ALONG THE NORTH LINE. DAMAGE AT WAIKOUAITI AND IN THE SHAG VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1981, 11 February 1892, Page 18

ALONG THE NORTH LINE. DAMAGE AT WAIKOUAITI AND IN THE SHAG VALLEY.

A member of our staff left Dunedin yesterday morning by the train at 11 o'clock for Palmerston, with the view of obtaining, if possible, some idea of the extent of the damage inflicted in the Shag Valley by the flood. All the way up the line there were traces left by the •weather of the last day or two. At Waitati, it was learned that very little damage had been done. The chief sufferers, probably are Messrs Findlay and Murdoch, sawmillers, of Dunedin, who were constructing, at considerable expense, a tramline from the site of their sawmill at Waitati — a distance of about two miles. The work was approaching completion, but a considerable amount of the line will have to be reconstructed as several of the temporary bridges that had been erected across the stream were ruthlessly swept away. From the railway station it was noticed by passengers on the train that the venerable and stately tree, which, standing solitary in the paddock immediately behind the station, all who travel up and down the line were wont to admire, had succumbed before the force of the gale which raged on Sunday night. A few miles iurther on, just after the train passed the Evansdale station the effect of the heavy rain was observed in the fact that crops, hardly any of which had been cut, were laid low on both aides of the railway line, and this was again noticeable in a field at Warringtoi 1 , near the church. Between this and Puketeraki the crops, so far as could be seen from the train fared better, but of course there is not much cropping land along that stretch of the line, and what there is mostly has good shelter. At Puketeraki, however, a good deal of damage seemed to have been done, and it is probable that considerable loss must ensue.

The Waikouaiti river was found to be in unusually high flood, which the settlers attribute to the backing up of its waters by the heavy sea that has been running on the coast. The river has not been in such flood for 16 or 17 years, and the effects will be disastrous to some of the farmers whose holdings adjoin it. Near the Merton railway station a large area of country was under water, including a considerable portion of Mr Aitchison's farm, on which the standing crop was in many places completely submerged, while in others only the ears of the corn were visible above the water. In Mr M 'Bride's Cherry Farm the fences aud hedges were in many places submerged, sheaves were floating about in various directions, and several jmddocks of turnips and potatoes were covered to a depth of about 3ft with the overflow from the river; while in the neighbourhood a very large quantity of grain has been cut which, it is feared, will be seriously damaged. All the way up the Waikouaiti river the crops are said to have been laid low, and the river flat at Mr Henry Orbell's was also submerged, there being about 2ft of water in the woolshed. At Goodwood the crops were, on the whole, looking remarkably well ; and in explanation of what may seem to be an anomaly, it must be stated that there has not been excessive rain there, or at Paliaerston either.

The amount of surface water in the Shag Valley was quite trifling, but the river rose with a rapidity that was astonishing and that was inexplicable to the residents in the district, ■who had no warning of any flood and were quite unprepared for it. A farmer who went to live in the valley four months before the jgreat flood of 1868, and has dwelt there ever since, gave it as his opinion that the river on Sunday had attained a keight nearly as great as in the memorable flood 24 years ago, gad that the effects were more disastrous n.ow

than then, for at that time there was not nearly so much land under cultivation as there has been more recently. The river commenced to rise on Sunday evening, and was at its highest about 4 a.m. on the following day, when all the low-lying land along its banks was underwater. It did not begin to subside till about 2 p.m. on Monday, for some hours previous to which time it had presented the spectacle of a grand sheet of water, a mile and more in width at various parts, surrounding several farm buildings in the Bushey estate. Yesterday morning it had subsided to the amount of about 18ft, and while it no longer covered the expanse of country that came within its scope on the previous day, it was running somewhat fully and strongly. At all events, even yesterday its condition was in marked contrast to that presented by it only last week, when in some places one could walk across it without wetting one's feet. The subsidence of the flood, however, afforded a fair opportunity of forming some estimate of the damage dono and of counting up the cost.

Our reporter, after reaching Palmerston, first proceeded along the main road to Bushey, passing on the way the property of Messrs Muir Brothers, who lost the crop from about 20 acres of wheat, which was in the stook and was washed away down the river. At the Bushey Park estate very considerable damage seems to have been done. The portion of the estate that wasundercrop, comprising36oaeres, sown principally in wheat, was all on the flat land, and, with the exception of one small corner, this was all under water. Mrs Isaac Day's cropping land at Bushey was jjartly under water on Monday, and on Mr Donald M'Leod's property about 60 acres of oats were rendered almost worthless, the only object, besides the farm buildings and trees, that was to be seen above the water on Monday being the fans of a reaper. Mr A. Gilmour's crop of oats was swept away, Mr G. Park's standing crop was under dead water, and Mr Miller's also was submerged On the north side of the river, Mr James Cochrane, who had cropped a considerable area of wheat and oats, is said to have had two sheaves left to himself after the flood had garnered iv his fields, and Mr David Phillips had only one stook left out of a crop of 10 acres, the rest having been carried gracefully out to sea, besides which a large portion of his potato and turnip crop was turned up. Mr D. Robertson lost four or five acres of the best land he had, the soil being washed clean away. Upon inspecting the Palmorston end of the Shag bridge, our reporter found that a portion of the approach had been carried away, the earthwork at the small bridge over the Millbrace having disappeared, leaving a gap of about 20ft, which was temporarily planked over. Crossing the bridge to the north side, lie found that there also the earthwork had collapsed at the approach, and an ugly hole of more than 15ft in depth by about 12ft in width met the eye.

On driving up the Shag Valley, along the road to Dunback, a scene was encountered of even greater visible devastation than was presented at Bushey. At the point where the Dunback railway line crossos the road, the river probably ran widest. In several places the flood had extended across tLa road, which is separated by a considerable distance from the banks, and had left deep deposits of silt behind it, while on all sides debris — consisting of fences, gates, and various kinds of crops, which had been carried down the stream, was to be seen scattered about. The gorse hedges, with which the fields had been bounded, were for the most part destroyed, being either obliterated altogether or else being a tangled, matted mass which the flood had half levelled with the ground. The Palmerston racecourse was completely under water on Monday, its fences were ruined, and about six chains of the race track and the proposed site of a grand stand were carried away. Mr Buchanan had had his crop cut and put in the stook, but during the flood the sheaves were floating about, and yesterday many of them were thatched in with the fences, against which they had been washed. In Mr Hugh O'Neill'f land there were evidences of the water having topped the fences, aud in one of his paddocks a crop of rye had been laid low. From his property up to the Inch Valley schoolhouse the river seemed to have been running from bank to bank, without overflowing ; but from a short distance above the mill dam to the luch. Valley farm, where the Shag is rockbound, it escaped beyond its proper limits. Mr Peter Lunan, who was one of the sufferers from this, lost all his fences, which it will cost him 140 to replace, and had also about L2O worth of crops destroyed. Mr Magnus Isbister had a number of crossbred sheep drowned, some being washed on to dry patches of his neighbours' land, while others were carried down the stream. Some men who were digging for gold in the bed of the Shag on tribute lost their tools from the river bank, where they had placed them for safety ; and Mr Dreaver, of Dunedin, who was engaged in digging operations a little further down the river, lost his tent and everything but the clothes he was wearing. The large bridge at Mr Kitchener's, The Grange, which was expected to collapse, escaped, but the middle pier has sunk I2in in its foundations. Three footbridges across the river have, however, been swept away. The one at Deem'fi, Green Valley, was the first to succumb, md as it was dashed along with the flood it helped to carry away what was known as Hunter's bridge. Then, again, the latter, colliding with the Inch Valley bridge, contributed to its collapse. A couple of breaches in the county road at Green Valley are reported, but generally the upper part of the district escaped well.

The most exciting incident of the flood on Monday was the rescue (some particulars of which have been already given) of Mr David Walker, a small settler, who was farming an area of 27 acres at the junction of the Shag river with Muddy creek. The same settler has been flooded out on more than one previous occasion, and the position of his holding almost invites calamity, for when the Shag is swollen a quantity of its surplus water is backed up the creek until the latter also is in flood. MrThos. Short, of the North-East Valley, who was an eye-witness of the occurrence, informed our reporter that on Monday morning there was only sft or 6ft of water in Muddy creek, and that an .hour later he saw smoke curling from Mr Vv r alker's chimney. Up till 7 a.m., when there was about Bft of water in the creek, Mr Walker and his family could have got out of the house without assistance, but from that time the water rose rapidly till the dejith was 18ft. At 10 a.m. signals for help were displayed by Mr Walker, who had by knocking a hole in the roof of his house got on to the ridge, and in response to the appeal a boat was conveyed from Shag Point. Manned by Messrs Stewart, Frew, and others, the boat made two journeys to the house, removing four women in the first load and three men in the second. The cattle were left standing up to their backs in water, and they escaped, being found yesterday morning in a district road. The family, on returning to the house, found that one of the pigs had taken possession of a bed, and was calmly surveying the damage.

The flood has been the death t>f many of the rabbits in the Shag Valley district. It is stated that about 300 of them were hemmed m at the.

Shag bridge on Monday, and that all were destroyed.