OHINEMURI NEWS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2333, 23 June 1887, Page 2

OHINEMURI NEWS.

[FROM OUR OWN CORBKBPONDENT.I

Paeuoa, Monday. Thkre occurred hare yesterday one of the biggest floods ever known in the districtcertainly for the last ten years. On Saturday afternoon there was a considerable downpour of rain, but yet not enough to give auy uneasiness as to the river. The water, however, commenced to pour down silently from the ranges about 11 p.m. The majority of the settlers knew nothing about the ffood until they awakened to find their boots, etc., afloat on the floor. The river rose 30 feet in about three hours, carrying all before it. At Paeroa the "new" wharf, erected by the Thames County Council, some three years ago, wne lifted five feet, and the piles drawn. The steamer companies stores were from 10 to 12 feet under water ; Messrs Thornton. Smith and Firth's " Kotoku " store containing a case of about 30 or 40 valuable books, " The Heroes of New Zealand," salt sugar, flour, etc, all being destroyed. Mr W. Snodgrass, storekeeper, who has a warehouse on the river bank, beside his residence, was rudely awakened by the rush of the liver into his sleeping apartment. He is also a heavy loser. Kauri logs, sawn timber, etc., came piling against Sheehan's bridge, Paeroa, which had an extremely narrow ecape. It is reported that the Waitekaiiri bridge on the ThamesTauranga main road was swept away, but this has yet to be confirmed. It is however likely that such is the case. At the junction several hundred acres of orchards, grass and cropped paddocks were under water, a number of cattle, pigs, turkeys and fowls &c, being drowned. A dray belonging to Mr Griffiths was also taken away by the torrent. Rumour has it, that a large quantity of sawn kauri belonging to the Thatr;esTe Aroha railway contractor at Hikutaia has been floated away. Fears are entertained for the various dams in connection with the batteries and quartz mills at Karangahake. The full extent of the damage will not be ascertained for two or three days yet. Messrs Phillips and bon, storekeepers, here announce that they are prepared to adventnre upon shipments of ore for Home. Although, probably, miners will not avail themselves of this new departure during the winter months, owing to the lack of cheap means of transit, and the state of the mine tracks ; yet there is no doubt that when the fine weather seta in, and this altered, that tributers and small mine-holders will prefer sending their ore away, receiving sufficient meanwhile to defray cost of living etc., and getting from 80 to 00 per cent of its gross value, to the present happy-go-lucky method of battery treatment which returns some 20 per cent at the outside. Professor Black, in the course of a letter to your correspondent last week, observes thatjthere is in Ohinomuri"a practically inexhaustible amount of mineral wealth awaiting a suitable process, or rather suitable processes ; for the variety of ore is such that it would be absurdito suppose that any one process would suit the whole of them." This te the trouble, that to get a different plant for every different class of ore would mean an enormous outlay, while the export of ore at cheap rates of transit to centres, such as Fribourg in Saxony or Swansea, Sheffield &c, where plants exist for the reduction of all sorts and conditions of ore will, as has been recently demonstrated, be far more satisfactory from a pecuniary point

of view. . The Public Library Committee are Innlαin£f ii capacious hall for the purposes for which they exist. Jubilee day is to be celebrated by a concert and dance in aid of school Library funds. '