THE FLOODS IN HAWKE'S BAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIV, Issue 289, 6 December 1893, Page 4

THE FLOODS IN HAWKE'S BAY.

The disastrous floods in tho Hawko's Buy provincial district aro evidently the worst calamity in the form of an inundation which has yet visited that progressive and ;?rtile diatrict of the colony. Jt uppoars thafc eomo sixty miloa of country in th c vicinity of Napier are flooded, the flood wuterrf covorni^ the whole low-lying country between Napier and Ormomivillo, about sixty miied away from tho seaport. To biioao who tmve nob vidited liavvke's Buy, Homo description of the inundated jonnlity will bo of interest. 1 Tno urea of tiie llawke'e Buy district is o.OoU.UOQ acres, and the mosb important industry is tho depasturing of sheep, the soil i.nd climate being adapted to the rearing or this kind of b^ock to perfection. The magnitude oJ this industry may be inferred ;r.ira the fuct that tho annual export of v.oul from Hawke's Bay totals over threequarters of a million sterling. 'Cattleraisingis also oxtensivelyfollowed,and there are some splendid sheep and cattle runs on tae Ahuriri PJams and the other love lying districts now flooded. The growing crops seoin to have been ruined in many cases by ' thone disastrous floods. The flooded portion lof the province la a great plain extending ! from Napier inland tor a considerable distance. A number of riven) run through thta plain, emptying their waters into Hawke'e Bay. These river*, which have their sources in tho Kuaj bine and Kaimantiwa Ranges, inj elude the Tutaekuri, the Ngaruroro. i Tukituki, Mangaono, and other afcrearas. The Turadale district, which ia under water, is some five miles from Napier. It ia an agricultural district, chiefly occupied by email farmors, and ia flat and low-lying-. The country in this part is watered by artesian well?. Tho Puketapu district ia chiefly pastoral. JMeanee, which is now described as being a sheet of water, is a township five miles inland from Napior by the Taradale Road. It was established in 1861, and haa an area M about two square miles. The country ia l fc vel and is chiefly occupied for pastoral and agricultural purposes in small holdings. The products are wool, grain, and farm and dairy _ produce. Olive, which I* a*3o under water, is a township situated in a rich agricultural district, aeven miies from Napier, on the Southern bank of tho JSfgnruroro. Iba proximity to Napier, with the enterprise of its residenbs, has made Clive a prosperous manufacturing centre. It possesses three large boilingdown establishments, furnishing employment to a large number of hands, two cooperages, a eteum flour mill, and a tradics steamer which conveys wool and tallow down the river to the largo English ships in tho roadstead. The oublic park at Farndon, 20 acres in extent is the finest recreation ground in IJawko's Bay. Hastings, where the devastation by the floods has been very serious, ia » borough town on the Heretaunga plains, twelve miles from Napier by rail the centre of a rich agricultural and pastoral country containing about 40 square miles. The Ngaruroro River is about 4£ miles distant, and the principal streams are the iVlakirikiri aod Ta-Awa-o-te-Atua. The lar^e rneun preserving and refrigerating works established at Hastings by the Messrs Nelson Brothers Are carried on by a joint-stock company. A greab future is anticipated for this industry. The town is licrhtod wicb gaa, and an extensive drainage scheme has been carried out aba cost ot £■'5 000 Waipawa, which has also boen vQitod by the floods, ia a township on the main line of road and rail between Wellington and Napier, distant about 41 miles from Napier. It is situated on the north baa k of the Waipawa River, which,itappeora, is now in high flood. It is in the middle of a fortilo and advancing district. Ormondville is a township on tho verge of the bush, and i« distant about 20 miles from the Buahine Mountains. 16 is, however, in the more northerly portion of the district, close to Napier, that the floods are greatest. The. low-lying nature of the country offers no protection against floods of such a widespread nature. Id is a matter for deep regret that the .settlers in this district, which is now going ahead rapidly, should be subjected to such severe injury and loss of property as has bean the case. It seems impossible as yet to estimate the amounb of damage which these unexpected floods have caused.