THF FLOODS ON THE TAIERT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2505, 26 March 1902, Page 45

THF FLOODS ON THE TAIERT.

EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO CROPS. Although the flood on the Paieri Plain this year did not pro\o <«o disastrous as that of Xo\ ember, 1900. still <: \\j= sufficient to o.iii'e f aimers thu gravc-t atnioty. and to entail a loss to the listrict which nui.-t amount to ?o\cral thousands of pounds ulicn everything is reckoned up. A peculla. feature of this year's flood uas the -lowne«-s of the river m rising, and thi-* undoubtedly minimised the effect of he inundation, a* the water had more time to get away. In view of past experiences me might reasonably have expected that ;ome of the fsirmer-> whose noidings adjoir the river would havo taken the precaution to mo\e theii stodc )ai-lier than they did. instead of incurring uuiiecesaary risk. Possibly the rivpr ] i=ing mora slowly than usual tended r< allay tlieir anxieties. At any rate, some of the settlers did net consider it expedient tc move their oattle before 9 o'clock yc.-terday morning, wlien ihe operation was attended with no little risk and difficulty.

One^of our reporters -Irove round the district yesterday in the endeavour to aain gome idea of the extent of the damage. The chief sufferers from tho flood appear to be Mc-fsr= Murray (Riverside). A. Morton, aid Wm. Shand. All thps? places Mere only accessible Yesterday by boat, and everything in th<» \aturc of crop was completely submerged. Over 100 head of cattle were removed from Mr Shand's property yesterday morning by Kwimminpr them out on to high land on the Owhiro side. Mi W. Blackie'* property .suffered less than by any flood th-it has ot< urred within recent years: but Mr Douglas vvas not so fortunate, and had to remove all iii= «tock fc safer "round. At 10.30 ye>teiday morning the v.ntcr wa? up to the Ouhno road and was r-tiil rising. The Meadombank ( iropert3% owned by Mr W. Shand and jcchi;>ied by 'Mr Shaw, was lmo-t entirely covered, but .he tod- w.is all taker oi\-ay before tho situation bscamo dangerous Ve 5 terday Mr Shaw informed Dtir reporter that he had >nly about half an ere of diy lai.d left, and he had 42 head of cattle on it. His pigs were taken o Glasgow farm for safety. Mr Youug, of ilelenslea, beiug m higher land, came off fairly well coaiparcd v\ith nis neighbours Mi W. Kirk, whose farm i« below Mr Shand's. had the misfoitune to lose 20 acrec of turnips ir addition to having 15 acres of crop under water. The flooding of the turnip field means practically the loss jf about £100 worth jf winter feefl. Mr Shand had 30 acres of turnips which are al=o ruined, and Mr R. Law had several acres of oats mibmerged. Messrs Cullender Bros., being

protected by the embankment, have practically escaped without any very serious loss. Mr John Allan, of "The Holmes J' lost a few acre 3of crop. Along towards Otakaia a broad expanse of turgid flood water met the eye, and several of tho farmers in that locality suffered heavily. Passing at about 11 o'clock the water appeared to be within a few inches of the railway line, but at_no point was the line corered. Mr W. M'Kay had about 50 acres of crop in stook, nearlyall of yrhich has been ruined, and his loss is thus decidedly severe. His 3i€ighbour, Mr Flett, had had 20 acres in turnips and a little more in wfteat. The water was encroaching on the turnip field yesterday, but unless there was a maiked r^e in the river, the greater nortion would be safe. Mr H. Palmer's paddocks were down in grass this season, so the flooding will not do much harm. Mr W. Palmer's, however, had a good deal of crop damaged. Mr J. Bruce had some 80 odd acres in oats which the tlood water has played havoc with, and Craig and Sons, closa by, have fared, if anything, rather wors->. Round about Henley the damage was slight. and the Estate Company did not think it necessary to move any stock. The nibankment held firm, and only onu spot caused any anxiety. This was at the box on B chain, in the vicinity of Otakaia. and a gang of men was busily engaged yesterday in effecting repairs with sand bag=. A foolish rumour was circulated in Mosgiel dining the day- that in two or thiee places lower down breaches had been made in the embankment, but- the fact that at that time the water was rising- at Owhiro precluded the possibility of anything of the kind having taken place. At the Henley bridge the water came within 18in of the beams if the bridge, aud an enormous volume of thick, swirling, vcllow water rushed past, bearing pieces )f timber, sheaves of corn, and all kind* of tlebrif along its angry surface. Sonu of the residents, armed with poles, prevented the accumulation of floating umber, etc., against the piles. At only one point did the water touch the Main South road, and this was at Christie's Gully, between Otakaia and Henley, wheiv it was knep-deep. Across towards the Berwick side. Lee Creek aud other creeks coming doivn frdrn the Maungatua overflowed their baiik? and did a tfood deal of damage. The chief sufferers were Messrs N. Rosa, Baxter. Sinclair, Lyall, and Heenan, who&o land was all more or l&s« inundated, to the detriment of the crop?

So far no eases of Icos of stock have been reported, although it is quite possible that when the flecks and herdi come to be counted up again after the flood is all over some will be missing-.

A message from Henley last night at about 8 o'clock brought the cheering news that the worst appeared to be over, and the river had fallen 4in since 5 o'clock. A further telegram was received from Middlomarch of a still more reassuring nature, slating that the rain had fctopped and the river had gone down about 2ft. From this onwards there should be a steady subsidence of the water.

As. far as cur reporte. could pscertain vfsterday, few of the bridges had suffered damage, with tho exception of one at Woodside, neai Mi Fulton*, which it was reported had been washed away.

The raad from Mosgiel to Outram was impassable yesterday, and sft of warfr revered the road at the approach to the West Taieri bridge.