HAWKE'S BAY FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10424, 23 April 1897, Page 5

HAWKE'S BAY FLOODS.

A VISIT OF INSPECTION.

SCENES OF DESOLATION AND RUIN. [BY TELEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] Nahkr, Thursday. The following interesting account of a visit to part of the flooded districts is. furnished to (he Herald i— party of three, ope being a lady, yesterday drove out in the direction of Korokepa. The condition along the road to Taradale was found as already described. the TRACK OF THE flood, The paddocks were all heavily covered with silt—fences down, etc., but it was not until Taradale wan passed that any idea of the enormous quantity of water, and the swiftness with which , it flowed, was obtained. Those who know Mr. Harry Williams, beautiful Asbridge property know that even the lower paddocks are a great height above the ordinary level of the river. In fact, no other floood has ever reached there; but now the plantation paddook is deeply covered with silt, and the long pallieade fence is washed entirely away in places, and the rest is lying flat and broken under piles of debris. Aβ the road near Mr. Shirley's was reached there were signs on every side of the violence and great depth of the torrent; but a full realisation was reserved until the party reached the road at the base of the hill. SCENE OF DEVASTATION. Here at every yard dead horses, cows, •beep and pig» were passed. The paddocks on the low side were feet deep in silt, not a green thing being in sight except trees. Fences were down, gates broken, and culverts, which had been swept from above, were mob with here and there on the side of the hill. The debris lying there showed the depthjof the flood waters. TWENTY FEET OF WATER. Thin was several feet above the beads of those in the trap, and the road ii several feet above the paddocks on the other side ; so there could not have been much less than ■20 feet of water there. A little further a cottage standing on its roof was passed. Then came tho crowning surprise of the day a* Mr. Hamilton Smith's house first came in sight, and whit was left of the beautiful garden. The live fences were flat, and the whole place oovered with deep silt, only a mound of muddy leaves here and there showing where a tall shrub stood ; but at the baok of the house the scene was more impressive still. There tree;, logs, and debris, of all kinds stood in enormous pile* ten feet high. Anxious to learn the experience of the inmates the party descended and made their way to the back door, the piled debris giving dry footing, No one answered the knack, and the place was deserted ; but the door stood ajar, and the party entered. A WRECKED HOMK. Though six days had elapsed the floor was tix inches deep in liquid mud, and the furniture was lying in disorder all covered with mud, A scraper was improvised, and a path made through the mud. All the rest of the lower rooms were in the same plight. Furniture, utterly ruined, was piled in heaps by the water, and the piano stood on one end in the hall, where it had floated from the drawing-room. The water had left a clear mark on the wall paper, and it wan seen that about six feet of water had been in the house, which itself stood about five feet from the ground, which in its turn is considerably higher than the surrounding paddocks. Had there nob been an upper storey the inmates must have perished. Aβ it Is they evidently left as soon as they could escape, not even troubling to take with them the clothing hanging on the wall, and leaving testimony at to the state of thoir commissariat in the shape of a jug of milk and a loaf of bread. Returning to the yard a building was seen upended and against another. The silt was piled almost to the roof. Climbing up tho largest heap of debris a concrete floor was seen, and the bricks of a fallen chimney. No doubt the upended building stood there. The orchard wag also scon from there, or what hud been an orchard, the trees all lying flat in the silt. On the very top of another large heap of debris lay the body of a oow.

A SUSPICIOUS NOISE. Deeply interesting as this wae, the purty regretted they had no cmnera with them, their attention was just then diverted to a suspicious noise In the road. There the trap and horse wore lying on their side. When righted unoofthe shifts was found to be broken. An axe found on a heap of brush wood and the paling of a demolished fence, with a ball of strong twine discovered in the house, served to effect temporary repairs, and tho return journey was commenced. Coming along on horseback was a ion of Mr, Kittq, who has a largo farm further up the road,

BTOHY OP AN EYE-WITNESS. In au»«vi«' to enquiries, ho eiiid that on the day iif the flood he left the' Vetane farm for Korokipo, and gut there just in time to get his father and mother out of the house by means of a boat, But for his opportune arrival they must have bean drowned. Two of his brothers, anticipating a flood, wore out on the farm intending to collect and drive off the atoolc ; but the water came down en suddenly that (hoy hail to take refuge on ' one of a number of «tnoke, their horses swimming to higher ground, bub their dogs being drowned, Imagine their feelings when they soon e»w Que stack disappear in the raging waters and then another, until the one on which they stood was the only one left. Happily (he bout) then made its ap. pearance, and they wort saved. Sever*] of the farm building* were washed clean away. Mr, Kino wan, however, on the whole fortunate, All the calvea and some sheep were drowned, and he at Brit thought he bad lost a number of cows, but they were all ultimately found on high ground, tome of them having swum over two miles. Mr, Kjfcto added, tl|at in one of his : paddocks there wan a strange horse lying I dead, with a saddle and bridle on it. Let iH hope that thie does not indicate another hntnun victim to the fury of the watera. He also explained where the Ngaruroro broke through, on his father'* place. It sufficiently explained, the unprecedented height of the water atTaradale and Napier,

A HEADLONG TORRENT. The Ngaruroro rushed through the beach down the Korokipo Valley, and joined the Tutaekuri jurt above Redcljffo, breaking the embankment to a length of 18 chains, and rushed through Taradale and over the plain to Napier, (jetting back to the river two of tho Maoris and their boat took the hone* acrota, and the third drove the trap over. On reaching Taradale inquiries elioited the fact that the Mennee Road was practicable, though still so deep in mud and water that the horsos would have to walk most of the way, However that woy was chosen.

. A DEPRESSING DRIVK. It proved it depressing drive, On both sides of the road what l|»d been only a week before smiling paddocks, market gardens, and fields of mane and potatoes, presented the appearance of a sandy beach from which the tide had just receded, leaving extensive pools here and there. Only the tree* and a dilapidated fence here and there broke the illusion. At the Convent) school the garden* had disappeared under the all pervading deposit, and the marks on the wall shewed thud the water had been several feet in the house, It was only on Wednesday that a relief party could get to the haute with provisions. There had been 18 inches of water in the church, and the good Father) of the mission have to deplore their beautiful grounds utterly wrecked, and their .trim trellises of vines showing up white and ghostly with dried mud above the silt, The wine cellar Wits flooded and has not yet been visited. The same dreary waste was wen all the way to the Shamrock, with the exception of the Meanee public school and master's residence and the Plumpton Park Hotel, which were oases io the desert. The Plumpton Park grounds will cost a large sum to put in order, At the Shamrock a tnrn WM made for the WMbout at) Waitang'L '~!'..., '• '' ■■'"' '„

INDESCRIBABLE |: . Word* eannot convey any description of the havoc wrought! there. The eta ran* up through a large gap, many chains wide, where formerly were a high railway embankment, a . ro»d;: preen V paddocks, and buildings, from one of which the unfortunate Mr, Broadbent. Wai' washed to sea, The artesian wells now stand 'gaunt and high, pouring their water Into the sea. The

whole face of the country there has been ?o totally changed, that only the remains of Mr. Broadbent's fellmongery stand as a landmark to enable even those well acquainted with the locality to locate where they, are, Temporary crossing has been devised, oroc which passengers can walk at low water, but at high water they shall have to cro»s in boats. Gangs of men »re busily at work in making a temporary deviation of the railway line, but it will be lons before id is restored to its former condition, and probably a long bridge will have to' be built at the washout.

-, THE LOST RESCUERS. J[lT t«r,K(JHAPII.—CItK.SS ASSOOIATIOK.j Napikr, Thursday. The late Captain Arthur McCartney was one of the pioneers of the country, having taken an active part in the Maori war on the East and West Coasts. He arrived here from Home on the 24th March, 1867, in the ship Montmorency. On the disbanding of . the Hawke's Bay military settlers in October, 1867,. McCartney joined the No. 1 division of Mounted Armed Constabulary,* which was raised in Napier under Major Fraeer, Captain Luke, and Ensign \Y. A. Richardson. Mr. McCartney soon became a noncommissioned officer, and saw a great deal of service both on the East and west Coasts, and in special dispatch duties. He was orderly to the late Sir Donald MoLean when the latter was Defence Minister. Ad the conclusion of the war McCartney was stationed at Spit as Sergeant in charge of the Armed Constabulary office. He joined the "F" Battery of Volunteers in April, 1885, as lieutenant, waselectedcaptain in June, 1887, and placed on the Wellington district reserve list month as from the 9th June, 1596. His services are recorded as follows in the New Zealand Army Lists-Captain Arthur MoCartney, " F" Battery New Zealand Rifle Association Volunteers. Served in No. 1 Company, A.O. Engaged at Waimana and Waioeka Gorge, Rua Kituri, Moturoa, Patutahi, Ngatapu, No. 2 redoubt (West Coast), Whenua Kura, Otautu, YVaikare Moana, Tokoamu, Te Paapa, Ptttetere, Te Whukamaru, Nukuraara, Rotoaira, Pourere (modal). Mr. John Rose, the commercial traveller representing Messrs. J. Smith and Co., of Sydney, who formed one of the rescue party on Friday, came to Napier to arrange for the sale of furs, etc, with Mr. M. l.ascelles. This morning Mr. Lascelles received a cable from Mr. Rose's father-in-law, asking him to take charge of the decoded'* belongings. Mr. Rose's father-in-law is leaving Sydney for Napier by the b.s, Manapouri, DEPUTATION TO TffK MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS. THE RELIEF FUND. A deputation representing all the local bodies waited on the Hon. Hall Jones this morning, and explained to him the full position, pointing out the necessity for urgent action on the part of the Government. The Minister, in reply, said he would impress on hit colleagues the necessity for pushing on the work of restoring railway communication at the washout. He was only voicing the opinions of his colleagues, and indeed of the whole colony, in expressing the deepest sympathy with the people of Hawke's Bay in the great calamity they had experienced. He had never before heard of, or seen, anything so terribly distressing as he had heard and seen during the last few days. He felt profoundly for the widows and orphans of the brave men who had perished. Ho could conceive of no nobler net than that of a man risking his life in an endeavour to save the lives of others. Tho Government would do all they possibly could to alleviate the distress. He could see that the community had serious difficulties before them, because not only had they the widows and orphans of the drowned men to consider, but alsq the position of many others who would be rendered destitute. It would take a little time to organise the matter, but he was glad to find that the inhabitants of the district were taking prompt and effective measures. On behalf of his colleagues he wasconfident he could promise every possible assistance from the Government). He also promised to see that a railway manager was again appointed tor the Napier section, and to facilitate legislation to enable a central river board to be created to deal with all the rivers on the plains, At a public meeting held to day the Mayor Mil the latest estimate of loss was at least £150,000. The amount subscribed to date was over £1000. A proposal to divert £250 in hand, portion of the amuunt subscribed for the Indian Famine Relief Fund, was unanimously negatived. (jjeborne has sent a first donation of £125. Mr. Coleman and family give £200 ; Speight (l)unedin), £50; Union S.S. Co., £100, and offer to carry produce to the sufferers free ; Robjohns, Hindmarsh, and Co., and H. J Smith, £50 each, and many others from £10 to £25; Williams and Beetham (Mastertou), £100 Rnss Glendinning, £30; Nathan (Wellington), £25; Hallenstein, £25; Evans and Co. (Timaru), and Timaru Milling Co,, one ton of flour each,

THE FLOODS AND THE RAILWAYS. [by telegraph.— correspondent.] Wellington, Thursday, I hear that the North Trunk Railway has suffered, no damage. Mr. Lowe, Government Engineer, will bridge the gap in the Napier line, caused by the sea breaking over the Spit. The Wanganui section will be restored far passenger tralh'ce by Saturday, except the gap caused by the Rang!tikoi Bridge. It will be some time before the goods traffic can be completely restored both on the Napier and Wanganui sections.

A memo, from the Town Clerk was read at the City Council Meeting, last night, re forming a committee to collect money toward» ft, fund to give relief to tho sufferers by the floods at Hawke's Bay. The matter was warmly taken up, and on the motion of Mr. 11. Farrell, it was decided to hold a public meeting, on Wednesday next, in the Council Chambers, at two p.m., to forni canvassing committees, and officers to manage the fund. In response to an inquiry made by Mr, William Briefly, the Inspector of Police at Napier wirodas follows :—" Henry Brierly, wheelwright, was drowned here on Friday last, when proceeding to Clive to rescue people in danger of being drowned. The body has not yet been recovered." The deceaied had been in Napier for 22 years,