THE FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13391, 21 January 1907, Page 6

THE FLOODS.

THROUGH THE WAIKATO. SCENES OX THE FLOODED RIVER. GREAT DEVASTATION ! EVERYWHERE. ENORMOUS VOLUME OF WATER, N'UMBER OF EXCITING RESCUES. [r.r urn special retortek.] Hamilton', Saturday evening. Tin scene presented a: Mercer when I left this morning was mie of utter desolation and isolation, the only tiling t" meet the gaze, being water ■ with .i number of houses showing above it | on the flat portion of the township, and a ; large number of tiees. As stated in the J message -m Friday night, the water was | rising steadily, ami from about ten o'clock | nti Friday evening til! six o'clock 0:1 Saturj day morning the water rose 4iu at the Raili way Hotel, which is on the highest poition j(A the flat. For the 43 hours the rise had been Sim. The hotel was tiie la-t house ■ on the level to keep a dry ground floor, but [ the water began to mop in this morning. I At the railway station the position was even worse, for the whole of the station floor, which is a little over the platform, | is now under water to the extent of several i inches, while the rel'reslmient-room had about 12in of water a ii about half-past j nine o'clock. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and J their assistants supplied meals under these difficult circumstances to a good number of way men on S-itttrday morning, the j men having gum-hoots on. or none at all. I As the water was rising fast when 1 1< ft ! for the trip no the river, it was thought i - i that tin further meals would he able to he supplied after Satuiday, but gieai efforts i would he made to accommodate the travel- ; ling public in some way. The water was I stationary near the station and in the i railway yauls on Friday evening, tint on J Saturday these was .1. good strong current ; running here, and the strain on the- rail- ; way buildings and station will be cousiderI able. There is every probability, judging j from past experience, and the opinions of j old citizen*, that the water will rise some : inches yet. or until a steal deal mor< of the 1 enormous body of water coming down from ! the country has got away. LARGE LANDSLIPS. j With the rise of water at Mercer the j position of the railway is not improved. [ The Mercer tunnel., which was clear on ■ Friday night, had fully 4Aiu of water in it i on Saturday, the rails being covered, and , the water running through fairly fast. At ! the beginning of the week, when the ram , was heavy, a large portion of a hi!) over--1 looking the railway at the south end of the tunnel slipped and fell over the line to a depth of about 4ft. A gang has. however, now cleared this away. HaLf-a-mile further on another and larger slip occurred, the whole of a aide of a, hill coming away, depositing an enormous quantity of earth on the tail way track, while in its downward and outward carter the earth carried away about three chain* of the railway, and a telegraph post-, depositing them on the roadway. A man who resides near to the place where the slip occurred describes the smash as like that of the rumbling of heavy artillery, followed by a huge, dull thud. -V Large gang of men have been engaged in clearing the earth for a couple of days, and this and the replacing of the rails is expected to be completed by Sunday evening.

The Railway Department are doing all repair work as urgently a.- circumstances will permit, and the men arc working on Sundays, in order to get the track ready as soon as possible. A pleasing feature of the labour question in connection with the flood is the whole-hea-rtedness with which all branches of the- railway service are entering or have entered upon the work iu order to expedite public; business.

On the Auckland side of the Whangamarino bridge, about 50 miles from Auckland, another large slip has occurred. Tinlargo deposit, of earth has here also shifted the rails a little from their ordinary alignment for about three chains. This is being expeditiously cleared. MINES FLOODED. The Union Collieries mines have been flooded, while the colliery sidings, about aquatter of a mile on the Huntly side of the Whang.'unarino bridge have about 6in of water over them. All the men were out of the mine before tho water became dangerous, but the position is a serious one, and will be; a considerable loss to the company.

PASSENGERS FOR. THE WAIKATO.

The flood has apparently not daunted travellers, for. while a number are returning to their homes or work after their holidays, a good number an'- going to Kotorua and elsewhere for pleasure. The train, from Auckland reached Pokcuo at half-past ten o'clock. and, by means of a plank stretched from a. carriage to a. boat, the passengers, young and old, male and female, were soon transferred to the three special boats engaged by the Railway Department for making the trip to near" Taupiri, where the train is again taken. Two motor launches and a, huge steam launch weie soon filled by about 100 passengers, for places beyond the flooded country not yet travi-swi by rail. A considerable number carried a good deal of luggage, notwithstanding the request of the Department for passengers to take as little as possible. The Department does: not hold itself responsible for the safety of the luggage up the river, and it would he well for passengers not to take, anything beyond what, is absolutely necessary. The boats went up to the refreshment-rooms at the Mercer station. On the Friday passengers were (nit through the windows when the floor of the rooms were dry, hut .us they had about a foot of water on the floor the tluee boats anchored against a. window. The assistants, male and female, waded about in the water, and handed out tea and eatables through tho window to the hungry passengers, The inner man having been tilled, the trip up the river was continued. Some little excitement was caused on board two of the launches through striking the top rail of the railway feuce, and the shooting over of the launches gave some nerves a jar, though there was no', the slightest danger. After proceeding clear of the township, the three boats were tied abreast each other, the more powerful steam launch, Mascot bring in the centre. In this manner the boats proceeded all the way to their destination.