YESTERDAY’S TELEGRAMS

Patea Mail, Volume XII, Issue 14, 19 May 1886, Page 2

YESTERDAY’S TELEGRAMS

INTEKPEOVLVCIAL. (special to press ASSOCIATION.) Dunedin, May 17. : A fatal accident occurred \ju3t about 5 o’clock this afternoon. The unemployed working in Devon-street (across street from Princess-street) have been firing blasts withipi the past few,.,days, ust a little befqrd 5 d’clockia fcl»st wai let off, and, either by top much. jaowd&r, being used, or not' sufficient binding, or probably both/ the istpnes/ sdmetof them of very large size, were hurled sotne distance 'Away. ' Some feß-An Princess-street, usually crowded atj that time, and an-expressman is said to have had his thigh fractured.! A number fell on the roofs of shops in Prigcess-street, and one large onej which came crashing through the roof of the Lpndsn photographic rooms, crushed and instantly killed Mrs Finch sister of the wife of the proprietor, Mrs Irvine. Mrs Irvine herself, who was sitting working at the same table, and her skull fractured.;and her recovery is doubtful. Two other ladies sitting in the same room received slight injuries. As the blast took place in a deep cutting, 2000 feet, and : the stones must have passed over the intervening houses, the force of the explosion may be judged; who it-is stated that the London, photographic rooms are fully 150 yards distant from where the blast took place. Showers of stones fell on houses in the vicinity, and some periejtrated other roofs, while, a clnmney of one was wrecked. The facines used for blinding wore found about 80 yards away. Blasting operations are said to have been in charge of one of the unemployed, who receivee an extra 6s per day ' ! Wellington, May 17. ; ■

The galeyesterday , did but little damage in town, except the uprooting of trees and dislodging chimnep pots. With the exception of one or two small yachts, being sunk, the shipping escaped The Hutt railway line was in one part washed away for about, 30 yards, leaning the surplus suspended for a considerable distance at either side of the break. The Wall was undermined and tunnelled by the sea, renderjng 'it, precarious; for probably 100 yards. I consequence of the obstructing it was necessary to send out a train from town to reach Petone, aM ; the Hutt passengers could be transferred at f the beach, and the same system was continued during, the day. The Hutt river was a good deal swoollen last night, ibut was hot in heavy ’flood. Some, damage has however, been done near Belmont. An elderly settler named John Paingle, was ' residing by himself in a small wooden house near the river bank. At daylight this morning it was observed by the neighbouring settlers that the house had disappeared, and the old man was seen standing on a small patch of ground, cut off from the main?, land by the, river, having made a fresh branch. Various efforts were made to rescue him from his dangerous position, but it was not until half-past 8 o’clock that a lad on horseback, leading another horsey managed to swim across and bring him off. ;

At Masterton heavy rains have fallen since midnight on Saturday. The railway bridge at Waingawa is dangerous, and the southward piers being loosened traffic is stopped. The newly-completed bridge at Wainuioru has been washed away, and all the scaffolding of the Waipoua was washed over the Opaki culverts, which were well up. The roads are unpassable.

The weather cleared up this morning the rain ceasing, and the wind graduating into a fresh breeze. The steamer Rotorua, from Lyttelton, had a very rough passage, and last night anchored under Cape Campbell, again early this morning. During the passage part of railing was washed away, the steering gear put of order, and the quadrant broken. The steamer Te.Anau which arrived from Napier at 1 o’clock this morning, after a passage occupying 46 hours, had extremely severe weather. After being 31 hours on the passage, she made Cape Campbell light, andjthen made for Pencarrow light, which, owing to the thicil weather, she was ;uhable to • pick ■ up, so Captain"' Mclntosh; stood off and on, blit this morning (so three or four of the passengers state), when the position of thd vessel was ascertained she ,was in elose proximity to the mainland, and she was put about and headed for Wellington. | Auckland, May 17.' Archibald Cpok, . , aged 10, wis drowned jglayifigiat the’tiinber booms in Freeman’s Bay. John Frosdyke, who was seriously burned at the fire'at Borsboom's lodging house, died at the hospital. At the inquest on the first victim, who is still qmdeutified, the verdict wasdeath froin a fall. A rider was added to the effect that official supervision of boarding and lodging houses should be enforced, and fire escapes; instead insisted on. A. Maori woman was burnt to death in a whare at Kbikiri.