is not known when the electric light service in the town will he resumed. It is believed the sewers are not seriously affected. As to provisions, many neighboring settlers have sent sheep and other articles of food into the town. The Gore milkmen have been specially; conspicuous in thjs respect. j The Ensign published a four-page paper late to-day. after a great struggle, with the assistance of a traction engine and a 30-foot belt on to the shafting, all the motors having been ruined bv water. The proprietary received a cable from a Sydney firm to-day j promising the first offer of assistance. Numerous wires have been received expiessing sympathy and offering help, but the residents are quite hopeful that, the | town and district will recover before long. Over a thousand messages were handed in to the local telegraph oTice to-day, and the staff have done great service, anil deserve the greatest credit for their tine work, considering the great difficulties under which they worked and the fact that there is no I adequate light. Tnvercargill. Last Night. The floods are everywhere receding, but the damage lias been very extensive in t.he country districts. The weather is now fine.

AT THE HERMITAGE. cranrrxTfATiox restored. Timavii, Last Night. Communication lias been gov. through to and from the Hermitage by packhorse. Tiie r oil (Is are being repaired, anil it is expected that cars will get through to-morrow. Some tourists got down to Fairlie to-niglit. OX THE PvAXfiITATA. TRAVELLERS' EXPERIENCES. THOUSANDS OF RABBITS DROWNED. .—,

Ashlmrton, Last Xight. At, 1 p.m. to-day tin' Han.yiinUi river uid fallen lon feet, and it. is now almost lown to its normal level. A strong <tafl' (if raiiwnymen worked continuously from ti a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, ind got through an almost incredible, imoiuit of railway and bridge repairs. I'he work was actively continued all lay, and l>v noon tlie loop had almost been completed. The working of the ilonkoy engine and crane and pile-driving was commenced this evening. There is a lot to do, Init the chances are that on Thursday morning the repairs will have been so far advanced as to allow all trains to pass slowly and safely over the bridge. All the trains have hee.n much delaved again to-day, and will be again to-morrow. The first express from I Duncdin, which is due at> Ashburton at 3.1.1 p.m., was just two hours late, and the second express from the south was one hour late. The southward-bound nains have all left Asliburton in good time, but they must reach Timaru correspondingly late. The Guardian, in speaking of passengers' experiences on Saturday, when the flood was at its height, says:—"Tt was a remarkable procession that, marched across the t'oot and sheep I hridse attached to the railway strnr- ' t.nro. As passengers were transferred | frcm one train to another, they went in ' siiitie file mostly, and first-class or see-oii'-clasf, laborer or capitalist, iu ;in

woman or child, llu;rft was no distine- * tion, for caeli and all were reduced to * tlie same level by a common experience. At the same time it was a moßt unpleasant experience, for the timber* of the bridge quivered with the rush of raging waters below, which boiled and surged around the piles of the bridge with a deafening: roar. One had a feeling of insecurity during the whole time he was on the bridge; and though, with the exception of one spot, the piles N' stood firmly, the body of water was 80 tremendous aiul the force so great that if the whole bridge had been swept away it would not have caused those who had no practical nor theoretical knowledge of bridge-building any surprise." One effect of the flood in the river was the destruction of thousands of rabbits. The whole of the riverbed WW infested by these pests, which will take a long time to regain what they hav« lost in numbers. The traflic bridge, seven miles above the railway bridge, seems to hav« : escaped, and - the Ashburton County Council is satisfied that it is quite safe for all classes of traffic, with the possible exception of heavy fraction engines, which should proceed vert slowlj ivhcn crossing it. Later.—Word has just been received hat the Railway Department is tem>orarily stopping the midday mixed foods and passenger trains from Christhureh to Timaru and from Timaru to Jhristchnrch. An announcement is also uade that, until repairs are completed, mssengers and light luggage only will ic accepted for conveyance beyond Jaling (which is 20 miles from Ashburon and right on the north bank of the tangitftta, within 300 yards of tho iridge) southward, or beyond Rangitata lorthward. All heavy goods traffic was.. ' if course, stopped without notice on Saturday morning. Timaru, Last Night. It is not known for certain, but it is loped that the Rangitata tiridge will be epuirnl and fit for use by Wednesday light. The expresses from the north vere V/> and 2'/ s hours late to-day. "lie second train was a long one, and! is trolleys cannot be used owing to lile-driving gear being in the way, all' uggage and mails had to be carrie® .long the sheep bridge. This is a quite :asy and safe bridge for passengers, and! he only real inconvenience for them is lie delay. . ~t ... ON THE WEST COAST. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. TRYING EXPERIENCES. Hokitika, Last Night. To-dav a correspondent of tl\e Wosij 3oast Times gives a very doleful "account ? >f the llood damage in South Westland. '■ 'n describing the havoc played by the! kVanganiii River, which is about 50 mile®? south of Hokitika, the writer says that ' i flue paddock, the property of Mr. P. . lende, adjacent to the bridge, is now v nothing but. a river bed, a portion * ;he stream having gone right through :t. Settlers found it necessary to use j i boat to get the sheep off parts of the | ground. < arcases of dead sheep are to ] be seen floating about the paddocks, ; ' while others art suspended on wire fences. A farm recently purchased by Mr. P. < Hansen, a resident of this district, has | ulso been badly damaged, and many of } his cattle and sheep have been drown- '■ ed. There were two feet of water flowing through the Inter-Wanganui Dairy Factory and the road leading thereto -i has been so badly cut away that supplies cannot at present reacli the factory. I i Most of the live satttev , the, correspondent, were to be seen on the j.' high ground availtvHe. It was reported that u -partv of men. to the number of 18 or 20. who were j' engaged in road making were missinc. j hut, thev have since arrived safely at llarihari, a few miles distant from the * river. ; A (laxmill at Wataroa. much furthw' 1 south, is reported to he badlv damaged, and about thirty tons of llax was washed away. The culverts alontr (!i» Main South Road hnve also been cut into, and it is stated that if works are not constructed to protect the land e. large tract of conntrv will be ruined. Until the flood subsides it will not be known what stock Ims been lost, but the number |s known to be very considerable. ■ As evidence of the severity of the flood 1 the correspondent concludes bv stating' that settlers could not get; to their paddocks and cowsheds, and were upable to' milk their cows for twenty-four hours. The floods were equally severe in tha TCokatalii' and Koiteransri district*, a portion of the road between Hokitika to' these places being covered with water to a ilep'.h of from four to six feet. Bridges and culverts hnve been badly damaged. It transpires that two spans of the Ternn/ikau bridge, which is south of Greymonth, have been washed away. Thev were each SO feet in length. A portion of th» bridge, almost intact, lies on the river bed. and some of it is piled upon the sea beach. The Mayor of Knmara (Mr. J, A. - Murdoch) communicated with the Grev Harbor Hoard authorities, who, in response to his request, sent up their rocket apparatus. T!v this means n wire was thrown across the river, and passengers, including suppliers to the creamery, are in the meantime being carried across in a cage. Telephonic communication is cut. off between Oknrito (.SO miles south of Hokitika) and Okura, 120 miles further down. It is expected that the damage in these parts is of a serious nature. Although reports have been current that lives of settlers have been lost at Inter Wangruiui. enquiries >o far go to * show that the rumors are incorrect.