BARGE LOCATED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 March 1940, Page 3

BARGE LOCATED

IN BED OF WANGANUI RIVER. BLOCKAGE ON RETARUKE ROAD. (By- Telep.rnph—Press Asociation.) WANGANUI. March’l. Though it was thought to have been swopt-out to sea andshipping had been warned of possible danger, the Wanganui Gravel Company's run-away barge which broke adrift from its moorings above' Dublin Street bridge at the height of lhe flood on Sunday has been found- in the bed. of the Wanganui River. The barge, which crashed' through the New Zealand Refrigerating Company's’wharf lias been located in seven feet of-water about 30 yards below the Imlay wharf. The gravel company does not expect to have any difficulty in raising it. It will be a long time before tourists will be able to come down the Wanganui River from National Park because the road from Raurimu to Retarukc is blocked at several places. Tourists used to spend the night at the Chateau and travel by service car next day to Retarukc. where they joined the river vessel for the trip down to Pipiriki. The only means of visiting Pipiriki now is by river from Wanganui. The flood washed through the river scrviccs Retarukc lodge and left a thick layer of silt in the bedrooms. The Punga tearoom, alongside, was' swept away.