INUNDATION AT KAIAPOI. (From the Lyttelton Times of Wednesday.)

Evening Post, Issue 278, 29 December 1865, Page 2

INUNDATION AT KAIAPOI. (From the Lyttelton Times of Wednesday.)

For a second time, within the short '. apace of two months, it ia our painful task to have to record the disastrous effects of a fresh in the Waimakariri. ' On Saturday morning the joyous coun- '. tenancea of the inhabitants were made to : assume a most anxious and feverish look by the appearance in the public papers of a telegram from the Bealey, announcing '• the rapid rise of the Waimakariri. The ' river in Kaiapoi was keenly watched, when it soon became peceptible to the most care- ! less observer, that the stream was rapidly J rising; and, in fact, so quickly did the stream augment in volume, that not .vith- '■ standing the tide was running out from ' nine a.m., yet the river rose above two ■ feet between the hours of twelve noon and i two p.m. At three o'clock the river was i in many places level with the top of its < banks, and shortly after, it began to over- * flow at the end of Fuller street West. ■ Anxious fears were expressed during the morning as to the stability of the embank- < ment, when about half past three in the afternoon the news arrived in town that < the bank had given way, and that the > water was pouring in upon Sneyds Town. ' On visiting the island this was found to be too true, as the whole of Peraki street, Ohoka road, Fuller street, and Sneyds Town, were more or less under water. The current had swept everything before it ; post and rail fences, mud banks, hay stacks, and gorse hedges had all dis-

1 appeared. The depth of the water could not be less than five feet ; it was fortunate that some notice had been given, and that the catastrophe was, to a certain extent expected, as through these means the mii habitants had made some preparations fur I it by removing their goods, cattle, and poultry to a place of safety. Had this not been the case, the damage done, and loss of property, would have been more considerable! On returning to town, the stream was found to be coining down the river with increased velocity, and some anxiety was felt for White's old bridge, which was known to be in a very shaky furthermore that if it gave way it would probably seriously damage the r^iew bridge. Precautionary measures were : promptly taken, by removing the unsafe 1 part, which was done without accident. At , five o'clock the tide was coining in again, and the river continued to rise, as also the j water in the streets. The centres of some ' of the roads were however dry all the evening, until about twelve o'clock, when the whole of them on the south side of the river, except the .North road, were impassable. As a proof of the rapidity with which the water rose at this time, we may mention that, in the course of two hours on Saturday night, it rose full 20 inches in the honses in Peraki street. Shortly after twelve o'clock on Saturday night, the water began to subside, and con- ! tinned doing so all Sunday, wheu the crown of the roads were again passable. Beyond this, however, it did not subside* as the footpaths, houses, and gardens were knee-deep all day. At about eleven o'clock on Sunday night the water began to rise once more, and by four o'clock on Monday morning, it had again covered the streets. It continued rising, until many of the streets were more like rivers than anything else, the current, in some places being a perfect rapid. At eight o'clock* the whole of the houses and properties lying to the west of North road, and the north of and including both sides of Ohoka road, were without an exception, from three to five feet under water ; the goods in many instances, having to be removed from the first and second shelves of the shop-windows. On the north side of the river, affairs were not quite so bad, although a great number of the houses and gardens were flooded to a depth of three or four feet. Charles street, Jones street, Beswick street, and part of Sewell street, were impassable. The worst sufferer on this side was, undoubtedly, the Rev. W. W. Willock, whose property, unfortunately, lies some feet lower than his neighbours.' As soon as day broke on Monday morning, the most strenuous endeavours were made by those unaffected by the flood to relieve their neighbours in distress. The streets presented a most busy and at the same time distressing aspect, men on foot, on horseback, and in boats, to the number of 29 or 30, being engaged in rescuing the persons and property of the inundated from danger. During Monday afternoon, Mr. Kickman's malt-house, which was built on a sod foundation, fell in j with a loud crash, the sods having become softened and undermined by the water. Mr. Nevilles' chimney in Sewell street, also tell down, being built of cob. The new bridge had also a narrow escape from being seriously damaged, by a portion of an old jetty which wag washed against it with great violence, from opposite the old Northern hotel. The bridge was very severely shaken. All the empty houses on dry ground were at once taken possession of by those who had no friends, and who could not obtain accomodation at the hotels. We can scarcely at present realise the damage done t but of this we may be certain t that it will be the cause of great distress, especially by those whose husbands are away at the shearing or at the diggings. The river is gradually subsiding. Action has been taken by the Municipal Council. A meeting was held yesterday, and it was decided to employ gangs of men to cut drains to take off the water which has lodged in the streets. As our express was leaving Kaiapoi, a rumour was prevalent that a child had been

drowned, and that the mill belonging to Mr. Coutts, had been washed away- , (From the Press.) Among others we hear that Mr. Rickman has been a sufferer by the falling in of his malt-hiuse, built of cob, or sun-dried bricks, which were dissolved at the foundations by the fresh, causing the whole to come down about noon on Monday with a heavy crash. The roof was of corrugated iron, and is there" fore probably not much the worse. Mr. Rickman computes his loss by this accident at £300. The next great loser among the merchants will be Mr. J. D. Macpherson, who unfortunately had most of his wool stacked on the ground floor of hia store in Karen street. Messrs. Birch and Co. have experienced some loss by the water getting among their wool, but not to any great extent. Messrs. Haine and Shaw, the fellmongers" will also lose a considerable quantity of their wool, which was drying on the shed floor, and in common with others was inundated to a considerable dfepth. Mr. Alfred Weston, the broker.had his premises inPeraki street completely flooded. In the bakehouse the water* was standing about three feet deep. The road to Christchurch was for some time pronounced as impassable, but towards j evening on Monday it was again open. Some j damage had been done to several culverts, and the water at the Waimakariri bridge was so high as to flow over in a stream about sis inches deep. The iron girder bridge on the Rangiora drain road was completely under water ; the approaches are fast washing away, but the stream is decreasing so much that little or no danger to the bridge is apprehended. In many of the streets the water has gone down, leaving them covered with a large amount of slime, debris, and decomposed vegetation, from which latter a most disagreeable and noxious effluvium is exhaled. The streets which are now nearly dry >»re Charles street, Jones street, and Cast street ; on the main land the water is in many of the houses; in Beswiek, Sewell, and Jollie streets, and in places where the ground is low, water is still remaining, in some instances above six feet deep. On the island, Karen street is still covered with water about an inch or ao in depth, while Peraki and the other streets visited are in as bad a plight as ever, although the water is fast diminishing. The river has resumed its ordinary size, but the cause of the water not getting freely off the I sections and streets is attributable to the dofective state of the water courses, many of which are chocked up with docks, grass, and rubbish. One or two cob chimneys have fallen, through being soaked with water, but without doing much damage. His Honor the Superintendent with the Hon. John Hall and Mr. Dobson arrived in time to see a great part of the damage done, and it is hoped that something will be done by a benevolent Government towards restoring some comfort to this now most miserable of miserable places. Higher up the country word has been brought down of sheep and cattle being drowned, many of which, it appears, were depastured on the river banks. Messrs. 'Belcher and Fairweather, who had a * flock of about 400 sheep on the river bank on Saturday, which they wero then unable to get at, expect that by this time many, if not all, pave perished. {Several goats and sheep have been drowned near the town. It is also reported that Mr. Donald Coutts' mill, near Kaiapoi, has been washed away, with other houses up the island. The girder bridge is in a dangerous position, there being only room at the approaches for one horse. The Kaiapoi Municipal Council held a special meeting on' Tuesday, when it was ' determined to cut water-courses to allow the water to drain away.

Lately two occupants of a first-class carriage on the Dublin and Kingstown Railway quarrelled. One bad got a portmanteau on a vacant place, and the other, a new comer, having some difficulty in finding a vacant place, and observing that a seat was occupied by luggage, demanded that it should be removed, and protested in very emphatic terms against luggage being brought into the carriage to the inconvenience oi the passengers. The owner of the obnoxious article not being disposed to comply with a demaud so made, the passenger became more imperative, and called for the porter to remove it. An altercation of a very angry nature ensued, and during the progress ot the train some Very uncomplimentary phrases were freely interchanged . At one period the dispute

threatened to assume the character of a personal encounter. Presently the Lord Mayor of Dublin got in, and the discovery was made that the owner of the portmanteau was the Chief Secretary, Sir Robert Feel. The protesting passenger, Mr. Gray, summoned Sir Robert to the police court, bnt the case was arranged by mutual apologies. Although Mr. Black was rejected at the last Edinburgh election, he is deservedly held in high esteem by the constituency, and they have determined to preserve his memory in marble. The Scotsman, in noticing the fact, uaya :—": — " As a memorial of a townsman who during a long lite has nerer ceased to advocate the principles of civil and religious liberty, and who in times very different from the present never hesitated to incur obloquy and abuse where duty pointed the way, this excellent bust will be viewed with favour by the great body of his fellow-citizens."