THE WEATHER

Otago Witness, Issue 1602, 5 August 1882, Page 11

THE WEATHER

After a short interval only of fair weather, indications of a coming change were observable on Friday (28th), and during that night some little rain fell, and heavy weather seemed threatening from the north-west. By Saturday, morning the rain had fairly set in, and it continued a steady downpour throughout the entire day and the greater part of the night, the fall being so heavy as to cause no small uneasiness as to possible damage by floods. These apprehensions were partially justified, as the floodwater which rapidly collected did some little damage at various places in the city and suburbs, Serious floods occurred in some parts of the Taieri and Tokomairiro districts, and a good deal of damage was sustained , by the railways throughout the southern parts of the province, At this time of the year it is not likely that any very great damage will be done to property, but in most places all agricultural operations will have to be suspended for a week, or perhaps a fortnight. On Saturday afternoon the rain was exceptionally heavy, and the Invercargill express had some difficulty in reaching town. ,The water was running over the railway-line in the vicinity of the Milburn station, and all the streams along the way were much swollen. At Henley the Taieri River was running bank-high. Farther along in the direction of Mosgiel the line was submerged in sevoral places j and once, while passing over an hum* dated portion of the line, the carriages bumped heavily as if about to leave the metals. Most of the passengers were of course considerably alarmed j but their fears were soon allayed, for the train at once slackened speed, and passing over the dangerous portion of the way, reached Mosgiel station at about the usual time. Here, however, another surprise awaited the passengers, who were, after delay of about a-quarter of an hour, informed that a serious Blip had' occurred at the south end of the Chain Hills tunnel. This slip occurred immediately after the 5.15 p. ml tram from Mosgiel entered the tunnel, and the train had a very narrow escape. ' Fortunately the accident was noticed by the officials on board, and a halt was at once made to ascertain the nature and extent of the Blip. The train from Dunedin thus received timely warning, and instead of rushing into the debris which had fallen over themasonwork at the entrance, it was brought to a standstill in the middle of the tunnel. Upon a further inspection, it was, decided that it would be dangerous to proceed farther, and the train and passengers— with the exception of one who walked on to Mosgiel— remained in the tunnel for several hours. At Mosgiel, the express train passengers were just beginning to get heartily sick of their long, dreary wait, when the stationmaster intimated that it had been decided to proceed as far as the scene of the accident, and that the portion of the line where the stuff had fallen and the tunnel would have to be traversed on foot, so as to reach the train on the other side. The hopes that were buoyed up by this piece of information were, however, again lowered to zero by a further intimation, this time to the effect that the cutting was still slipping, and that it was considered dangerous for the passengers to walk through. A ganger and two other men who were quickly on the scene, after a good deal of trouble managed to clear the rails, and the train from Dunedin, which had remained stationary in the tunnel so long, was enabled to proceed to Mosgiel. The Invercargill train then came along, and reached town shortly after 11 o'clock— four hours behind time.

At Pukeiviti, on the Northern line, a landslip of considerable extent occurred. It will be cleared away by to-day. Between Clarksville and Milton a good deal of damage has been done to the line, which was flooded for a considerable distance.

The Lawrence branch line has suffered a good deal, and the Saturday afternoon train from Milton was, in consequence of a couple of slips, stopped at Johnston, and did not reach Lawrence till 5 o'clock on Sunday evening, On Saturday the Waitahuna River was in high flood, and the railway was submerged to a depth of between three and four feet. On Saturday night the passengers had to leave the train at Johnston and proceed to Waitahuna, where they were accommodated at a hotel.

A slip on the Port Chalmers line delayed the 11 o clock train on Saturday night. It did not come in till Sunday morning. Elsewhere very little damage has been done to the^railways. The department is to be complimented for the prompt manner in which the various obstructions were cleared, and also for the precautionary measures which were so successfully adopted for the prevention of accidents. Fortunately, the majority of the slips occurred either late on Saturday or early on^ Sunday morning, so that the debris was in nearly every instance cleared away by Monday morning, and no serious impediment was placed in the way of traffic. One of our staff on Sunday proceeded as far as Henley, with a view of ascertaining the extent of the floods in that direction. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the Taieri River was still rising slowly, the rise from about 9 o'clock that morning having been about four inches. Looking northward and in the direction of Outram, the plain presented the appearance of a lake. Hundreds and hundreds of acres of the low lying lands were submerged, the wide stretch of water being here and there varied by the appearance of the top of a gorse hedge or an isolated farm steading. The greater portion of Kirkland's and Win. Shand's properties seemed to be flooded. On Mr 3ha,nd/s farm a number of cattle and sheep were ■

in one place grouped together in an unsafe position, and an attempt was being made to remove the sheep in drays to higher 1 ground. In another place a number of cattle were ob-serve-1 standing in about three feet of water. At Henley matters were even worse : all the flat land was flooded, and it was apparent that milch damage would be done to the fences and roadsi

Tuesday.

The weather has now assumed a more settled aspect, and as the rain ceased on Monday morning, the floods have subsided a good deal, and there is now no fear of any further damage ensuing to i roperty. The flood in the Taieri was at its height on Sunday night, and on Monday morning, when the express train from Dunedin passed along, the waters in the vicinity of Greytown had fallen fully 12 inches. A good deal of damage seems to have been done to the fences thoughout the Taieri Plain, and at Milton and Lovell's Flat, while in several places the roads have been much damaged, and rendered impassable. A good many sheep were drowned on some of the farms to the north of the railway-line between Waihola and Owhiro, and on Mr Shand's property many young lambs succumbed to the inclement weather. On Monday morning the Outram branch railway was under water for a distance of several chains at Riverside. The water was gradually subsiding during the whole afternoon, and the 4 o'clock afternoon train from Outram was enabled to get through dry. A quantity of the ballast was washed away, but beyond this no damage was done to the line. The embankments along the river from Outram seem to have stood admirably.

A small slip occurred on the north railwayline, a little beyond Purakanui, on Monday morning, and in consequence the express and Palmerston trains were delayed on their journeys for about an hour and a-balf. With this exception, the trains ran up to time, the lines elsewhere being in thorough working order.

Some very heavy landslips have taken place at Port Chalmers in consequence of the recent heavy rains, The roadway leading to the new cemetery is blocked by the debris, and some large blocks of stone have fallen ; while the face of Signal HUI looking to the Export Pier has slipped, apd about 10,000 tons of soil have been deposited close to the property of Mr A, W. Johnson in Beach street.

LAWRENCE.

Ojur own correspondent, writing under date July 31st, supplies the following particulars of the floods at Lawrence :— On Saturday, at 9 a.m., a steady rain set in until 6 p.m., and continued with an occasional break until 10 p.m. It was noticed that at 5 p. mi. the Gabriels and Wetherstones Creeks had swollen so much as to cause the Hospital Flat Creek to diverge along Ross place. The volume of water from eaoh creek continued to increase until 7.45 p.m., at which hour the flood was at its highest. As much aa three feet of water was in some of the dwellings. The bulk of the water rushed through the Masonic Hotel to the depth of nearly two feet. All the low-lying buildings on both sides of Ross place were flooded. The drapers and others were busy removing their goods to a higher level, placing them on their counters and boxes to keep them from being damaged. The water, in Mr Dimant's drapery establishment was about a foot deep, and from one end of Ross place, as far as Mr Johnstone's bootshop, there was one stretch of water, which was running swiftly along the road. Business has been entirely suspended. Some families had to be removed ; some were taken out by express waggons, and others had to be carried out. The damage done is very considerable. The only cause is the deposit of tailings on the north side of Ross place. I have seen double the quantity of water flowing down in 1865, but there was then nothing like the quantity of water rushing along Ross place that there was on Saturday evening. There is a steady rise of tailings at the ford of Gabriels every year, and unless something is done, and that done quickly, a large portion of the Ross place business people will have to migrate. It was only last week the Corporation sent telegrams to the Minister of Mines re the matter. I noticed that that hon. gentleman's reply to our worthy member was that "the matter was a municipal one." Such a reply shows his j utter ignorance of the subject brought before him. It would take years' rates to construct the drainage channel which will be necessary to save the town from being flooded. The Corporation has already spent hundreds of pounds, but the matter has now assumed a serious aspect, and if the Government does not at once step in and remedy the evil, the Corporation will be compelled, in self-defence, to apply to the Warden for an injunction to stop all mining, which, in my opinion, would be a great calamity. The train could not get farther than Johnston station, on account of a landslip. A coach was sent down to Waitahuna to bring up passengers and mails, but owing to the swollen state of the Waitahuna River they could not be got at. They were brought through yesterday, arriving here at 11 a.m. The line was covered with water for about a quarter of a mile along the Waitahuna Flat, and at Clark's Flat the ballasting was washed away. The line was fixed up so as to enable the train to get through by 6 o'clock last evening. The train left at the usual hour this morning, and arrived in good time to-day.

Tapanui, July 31st. Heavy floods occurred on Saturday and Sunday. Kelso for the third time this winter was submerged. All the creeks and rivers are very high, but no serious damage has been done. Thousands of rabbits were killed on the low-lying ground. The weather is now clearing.

" TOKOMAIRIRO, July 31st.

The town was flooded in many parts on Saturday, but no damage was done. The rain haß rather been a benefit, as it has thoroughly cleaned the place. The bridge over the district road has been washed away. John Bibby narrowly escaped being drowned in a culvert in Shakespeare street on Saturday night. The railway embankment was washed away in several places, but tho damage Avas speedily repaired.

Cooling and Rbfukwing are the effacta of Row land*' Kalydor on the laco, hands, and arms of ladies and all exposed to tho scorching rays of the sun and heated particles of dust ; it eradicates all freckles, •an sunburn, slings of insects, &c , and produces a b»auiiful and delicate complexion. Rowlands' Macuss^r Oil prevnnts the hair falling off, ..r becoming dry durinir hot weather, and rendors it beautifully soft, pliable and glossy. JtowlundH' Odonto is the purest, moat fragrant, and non-gritty tooih powder ever made it whitens tho teeth, prevents decay, and given a pleasing fragrance to the breath. Ask any dealer in perfumery for Rowlands' arlio es, of 20 Hatton Garden, London, and avoid apuriouß, worthless imitations.—Wholesale Aeents Kempthorue, Prosser, and Co. Dunedin Auckland, and Chrifltchurch

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