RUNAWAY BARGE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20185, 1 March 1940, Page 6

RUNAWAY BARGE

LYING ON RIVERBED TOURIST ROAD BLOCKED DOWN-RIVER JOURNEY WANGANUI FLOODS (For Press Association.) WANGANUI, this day. Although it was thought to have been swept out to sea and shipping was warned of the posible danger, the Wanganui Gravel Company’s runaway barge, which broke adrift from its moorings above Dublin street bridge at the height of the flood on Sunday, has been found in the bed of the Wanganui River. The barge which crashed through and damaged the New Zealand Refrigerating Company’s wharf ,was located in seven feet of water about 30 yards below the Imlav wharf and the gravel company said it did not expect there would be any difficulty in raising it: It will be a long time before tourists will be able to come down the Wanganui River from National Park because the road from Raurimu to Retaruke is blocked in several places. Tourists used to spend the night at the Chateau and travel by service car next day to Retaruke where they joined the river vessel for the trip down to Pipiriki. The only means of visiting Pipiriki is by river from Wanganui. The flood washed through the river service’s Retaruke Lodge and left a thick layer of silt in the bedrooms while the Punga Ea room alongside was swept away-