THE FLOODS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13392, 22 January 1907, Page 6

THE FLOODS.

ALONG THE LINE TO TAU,

MARUNUI.

DAMAGE TO ROADS. BRIDGES,

AND CROPS.

STOCK WASHED AWAY

I TRYING EXPERIENCES OF SETTLERS. j [fit TKI.KGRAPII. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] av ii a run l" i. -Monday. ' I A i.«o;k number of passengers travelled | from Huiitly and Frankton along the Tau- | maruuuj -line to-day. The railway is now j clear, hut there is still a good deal of water | lying about the flat portions of the country, j especially in the swamp areas. Mr. Html, ! the district road engineer at Te Kniti. who ! travelled from there to TV Awamutu last Wednesday, informed me that the whole of lie flat country at Manarappa was covered with water last week to a depth of oft 6iu but the houses were fortunately built on high land, and were not flooded. Mr. Scheie's farm was completely covered. The i Mangamutu Creek rose very lapidly, floodt ed all the surrounding country, and covered the railway fences. The railway was also covered for al>out four and a-half miles, but | is now clear. A large amount of ballastj was washed away and the line damaged, I but not to a serious extent. The roads were J in a fearful state, and Mr. Bind had to swim his horse for over halt-a-mile. The j water was fro deep that the horse had to ! swim over the Mangamutu Road bridge. ! The Mangapiko flat, on the Auckland side | of Te Awamutu, was covered by water to a I depth of about- 2ft- 6in tor several days. | There is considerable settlement about here. j and Mr. Bind considers the land among the | best in the Waikaio. I.OSS OF STOCK. A tremendous lot of damage has lieen done to the crops between Hamilton and Matamata, the greater portion being completely destroyed. At the Matarnata settlement and round about, several large washouts ocj curred. and the roads were seriously ! damaged, It, is believed there has been a j good deal of stock lost about these parts, | and otic settler is known to have lost 164 I sheep, which were washed away from the I paddock. The old road bridge at Pirongia ; was washed away. This causes serious inconvenience. as the bridge was the means | of access to Sainsbury's Road and the Ka- | whia settlement. The latter settlement has j now been cut off from road communication j for some days. The bridge over the Waipa I River at Whatiwhatihoe. was covered with I water on Tuesday and Wednesday. The | water leached a height of 40ft above the i ordinary level, and the position for a time \ was very serious. Two import nit bridges | were washed away on the mid between I Putaruiu and Waotu. and communication jby road to Putaruiu is still cut off. The ! bridge over the Waipa River, on the same i road, was also washed away, further (cock- ; ing communication. Road communication j between the Gordon settlement and Mata- } niata is also cut off. the road being blocked jby slips and washouts. The bridge on the Wha.tawhata Road, between Frank ton and Whatawhata, was washed away. This is another main road of communication, but access is possible by making a long detour. A big culvert the road was- washed away, but one close, by, over the railway, stood. A brick culvert over the main outlet from the Rukuhia swamp, on the Hamiltor.Ohatipo Road, was washed awav. and communication cut off except to horse traffic. RAGLAN* SUFFERS SERIOUSLY. Raglan County suffered tremendously from the effects of the flood, eight or nine bridges being washed away, while the roads were damaged severely. A satisfactory thing is that all the Government bridges in the Te Kuiti district withstood the flood. The Puniu stream, just beyond Te Awamutu. is about 30ft below the rails ordinarily. but the water rose to the ringers of the bridge. A huge mass of debris is lett all over the country, and great havoc has I been created by the floods in that district, i The fences are still covered with debris, but the water is now down. About seven miles further along the Kawa swamp, lying principally on the eastern side of the railway, is covered with the water which rose over, the railway fence, but has now receded. Between Frankton and Tauniarunui, the full force of the flooded Waipa River was felt. Last Tuesday. Wednesday. and Thursday, an enormous body of water and debris passed down the river, and the overflowing banks covered all the surrounding country to varying depths, but the railway j embankment prevented the eastern portion, i where the township principally is, feeling ! the full force. The town was, however, i isolated owing to the water for a couple of days, and the residents spent a very anxious time. The people took early warning, with the result that no accidents occurred. I FAMILY'S SENSATIONAL EXPERIENCE. One man with 11 children, however, hod a sensational experience. His house, ! which stands near the river bank to the | west ot the railway, became surrounded before the occupants knew exactly what I was happening. On Tuesday the water | had reached the floor, and the settler- got i into a canoe and crossed the raging river for assistance. A boat was secured a considerable distance from the town and manj ned by three Maoris, and the, settler. They got across the river, and the 11 children and his wife were placed in the boat, and after a trying trip, during which the boat was carried down stream tor a considerable distance, the members of the family were placed oil safe ground. The water rose 'Ait in half-an-hour after tliev left the house. A large timber mill on the bank of the river near the bridge was submerged, and the buildings flooded- Part of the large stock of sawn timber on hand was lost. The water reached the decking of the railway bridge on Wednesday last, but the embankment prevented the water from completely flooding the main portion of the township. A large number of logs were washed against the railway bridge, which stood tie- strain splendidly- All the roads about the town suffered damage, but this was not very serious. Some stock was lost. Mr. Ran by losing over 100 sheep, but the majority of the stock was driven to the high land. Some houses outside I of the main township had 4ft of water over j the floors, and the schoolhou.se was surrounded. The water Ml rapidly, and is now nearly .ill away. Some of the settlers in the oack country had narrow escapes in getting away from the flooded parts, but all reached high land safely.

MAORIS' WHARKS SWKPT AWAY. At Kahotc-a, the Maori settlement, the natives suffered severely. All their crops were washed away by the running water, and several whales were swept, away. The country between Otorchaiiga ami Hang.ttiki is low-lying and spaii-elv settled, The water rose here over the railway fence, causing great damage to the bed, which lias now been temporarily repaired, and th*> train proc"e<h slowly. The raupo swamps on eiwier side still contain a lot of water. Several > liftings on the railway have slipped badly. From this point, on", the railway ri><es steadilv until Poro-o-tarao i.- reached, this place being IOCOft above Frankton. A large amount of water fell into the Ongaiue liver from the surrounding mountains, but it. got a.vvav quickly, and caused but little damage except where he water ran on to the railway i track, and washed away a lot of ballafct in 1 places, undermined the rails, and caused I slips on the line, which, however, has !>•■•■ 11 iepaired and cleared. Only one ?eriuu~ slip occurred, and covered (he lails tor a j depth of a couple of feet, but this is now cleared away. I he Ongarue River is still a. little above the ordinary level. A few miles on the Auckland side ol the Oliguric railway fetation a serious washou;

occurred, and the engine wa,s derailed last Monday at this point. The road runs down at a steep grade from the mountain, and crosses the railway. On Monday last it was a rushing torrent, and the water covered the rails and spread out over the railway tiack for a considerable distance. A large amount of ballast was washed out. KXGIXF PLUNGES INTO THE WATER. The train which left- Tauniarunui last Monday, early, stopped on reaching the washout, and in order to ascertain whether the track was safe the engine was detached. It attempted to cross, but had only proceeded a few yard* when the track gave way. and engine and tender lurched forward and 'fell headlong iitto the water and mud. As the engine was falling the driver and fireman jumped clear, and escaped injury. The engine remained on the load for a short time, but its weight and the rushing water caused the Kink to break further way, and the engine then sank deeper into the mire. The water broke, the bank at this point completely away, and wrecked the railway line for a chain or so. The engine is now lying on its side, totally disabled and cracked in places. The bank was washed out for a- considerable distance from the permanent way. but with a view to expediting traffic the Railway TV part - ment made another track several yards; on the western side, erecting a trestle bridge and laying the rails across this. The train proceeds at snail's pace over this part. The line into Taumarunui from here is not injured, and no damage woith speaking has been done by the floods about these part>. A portion of the banks of the W anganui River are damaged by the flood waters, but nothing serious is repotted from the surrounding districts.

A PLUCKY WOMAN*. ! i i RESCUES .\ MAX FROM A FLOODED I RIVKR. | fur TKt.KI.R U'tl. —OWN COR R 1. -I'ON Dt'.N I. ] j 11 vmii.ton. Monday. ! An exciting incident in connection with; the flood occurred at Morrinsville. Mr. | t'. (Jrisbv was i< turning home fiom Tan- ! wliare. accompanied by his wife and a little j nephew, and on reaching the Piako River) found it flooded. Leaving his wile and j nephew hind, I. in shy drove on to try it j it was sale to cross. He got across the j bridge safelv. but the tup. horse ami ill iver i were immediately washed down st ream, and I landed on a wire fence. The horse was drowned. Mr. tirisby. who is unable to swim, hung on to the wite it lice. Mi j Grisbv went back a couple of miles for | assistance, and brought Mrs. Macfarlaue. i who swam in. with a rope and afterwards j dragged Mr. Grisbv ashore, after he had I been in the water alnnil two houin. Mrs. ' Maifarlaue deceives gleal credit lor her I plucky action in tackling the strong cur- j rent, more especially as she had to swim j back again to get home.

PAEROA CLEAR OF WAT EH. [Ny TKI.KORAPH.OWN COIIRKM'ON i>!:\ r. ] Pakkua. Monday. The Hood water has now disappeared at Pa*-roa. hut at Xetherton and on th- lowlying land adjacent to the Wailiou there is still a considerable quantity of water. RAILWAY COMMUNICATIi >N. [bv tki.kop.apii.—own correspond! vr ■ Waiiii, Monday. A large staff of men worked all day yesterday on the railway washout, caused by the recent heavy rains, and the result was that railway traffic between Waihi and Pa- - roa was resumed to-day. Through communication with Auckland is still interrupted.