THE LATE FLOODS.

BAIL WAY COMMUNICATION. > CLEARING UP. FAMILIES RETURNING TO THEIR HOMES. - » It is now almost certain that train communication with Napier will not be restored until the end of July. With tine weather to-day the chances of the sufferers by fcflWfopd getting things to rights in their homes is improving. The water is now almost clear. In some houses there is a deposit of mud quite six inches deep. Nothing has been heard of the bodies of the unfortunate crews of the rescue boats. It is surmised that they have either been swept to sea or buried in the shingle. The Clive sufferer? -ire returning to their homes to-day. One family have transferred their furniture to the high grounds at Hastings. Some difficulty was experienced in crossing the ferry at the wash-out this morning, the passengers, more especially the ladies, having to be carried through the water some distance on to the boat. The Minister for Public Works and the Mayor of Hastiugs were amongst those to whom assistance was rendered. A ferry system has been started over the Omahu river pending the erection, of a bridge. Mr W. Moreland is in charge. At Papakura Nelson Bros' men were engaged since Monday in skinning and burying the sheep and cattle destroyed in the flood. They have just finished their labors, and the greatest credit is due to them for the dispatch in getting rid of the carcases, which were a menace to the health of the district. The Mayor asks those who are able to spare milk to send it to the Hastings railway station, from whence it will be forwarded to Clive. Mr A. L. D. Eraser has arranged for a supply of cans from the Dairy Factory. The committees appointed to iuspect 4 the sufferings in the district are out today. There are only a few cases of urgent need. The Traffic Manager of the Napier and Wellington sections, Mr T. E. Donne, arrived in Hastings last night, and went on to Napier this morning. A ballast train got through to Paki Paki to-day, but it is not expected that the line will be workable for a day or two yet. The first passenger train to Farndon left at 1.30 this afternoon. Another train is timed to leave at 4.45. To-morrow's time-table will be arranged to-night, and if possible a handbill will be distributed to the public of Hastings. It has not yet been decided whether the'washout at Awatoto will be bridged or filled in. Thirty-six passengers by the Wellington express came through shortly after 10 last night. A special conveyance was sent down last evening to Waitangi for live passengers for whom accommodation could not be found on the breaks. Six conveyances left this morning to meet the southern express. Wreckage of a boat has been picked up on the beach near Wairoa. The description does not correspond with the boats missing with the relief party. Another growl comes from passengers at the Waitangi ferry. The boats are too antiquated, and a narrow escape was experienced this morning, one of the 1 oats striking a pile of the old bridge. The proposed punt will be welcomed.

THE RELIEF FFNP

The Napier Mayor has received the following contributions to the Relief Fund Sargood, Hon, and Ewen, £25; T. W. Limbrick. £2 2d; J. B. Ferguson, £1; E. T. Woodcock, £1 ; T. Waterworth, £1 ; Master and Miss Glassford, 10s 6d and 2s lid respectively, contents of money boxen ; 11. Faulkner, Ids.

The Scinde Lodge of Freemasons at their meeting last night voted £.3 to the Relief Fund.

The children at the district schools who were to have recently received prizes for attendance during the first quarter ,of the year, have presented £ll .Is, which was available for their prizes, to the Relief Fttml. Relief funds bWve been started in Auckland, Wellington, llokitiki, (iisborne, WestiJort," 1 >un»l:in, Feilding, Thames, and New Fly mouth. Carl Hertz at Ihmedin has promised to give at! entertainment on behalf of the funds.

INQI'FST ON Till. BODY OF ■JAMES €UNNINGHAM. An inijut-: «'ii tlu- body of Jaruoa I'uwunsih.un, wlm »is <lrowin.il in the rnvii: ilou-l, v.-j- commenced at Stort, f..nl LoW.. *l.,t-l v. afteruoonMr J. Arriott, the Aeting-Coro-n. r, iin 1 a jury of six, of whom Mr J. \Yv:itt wa- cho-t-n f-reman. The fc'.iowuj}.: «\nlen«; was s*iven : John Laii»-. manager of Chcsterhope Station. deposed that he knew tbedeJaruc- Cunningham, who was an t of Mi -'M N.Uon Bros. On Friday afturnoon la-t the dirceased and o:h* r-j w*-r* m n! out to bring in i i from ih» |«wWock« od the ! .in 1 n mrnt.l again to tl» ! h =!•'! aU-'.s » ut the afternoon. Th» uit-ii s -rtr:! r* ar«- -«-|-ira:«'d from ; t!i«- n > r»-< k l<, vUtat is usually w ' . Iry i-fi-k. Til' iJ> o l~ ! 'I nitil his thn sj.'h, were f *n\i<<u- to s,'t t 'iry dotting. ■ A: il.ii i -tr-.un v.as ! ntni:!:i;' d* <* n th« cre.-k, t'it the it.' n ! g< t >i boat with tin* intention <>f ! cnrvsiac, and attach* d a ijuauutv of j cord to it. ami a riiu.fi iaiur.i ' William gy; ujw the boat,

while the others h°ld the rope. The •witness seeing the d.-mger, warn 1 the men, and Thomas was persnad-d to get out, but the deceased was determined to cross, and his mates held the rope of the boat. At the first attempt the boat was washed back to the bank which it had left, but the deceased persisted in the attempt, and this time was carried to where the current was much stronger. The boat was carried down the stream, and, the rope becoming entangled in some willows, prevented him either crossing or returning, the tree being in the centre of the creek. Seeing his danger, the dece*s#icalled out to the men to let the rope go, which was done, but still the boat held. Cunningham then appeared to become agitate! and called out again to the same effect. The line was attached to the bow of the boat, and deceased in trying to catch bold of the rope caused the boat to be submerged, when the deceased was precipitated into the stream. He made an exclamation as he went into the water, but they could not distinguish what it was, and immediately sank. Owing to the creek being planted with willows, the muddy nature of the water, and the swiftness of the current, it was impossible •to render any assistance. The deceased did not rise to the surface again. A search was made all the afternoon, but the- body could not be found- The body was subsequently recovered on Monday, about 100 yards from where he disappeared, amongst a quantity of logs and drift wood, which had held biin. The body was found by Michael Begley, of Hastings, a fellow workman of deceased at C'hesterhope.

The jury thought more evidence was necessary, and the inquiry was adjourned till 11 a.m. to-day to allow the necesssary witnesses to be summoned.

On resuming to-day, the evidence of Malcombe Harker was taken. His evidence mainly corroborated that given by Mr Lane, with the additional particulars :—The boat seemed to slip from underneath deceased, and he fell into the water over the bow of the boat. The boat drifted to the end of the creek. Mr Lane tried to persuade Cunningham not to go into the boat. A man named Robert Bell attempted to cross with deceased before the accident. They got into the middle of the stream when they called out to pull them back again, as the boat was leaking, and this was done. The deceased bailed the boat out, and then made a seconiLattempt, which resulted fatally. The body was found by witness (Harker) and Begley, about 100 yards from where the accident took place. The body fwas in a hole in the creek, covered with water. The body was entangled with bushes, &e He not did think deceased could swim. The creek was about 20 yards wide. There were trees in the creek all round where deceased went down, so that if he had come to the surface at all he could have caught one. "\\ hen the body was found the end of the rope was twisted round deceased's right hand, and the other end attached to the boat.

By a Juror: Deceased had no relatives in the district as far as he knew.

The jury returned a verdict that deceased was accidentally drowned while attempting to cross a creek at Chesterhope.

PRESS APPEALS. Writes the Post :—" There is no time, however, for vain regrets. It is the time lor action. The loss of life may not prove so great as is feared, though there is too much reason to believe that many bread-winners have been suddenly swept away. hat is. however, certain is that there has been great destruction of property, that even the means of living of many struggling settlers have disappeared, and on behalf of these we confidently appeal to our fellow-colonists for the prompt and liberal aid that must be forthcoming if their immediate needs are to be supplied. hat was done so nobly to aid the survivors of the "Wairarapa shipwreck and the Brunner mine disaster will be done again, but it must be done quickly to be of the highest value. The Mayor will, we doubt not, call a public meeting to devise means of relief should the need be as great as at present appears, and for our part we shall be glad to receive and acknowledge any contributions that may be entrusted to our care. For weeks past there has been discussion as to how the Province could most fitly mark its regard for the Queen by the inauguration of some worthy memorial of her long and beneficent reign. What could be more in harmony with her own character than the raising of a •• Record Reign Rein f Fund '* for the Hawke's Bay sufferers ? Could she know the sad story we have to tell to-day there can lv no question as to what would be her inclining, and to us it seems a sad jet fitting occasion in which beneficence and loyalty may well go hand in hand." "Says the New Zealand Times: " An appeal is being made by Mr G. 11. Swan, Mayor of Napier, to the people of this colony to help those who have been ruined by the flood. but more especially to enable the Relief Committee to make some provision for the widows and orphans of those who lost their lives while proceeding to the work of rescue. We are of opinion that help, should also be asked from the neighboring colonies hen the Queensland floods occurred. New Zealand. in common with other colonies, assisted most nobly, and that an appalling disaster has overtaken a large h t. i of oar pt-op.e it is but ri ht that our Australian irnghb» r* should lv afforded the opportunity of helping them. So far as the Wellington pro\inc»' i< eoneenud we have reason to know that help will be forthcoming in :b> Mi.-: manner. It :i: s<• =l. alw.i>- Ui«: so. for our jh- pli- !;a\t r:> r : .ri:«d a deaf ear t»> a:s> ery , i d.-tn -- Hit Actmc-Premier, tin- Hois MeJvenxie, his oq beb&il of the Gowru-

ment, promptly and syinpiithnk-aliy communicated with the Major; of Napier and Hastings, and the Hon. W. Hall-Junes is by this time in the devastated district with the object of dealing with the urgent cases of distress and of furthering the efforts of the settlers in accomplishing such work as may appear to them to be necessary under the most distressing circumstances. His Worship the Mayor, Mr H. D. Bell, may be depended upon to give hearty assistance in the work of organising a relief fund in this city, as indeed may the Mayors of the whole of the municipalities throughout the colony. "He gives twice who gives quickly," and it is hoped and believed that the response to the appeal by the men and women of New Zealand will be in every way worthy of them as a large-hearted and generous people. THE GALE ELSEWHERE. Referring to the finding of four bodies at the mouth of the Waihenga river, H 7 miles from Martinborough the New Zealand Times says:— " There is unfortunately little doubt but that there has been a total wreck somewhere in the vicinity, but what vessel it is can only be a matter of surmise. The large deeply - laden barque supposed to be the DundaJe or some other ship from England—-which was sighted on "Wednesday last making for Cloudy Bay has not since been reported, and it is thought that she may not have weathered the storm unless she ran through the straits. There are also several other vessels to which the recovered bodies may have belonged. The fine ship Zuleika, 1017 tons, Captain Bremuer, left Dunedin for Wellington on Monday, the 12th inst., with about 1000 tons of original cargo from New York. The well - known coastal schooner Clyde, of 87 tons, left Lyttelton for Wellington on Thursday last with a cargo of produce, and grave fears are entertained for the little vessel's safety although she is commanded by Captain Gibbons, an old and experienced master. A barquentine, hove-to, was seen off Cape Campbell by the officers ( f the Wakatu on Thursday last, and she would be out in the recent storm. It is, however, impossible to state what ship, if any, has gone down, until further details are received."