STATE ASSISTANCE

Grey River Argus, 4 October 1934, Page 6

STATE ASSISTANCE

From Unemployment Fund (Per Press Association.) .MASTERTON. October 3. Conditions in Masterton are normal and therp is no wind. The weather' has improved and the sun is shining at iiftewahs, though there are oerasional light showers. The damage in the Masterton district by the floods and wind must anrrnnt to fifty thousand pounds. Work is being put in hand to-day of n pairing the damage. Hundreds of men arc oli/aining, employment in this direction. Carpenters have been fully employed during the last three de.vs repairing chimneys. of which scores have been damaged, or partly blown <»ver. It will take weeks to clear the (wreckage caused by the huriicane and the damage done by the floods. 'Telephone ami telegraph communication generally restored after two days’ isolation. Business is normal. Builders are rushed with orders. Miles of fencing, blown down in ih“ residential quarter, is being taken in hand. There is apparently plenty of local labour to meet the position. CARTERTON, October 3. Conditions greatly improv'd 'oday. Heavy rain continued last night Im! towards morning q cleared and the sun i's now shinin«r. There is no wind. Work of repairing the damaged premises is proceeding briskly. The Carterton telephone service : s still opfullv out of order, bn: communication has been restored south to Wellington. The noith li’nes r> ? e still, a tang’od mass of broken pole..- and wires, but. the post Office anticipates a partial restoration to-night. Then* have been isolated instances where sheep and rattle were drowned but not in great, numbers. 'j In 1 mortality amongst' sheep, lambs and *•< ws through falling trees was fairWairarapa Power Board has done splendid work in restoring services. Further south the conditions are not s ( , far tidvtineed. and thionjih link of telephone I flood waters preventing a toi:r of inspection. just what danr.ge has been done is hard to ascertain. The lower valley is reported Io be heavily fl.o<><led bill the waters are now falling' rapidly.

Damaged Communications A YEAR’S WORK. TO RESTORE LINES FULLY. CARTERTON, October 3. The effects of Monday’s hurricane and flood in Mast (‘Hon are rapidly disappearing, and conditions now are almost normal, most of the damaged houses having been repaired. Restoration work, however, as far as the reerection of fences and the removal of fallen trees are concerned, will take many weeks. 'Telephone and telegraph communication between Masterton and Carterton is still impossible, and it is not expected to restore these services partially before Saturday morning. In Masterton 140 automatic and 200 manual telephones are still out of action. 'The District Telegraph Engineer estimates that it will take fully twelve months before the telephone and telegraph lines are restored to normal condition. There is a large number of men now engaged in this work, including men from all parts of Wellington district, and some from the South Island.

EXAGGERATED REPORTS. Many residents are taking strong exception to the exaggerated reports that have been published about Monday ’s flood in Masterton. Certainly the flood was the most serious for many years, but the damage, except to gardens and the parks, was almost negligible, and at no time were people terrified. A fairly extensive flood occurred in the Lower Valley region at Tawaha, Pukeio, and Pihautea, but it was nothing compared with the flood of two years ago. Water overflowed in Pihautea district at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday, and access to Pukeio and Pi hautea was completely cut off for a period. The settlers, however, were warned of the possibility of a flood and they removed their stock, no losses being reported. By good fortune only, one telephone remained in action in Pukio district after Monday’s hurricane, and word was sent from Masterton, via service .car, to Featherston, to prepare for a flood, the advice being passed on to the Pukio subscriber who was able to send messages to the settlers whose properties were subject to flood. To-night the water was falling rapidly. The fact that the outlet to the lake before the flood contained very little water, probably accounted for the quick getaway. To-night it was only possible to reach Pukio from the Pihautea end. It is expected the road will be clear by to-morrow morning. The flood waters never topped the stop-banks, and the only damage sustained was a bulge in the main Kahutara stop-bank, near the property of Mr S. Reid. The gale on Monday was very severe, one house, that of Mr Hubbard. Pihautea, being unroofed. Dozens of sheds and hundreds of trees were blown down.