SATURDAY'S DELUGE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1063, 28 February 1911, Page 6

SATURDAY'S DELUGE.

k-t;."' +> , REPAIRING THE DAMAGE. SCENES IN' THE, CITY. J OIL WAREHOUSE .SUFFERS I SEVERELY. fliVhcn yesterday diuneil Wellington hall already to rt grout c\tcnt rcco\orcd from the effects «of tlio hca\j flooding th l it it endured on Satnrdiy night and S\Jnda> morning Hero and thero tang}ble effects remained to beir witness to tho seventy of tho storm, notablj / tho hcjivj slips at Karon. Hero and nt other- points vhcro damage of a simihr 'JciUd' 'had occurred gangs' of men wero <*'ly engaged on tho work of restoring Midways to their former condition At Ifyron tho work -n ill tako sonio timo to colnplete, but many minor damages havo nlj«ady been repaired. 'Nio tramwnj ecmcos ran everywhere as usual, save on tho Kaion line, where tWb ■ box:'cars maintained tho: servico abivo tho break Among tho rtpair work to'ibo carried out. at tno I'arori Road jnttst bo reckoned tho relaying of the extension lino feeder wires.over the length foi which tho conduit now hangs in mid an at tho point where tho biggest slip ncdiiiTod It now appears that' this particular slip was caused by a rush of water KfJting into the- trench , along which tho opjiduit was laid. Accordins to one who vijited tho scene of the slin on Saturday nij.'ht, quite a rnor of water was rush- , inj[ down tho way into tho trench.' Had Ihct' road presented an-unbroken ton 6urfal* at this point,'(,probal)lyithotbig slip wquldnotha\o occurred. Tho slips lower do in tno road, one of which seriously undermined tho main,.track,;wero caused, npparentlj, b\ waters undermining- the. embankment at the bottom of the gully: ]from lnouincs mado'yesterday, it apin the .opinion of the officials fhi're- lvno obMous'-'wayi in '■ whiten•<• the flooding of tho low-lovel streets in Wellington, at times of heavy, rain, can be. provenlcd. ' When tho tldo in the harbo..ir>is high tho outlets of the , storm-' •water enherts arc backed up moro or leis, and tho speed of their outflow'/5s necessarily greatly restricted. If tho culTejts were mado manv times larger.than ati present tho disability would, still exist It is pure]v a matter-of. levels. Kot the mo-t important item of damage .caused, by the f100d,./but'oiio : 'that ha;) concern to many suburban'householder*, i» the vishinK ont .of .gardens folmcd on iteep slopes. At Island Bay nnl other places many, plots formed laboriously, on terraces and in like situations wcro comnlefely, swept .away,; and thiur owners left la'in'cntittg. ■'"''■ V SCENES IN KENT TERRACE; y ' TACHT ArLOAT AND'ROOMS IXOODED. ■ A resident of Kent' Terrace writes.— "On Saturday evening: we had plenty of ex( ltcmcnt to compensate! for a dull ovontless day. Wo had Venice in tho kitchen, Holland in tho dining-room, and a jacht, which we are building, well afbat in.tho backyard. There.was two feet of water thero: at 10 o'clock, and, as thii tide in tho harbour was apparently banking up tho storm-water channel, it was rising all thj time./ As wo did not ' wiih to seo our jicht dashing loose down Kent wo judged, it wiso to tie he- up. At 1 a m.'showas still bumping thii fence, and tugging at .her moorings, an], with a little sail on her, we certainly could ha\o sailed her out tho front gate. ■■'She would, no doubt, 'havo required a lit'Je lifting.over the'footpath, but.once , clear of ithat, she ;could' easily.,'haye nangated an uninterrunted course' dorfn. Terrace, as f»r;as Courtchoy Place, a£ ( lesst. In the house'we .were driven blowly from one room to another—first. from , thekitchen o(2ft. of yellow inflow)' to tho dining-room. Hero the flood presently availed us from three sides at on-c. Wo lifted the piano on ,to the table for safety, and then fled .upstairs. N(xt morning tho carpet showed a deposit of mud nearly half au.'inch' thick.' Other re'cidcnts of the street seem to havo fared simlarl}." ■

THAMCARS" RAISE A.' "BOW V WAVE.» ' ' BABr AFLOAT IN ITS COT. ■ 'Che.lagoon which formed outsido the 1 Caledonian Hovel oh' Saturday evening appears to have liQeil'-nti extensive one. l_ • I'rorti 8 o'clock' onward tho ' downpour * Jlpadcd Adelaide lioad, and the .water, ■ ru'aning steadily downhill, collected in one hngo shcot near the hotel.. ; The sheet lamps failed to disclose, its presence in sufficient timo to warn vehicles approaching ;it at speed, and , thoadvehturcs of tho motor-cars wcro watched with ~ , interest by. small crowds in. the vicinity. Some prudently hauled up, .but others eplashod straight thrrugh,- and were occasionally ■ cheered by the spectators. Tho more massive tramcars''ran straight onl each raising a bow .wave (Ijke a [' steamer at speed) as it went, and the f (>ci>ne, lit as ■it occasionally was by ' the t headlights of tho cars,' was an interesting aid.Tather weird one. ' '■■■. , One' resident, living' in -the vicinity of Adelaide Road, imports that,-on. coming hemo lato in the' etching ho found siitom cases of goods, .which he had bought that day, floating about. Also the baby, \ which had been left in its cot, was we'll ' ; »f!oat ■ in , cno of the rooms—a startled little mariner on a"strange sea. On tho city side-.of the Basin Reserve _ the onflowing stream, reinforced by substantial tributaries'from Ellice Street and \ el lewhcre, became eventually:, a steady, [ unbroken river. . Ono, resident in Nelson I Street found his stnblcd horse standing in J ' tbreo feet of water, and quito a number J of duellings in'this part of the city were J , fltoded out. • ( WAREHOUSE ROOF BURST IN.' ' }' ii.uiAGi}" estimated; at "jam. "}; \ - Tho Vacuum Oil Company's largo brick: \ stores on the Uutt Koad at the extreme f eiid of Thorndon Quay, suffered severely i in'; Saturday night's storm. For tho timo j ■ being tho stores, must have been turned ' icto a huge culvert through which storm ! water, metal and mud were swept at such,a J tremendous rato.-that tho front.'doors' I / nisro burst outward. ■'.'' ' ' (. Tho apparent seat of the trouble wa9 i fcund at tho top of a blind gully in the lulls at tho back of tho stores. Tho stone [ " ind.. clay taken ; from tho large cutting 1 <>ii the Wadestown tramway works had [.'.• for somotime past boon run from the i cutting by means'.of a truck line, and t tipped into tbo top of tho gully in question, which gully, runs up to iLo rear of I tlio-Vacuum Company's stores, only an 'i old road.intervening. Some hundreds of .' ttins of spoil had been deposited in the golly anil a washout apparently com- | nicnccd in tho middlo of- this. Once tho ; looso earth began to.movq.it appears to hive gone .with a run, ns indicated by ; the hnge gap in the tip and tho quantity of material, found at tho foot of'tho gnlly • »>d in the Oil Company's premises. Tho I fall'of water and metal from the gully goughed out a cut of about 12ft. by 6ft. [ ill tho road at the back of the stores and (. l«ft .a clear fall for tho devastating 1 stream'on to' the rear wall of tho stores. Iho architect.who constructed , tho prei niises apparently reckoned.on.tbo possii bility of a landslide or a happening of i the kind when ho drew his plans, as ft [ 2ft. concrete wall protects the rear of • the stores, tho wall risiug several feet from the outside ground level and a couple of feet above tho level of the roofs. This foresight saved the buildings considerably, as is testified by the heaps of rock and-earth piled up to tho. level of the vail for a. distance of a chain. When tho wall no longer offered resistance! to tho steadily risins pilo of rock and water i ,1: fell over on to tho roof nf tho f.tore suit lodged .where.-two buildings join. Tho weight 'of tho debris - became too preat nt hist, nnd n portion of the corru fated iron root collapsed, leaving a great (-aping wound, through which immenso ' (rtiantities of water, rock and mud flowed. 1 At tlje fame timo soino tons of mud and (tone remained on tho roofs.' • ■ The well-kept store of Saturday morni ing presented a, sorry sight yesterday, E thn fioorß being covered with rock and a vcllow mud of tho consistency of past*. . 'It is estimated that romo 1500 to 2000 f wiuaro feet of rock," etc., Ciae boon deI -posited on tho floor of the 6tore, to say I sothins of thq thick jclloff oow which i ' '.'■>.■ ■■ ■.

hud been carried out of ■ the front door aud had formed a lako of liquid yellow mud, several feet deep, on a couple of chains' of tho-Hutt-K6ad. '-In tho corner of tho storo immediately under the holo in the. roof tho storo is piled to a dop'.li of 12 feet, shelving gradually to a ijot' in tho'middle of tho store. ■ Tho rest of thcjqor is covered with a thick slime of jcllowmud. Tho water and" mud also found its.way. into .the storo. next the one in .which I ho- actual inflow occurred. In eorao places tho water voso to a hcighi of six feet.

i Fortunntcly for tho company tho storo which suffered most had just been cleared at tho hill end iu order to receive a shipment 0f.00,000 cases of oil, due on Wednesday, but a stock of between 60,000 and 70,000 cases willhnvc to bo removed in order. to pet: at tho cases reiched by tho water—in: Eoino instances three tiers high. A lay. estimate of the damage, is given at JCISOO to i'iOOO. CarV ters'. and labourers- wore, busily engaged joiterday romoviug- tho- stock, aud tho mullock at.tli'k entrance, preparatory, to commencing clearing , .ouMho; deposit of the storm. "' " ' '"■ .'.'

SLIPS ON THE RAILWAY. . A ' slip • reported on tho • WellihgtonWajrarapa railway . line, as a ; re s " ll ' of Saturday's deluge, was at tho / Lartlo Bend," between Kaitoko and the Summit. Tho ■ fall of earth—a somewhat substantial slip—was discovered by a down goods train at midnight on Suturdny, and the guard had an unenvinblo" iuiilit s experience in tho van. A gang of men worked on Sunday and cleared the lino for Monday's traffic. There wero n number of minor, slips on tho coach road betwevn Kaiwarra and Ngahaurauga, but not sufficiently largo to impedo traffic. . On Saturday nijht the tram which left Wellington at 3.36 p.m. for MastertonVucountered a small slip 6n" the Rimutaka, incline at tho spot popularly known as "Siberia." Tho train was held up lor about half an hour,while the'sup.was beirig.'cleared/avv'ay..', ; . » : **overdue'boaVs come in. ;■ :',, the ordeal outside. ' At an early hour yesterday morning the overdue vessels expected at Wellington began to creep in through.Jhp heads, arid : "make'their way'.'up to' 'tfio berths allotted to them. i . Tho first.to. arrive was th.e Patca Shipping Company's steamer Kapiti, and then •came-the, Pukakir WaVerley, "H«'a.antl last, .but by.no means least, the littlo iPatea trader" Aorere, and The m : astors"'bf "the differciifvcssels report experiencing particularly rough weather, especially the , small coastal vessels which had to, come through Cook Strait; - !:; •••/■'■• ; '■■ ' ' . Captain Tisk, of the Aorere, seems to havehad~about the worst of it. In conversation with a reporter yesterday uftcrnoou, he said that it was the roughest experience-which , 'ho has over hod. His littlo "vessel left Patea for Wellington »t ••" a.m.' on Saturday* and, as soon as • she' cleared' th'o bav she "niet an east-jsouth-cast wind,with-a heavy south-east swell. Captain Fisk decided to stand in towards ! ]?oxtori, where the weather was not so boisterous, but, shortly afterward, "the wind changed <:■ suddenly, - and came awav from tho north. This being, a fair wind, tho captain : resolved '■ to stand on his courso for Wellington, and/ for four hours, managed to do so, ivhen, suddenly, and without any .warning the weather chopped round to tho south, and rose to the force of a gale, with high confused sea. ■ - "It was as black as the darkest night, and raining in torrents," continued tho captain. '.'Wβ had not sighted loud practically all day, and, not being quito sure of my position, I hovo-her to, and remained so.from'■ll' , p.nu on Saturday until daylight on Sunday mprniiiij. At that ho'nr.l found that'we'werol jnst a m(le to the south of Kapiti Island. So wo ran before the jralo to shelter." The Aorere left'the anchorage early yesterday morniiigj and arrived in port at 1.50 p.m., having experienced'a fresh south-east 'wind, and n good roll on tho run from Kapiti. Sho.returns,to Patea at noon to-day. 'V The Hnia, belonging to the WellingtonWanganui Steam Packet Company, was also compelled to seekshelter and auchot on tho run across from Motueka to Wellington. She left. Motucka at 6'p.m. on Saturday, and did not reach Wellington until 1.10 yesterday, having had a.severe buffeting. The Kapiti, from Wanganui, experienced somewhat ,the same : sort of weather as tho Aorere, and tho Pukaki, from Timaru, had a 'following sea and fair wind ah' the way up. Fortunately no serious damage was done to any of tho vessels, although > considerable quantity of water was shipped by each. . Leaving' Now Plymouth at noon on Saturday, tho Union Company's Rosamond made d particularly lons passago to.Wellintston, "for.she.did not arrive hero until 3.30 o'clock'yesterday afternoon. When asked'if the vessel'had anchored anywhere qn the way down, a member of tho crew laughed, and said: "No, wo havo been plugging against it all tho way down, nnd havo had it hot and strong, tco. I think one and all are very glad that wo havo arrived here,: and I. for. one,; will havo a good sleep, to-nipht." The Rosamond leaves port for' Nelson, New Plymouth, and'Onehungaat'neon to-day. ;

BREAKING OF. THE DROUGHT. GREAT RELIEF TO AUCKLAND :',.;.; .: ;.;\ farmers.>:'..';; '' (By ' Telccranh.-Special Correspondant.l '. ■'■;< '•'■,!■'/" Auckland,■: February ,27. The sudden breaking of tho drought has proved a great relief to tho farmers. For many weeks'past the continued dry weather has been a source of increasing anxiety and has resulted in tho parching up of green.feed almost all over tfio North Island., ' The'falliwr off in tho produco. of dairy herds i has been very, serious and sheep-farmers have been hard put to it to find means for transferring.tnoir flocks to lands, moro.favourable. Although a little rain fell at tho beginning of last week tho amount of it. was. too slight to do much good, and it .was.followed by very hot weather, nevertheless it was a happy indication of benefits to .come, and if tno rain of the. past.few days has been ove.r, 'generously'.poured, down-'un'on some parts, it must have'conferred almost incalculable good upon'a countryside starving for a httlo moisture. The yield from tho dairies in tho Waikato has been steadily falling off, and is reported to havo dropped in some dairies almost to tho vanishing point. Tho rains will give tho dairies/a fine recovery; a rest and'af tor-such a .wetting, tlio farms should show a .splendid, autumn growth.

DOWNPOUR IN NELSON. (By Telegraph—Presa Awoolattoju ■■•■ ,-... Nelson,' February 27. The'drbught broko up .with' steady rain on Friday and Saturday, followed by a tierce north-east gale on Saturday and tropical , showers..' 'Damage.was done to trees and telegraph poles. Ono or two sheds were blown dowiu