Early Days in Central Otago

Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 6

Early Days in Central Otago

Being Tales > of Times gone by 9

by

Robert Gilkison

CHAPTER XVIII.—THE GREAT MOLYNEUX FLOOD OF 1878.

Thou royal river, born of sun and shower, In chambers purple with the Alpine glow, Wrapped in the spotless ermine of the snow, And rocked by tempests 1 At the appointed hour, Forth like a steel-clad horseman from a tower With clang and clink of harness dost thou go To meet thy vassal torrents, that below - Rush to receive thee, and obey thy power, And now thou movest in triumphal march, A king among the rivers! —Longfellow. One of the most terrible visitations to Central Otago since its first settlement was the great Molyneux flood of 1878. Although, fortunately, unlike the Old Man Flood of 1863, it was not accompanied by great loss of life, the destruction wrought by it of public and private property was far greater than that caused by any earlier storms. The damage done to bridges and roads was immense, and many private people were ruined by the action of the alldevouring river.

The winter of 1878 was a long and very severe one. Great falls of snow took place on the mountains, and it was said in some ravines the drifts. lay 100 ft thick. Hard frosts and further falls consolidated the snowfields, and those who knew Otago well prophesied a flood unless the spring weather should allow it to get away gently and gradually. The conditions which followed were the worst possible. All through the winter and early spring the snow lay on the ranges. In September came a hot°nor’west wind which blew 7 for several days and commenced a general melting process; this was followed by thirty-six hours of continuous warm rain, which caused a very rapid thawing of the snow. On the 26th September the Molyneux began to rise ominously and rapidly, and soon that great river was in full flood. On the 30th came another downpour and a second flood, and on the 10th of October there came a third equally serious. The result of these natural changes was most disastrous, and for more than a fortnight the river was higher than ever known before or since.

The Shotover River, boiling down in flood to its junction with the Kawarau, stopped the outflow from Lake Wakatipu, and actually flowed into that lake. The Clutha rose from thirty-five to forty feet at Cromwell bridge, and all the other tributaries became swollen torrents.

The Molyneux itself ran bank-high, its wide, deep channel filled with turbid yellow water which was higher in the centre than the side, and, sweeping down with a hollow roar, carried all before it. Its terrible current overflowed the low lands and undermined the high gravel banks, which, unable longer to control it, fell in with a crash. The torrent, rushing along like a maddened beast, struck terror into the hearts of beholders as they viewed its boiling eddies and whirlpools, its rapids and runs and races, and in places its surface spread out to miles wide. It was a sad and sorry sight as it rolled its way to the ocean, its angry surface strewed with dead horses and cattle, houses, bridges, furniture, timber, and farm stacks. For three weeks, more or less, this terrible visitation continued. Some days the spring sun shone with a ghastly pleasantly on the devastated towns, while a hundred miles away more heavy rain on the mountains was preparing still greater strength for the flood. When a mighty river like, the Molyneux rises in its wrath, the efforts of man to stay or avoid it seem indeed puny and of small avail.

_ Soon all the low-lying lands in the valley were submerged and the higher parts threatened. Then began the great destruction of bridges. Of the fine structures which the colonists had built with great expense and labour to span its course, only two survived —those at Cromwell and Inchclutha. The great bridges at Beaumont and Roxburgh were submerged and carried off. The beautiful suspension bridge at Clyde for some time resisted the onslaught of the current, even after the water was flowing over its decking, but an accumulation of trees and debris gathered against it, and the pressure became so great the wire ropes on one side gave way. Then, with a great effort the flood pushed its way through and swept the whole structure away. On 29th September, at 11.30 a.m. the wreck was seen passing Alexandra, and, later on,’ the remains of the Clyde and Roxburgh bridges, lovingly

linked together, passed Balclutha on their way to the sea. The bridge at Bannockburn joined in the procession, and the pile bridges at Rocky Point and Low r er Shotover were rendered useless for the time by the current forming deep channels at both ends. 1 The traffic bridge at Balclutha held its own through the worst of the flood, and only went at last on the 15th October, when the centre pier was carried away by other bridges or floating lumber. Then the bridge, lacking support, went two feet under the river, and disaster became imminent. Public Works men were rushed to the rescue, but before they arrived there was a grand crash, and the piers and roadway, which had cost £17,000, collapsed, and the wood and irbn work went on its way to the ocean.

At Queenstown the lake rose phenomenally high, and the little Brewery Creek, in boiling flood, flowed over the town. There were soon six feet of water in Eiehardt’s Hotel, and boats navigated Rees and Beach streets rescuing people. Men waded in the streets and gardens up to the breast in water as they removed their furniture and goods, while drays and pack horses assisted. The timber from one of the yards floated aw r ay, and a strong breeze drove the logs against the houses like so many battering rams. The handsome Masonic Hall had holes rammed in its stone walls, Mr Hotop’s chemist’s shop fell in pieces, and Mr Davis’s stone brewery collapsed with a crash. Two old hotels, the Victoria and the Prince of Wales, were both utterly destroyed, and all that part of the town which stood on the lower level suffered severely It was said that in Lake County scarcely a bridge escaped unscathed, all tracks were impassable, the coaches ceased to run, and several families had to fly.

Vincent County suffered equally. At Albert Town Mr Norman’s stables and large store were swept away as well as M‘ Pherson’s punt. Mr Goodger’s beautiful farm near Lowburn was ruined and devastated, mountains or sand being deposited on it. Most of the goldfields towns escaped serious flooding, being built upon gravelly terraces high above the river, but the mighty torrent undermined the high banks and endangered the buildings upon them. About mid-day on Sunday, 28th September, Mr F. J. Wilson, the ioeal solicitor, ran through the streets of Clyde clanging a warning bell and shouting at the top of his voice that volunteers were wanted to remove the hospital. Although standing eighty feet above the river, the current had so worked into the bank as to endanger that building All the men turned out in a body and cut the hospital into sections, and willing hands soon bore to a position of safety the edifice itself and all the contents. Most fortunately, there was only one patient at the time to be looked after.

At Alexandra the street nearest the river was washed away, and one or two houses went also. The water just touched Mr Theyer’s old store and penetrated his house, which was a few feet lower, and in helping to save things Mr John M‘ Kersey, the ferryman, brought his boat up to the veranda steps of the store. The Manuherikia Valley was like a great lake. Many of the houses were built of sods or “ pug,” and when the flood reached these the wails melted away and the roof departed, the poor folks being left stranded and homeless. After the flood this valley was wholly carpeted with several feet of silt, which, though disastrous in its effects upon residences, must in time have proved excellent top-dressing to the land.

At Roxburgh and Miller’s Flat the water was up to the houses, and many mining claims on the river banks were swept out and ruined. At Ettrick there were six feet of water in Mr C. Nicholson’s hotel, his library of books was destroyed, and the flood just reached Mr Brazil’s and Mr M'Leod’s. Had there been a fleet of dredges on the river in 1878, all would undoubtedly have been swept away.

Amongst all the towns, however, Balclutha suffered much the most severely, there being not only several feet of water in the streets, but a strong current running likewise. An old resident, Mr Davidson, was drowned in a

1 Subsequently the Lower Shotover bridge was repaired and again used, but from the day of the flood the Rocky Point bridge was left on an island, the Clutha flowing all around it. As it had thus been rendered useless, the County Council eventually sold it to Messrs W. Stronach and J. Goodger, who broke it up and rafted the timber to Cromwell.

hole which had been scooped out by the flood close to the main street; and Postmaster Wilcox, endeavouring to carry the mails on horseback from the post office to a boat, was very nearly drowned, and with difficulty saved himself and the precious mails. The house of Mr Alex. M'Neil was entirely swept away, and on the 2nd October the house of Mr Rehberg, a carpenter, was seen to be surrounded by water and in danger. The owner and his wife, who was a very large woman, fully fifteen stone weight, scrambled for safety on to the roof, and then the whole building sailed away with, the current. Luckily, the little ark kept intact, and-the passengers clung tightly to the roof, while their vessel seemed to be making straight for the sea; but after an exciting voyage of four miles, it was stopped by the Porter brothers close to the house of Mr Bell, a settler, on Inchclutha. The couple were rescued, and, none the worse of their exciting experience, were taken to-the mainland in the boat steered by Mr W. S. Pillans.

All this time brave efforts had been made to carry succour to those in distress. As the only local boats were small, the Otago Harbour Board sent down a large boat by rail. It was dragged from Lovell’s Flat to Stirling, and there launched in the flood beside the railway line. A strong crew volunteered for it. Mr Pillans was elected captain and took the steer oar; the rest were J. C. Anderson, James Horn, Jpseph Smith, J. Hunter, and another. Their first voyage was across the river to Port Molyneux; and in this journey they sailed straight over islands, hedges, and trees, and in only one place required to cut a fence to get through. All during the flood this crew continued to render valuable assistance wherever wanted, and it was owing to their efforts in changing the direction of floating wreckage that the Matau bridge was saved. After the floods the County Council recognised its indebtedness to this boat’s crew by giving them a vote of £5O; and this, at the request of the others, was handed to the two working men members of the party, who had given their time and sacrificed their wages for fully three weeks.

When a message was brought one morning by- a shepherd who struggled through to Mr Pillans’s station that Mr Fitzclarence Roberts with his wife and children were in great danger at their station, Te Houka, a boat with a crew of five men set off, and after a row of seven miles against the current, through dangers and difficulties, amid snags, currents, and turmoil, succeeded in saving the family, who had taken refuge in the upper storey of their residence. Some idea of the strength of the current may be gained from the fact that it took the men five and a-half hours to go up against the stream and only twenty-five minutes to return. The gallant action of the crew was much commended. Their names should be remembered. They were Dunean Macfarlane, John Phelan, John Muir, T. Muir, and John Anderson.

Throughout the period of the flood boats continued to ply in the streets of Balclutha, bringing residents to safety. " The Mayor of Dunedin, Mr Leary, despatched two boats and volunteer crews to assist the unfortunate. A whaleboat was also despatched, but was not used. The long continuance of the flood and its thrice returning to the attack proved extremely trying to all. After the first rise, when the river began to recede, people thought it was all over, and began to sluice away the silt and replace their furniture, when down came a second as serious as the first, and when, ten days later, the third flood came, many lost heart. So, on 11th October, one hundred and fifty people abandoned their homes and took boats for the north bank, seeking safety in Tokomairiro, the surrounding country, or Dunedin. Tribute must be given to the great kindness and hospitality of the Otago settlers. No sacrifice was too great when called on to render assistance to the homeless ones. One farmer, Mr Johnston, was riding from daylight to dark giving help, and at his farm found accommodation for sixty people. Truly, “ Calamity is man’s true touchstone. ’ ’

For a time the whole of the Clutha and Kaitangata district seemed a large inland sea, with only here and there the roofs of houses and the tops of trees showing above the expanse of water. Spread over the ocean itself were the sad relics of the flood—boxes, barrels, parts of houses, bodies of domestic animals. The crew of a schooner lying in the bay at Port Molyneux were observed to be fishing up carcasses of sheep and cattle for skinning. On the beaches south of the river were between thirty and forty Maoris gathering up the wreckage from the flood. The sailors and the Maoris were the only people who made profit out of this time of catastrophe.

From a national point of view, the most serious result of the flood was the destruction of the port at the mouth of the river. For some years residents of the district had looked forward to a great future for their harbour, and had prophesied it would become the Liverpool of the south. But this was not to be. Nature herself destroyed the port she had provided, and gouged out a new channel, leaving Port Molyneux with its jetty and buildings lone and stranded. The bar which formed at the mouth of the river ruined for the time being the entrance to the harbour, to the very great loss of the district. It is to be hoped that further changes will yet be effected which will again make the port a busy centre for coastal traffic.

Altogether, the loss to the community was truly a terrible one, and to many struggling settlers it meant ruination. A relief fund was raised which alleviated the disaster to the most needy; and the Government came to the rescue of the new counties by giving them votes of money to replace the bridges; but, notwithstanding such assistance, it was many, many years before the Molyneux Valley recovered from the great disaster. The remains of the bridges were collected and sold, the proceeds being divided amongst the counties affected. Happily, no such flood has again visited this district, and it is hoped that in the future the Kawarau dam, by confining the waters of Lake ‘Wakatipu when desired, will enable the

authorities to some extent to control the flood waters from that lake. Quite undaunted, the residents of the valleybore their losses with stoical resignation, and proceeded at once to bring their district back to the same smiling

plenty as before, and also to take whatever steps seemed feasible to prevent a recurrence of the same catastrophe. The bridges have been replaced, but in every case have been built higher than those swept away. Balclutha is now

protected by a magnificent system of embankments, and engmeeis and. architects, in making their works throughout the valley, still remember the flood mark of 1878. The next chapter will be “The Era of Gold Dredging.”