FLOOD IN LYTTELTON.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1589, 7 June 1861, Page 6

FLOOD IN LYTTELTON.

(From the Lyltelton Times.) The wet weather which h:is lusted now for more than tea days came to what seems a climax, though by no means a termination, on Monday night and yesterday morning, when an unusually heavy downfall of rain so added to tfce streams by which Lyttelton is drained, as to cause the Hooding- of the gullies or natural watei courses, and the consequent destruction of a considerable quantity of property of all kinds which the overflowing water chanced to encounter.

Over the watercourse which ri|nl^^^USl^d^P\ close to Oxford street, a great nuiUllf^pf houses :•. ' sire built, and here the : greatest ajnoiint of • damage was done. At Dcrry's '".forge, 1 at : the ' , : corner of Winch ester street* the floor was burst .;•_,. in from below, and the chimney, bellows, . anvil, and tools, together with a quantity of irou dad . coals, and gear of nil kinds, were carried down together into the gully. A mare in a stable at the rear was with difficulty rescued after stand- > ing immersed in water to the neck. A short distance off, a chimney of a new house,' now :■ being built by Captain Sproul, was washed down. Lower down the same watercourse, Child's • smithy received severe damage at t|ie|irear, the : . bank breaking; away with n quahtfijTof iron,. . while the works in baud aiul the tools were submerged. Further on, the water accumulated as it went, and its course was more impeded by the wrecks of closets, pigsties, and other buildings washed away above. The culvert in London street formed a banier as usual, and suffered again as it lias done before; save, that: the last damage not having been repaired, there- " : was on this^'eccasion less to destroy. Mn :! Mason's store and dwelling house close by was - -: t inundated, and the furniture and, a quantity of ; flour spoiled, in all to a considerable value. ■'■ The watercourse just below this, point receives ,; an accession of strength from the drainage of— f the hill on the east, and from, .other ■sources,;; *-v Messrs, Fox and Co. ? s : brick- foundations,. of their new shop were destroyed,, but -greater,; r damage still was done further down. The en? ' : trance of the culvert below this office became "- chockvd, and the water rose to the height of < many feet above it, forming, a miniature lake, ■ beneath 'Messrs-. Campbell's & Co's store, and. flowing into the press and machine rooms. of this establishment, which being on the lower ' floor were flooded above four feet deep, arid every article therein soaked and covered with.. . , many inches of slime. A quantity of paper of some value was injured, the working of. the presses and machine stopped, and the opera*. l : lions of the staff engaged on the establishment of course seriously impeded : thouglv by their .'■' activity and the help of several, friends the • j rooms weie emptied oi water and cleared of ; • mud before the end of the day. . . ' ' Still more serious damage was done at Mr. Olson's, Canterbury Hotel. The cellars, con- / taining stores of all kinds', were not only flooded ' - v but .hurst through in every direction,; and the / lower rooms deluged' by the torrent. Heie some hundreds of pounds worth of goods and? .. property of ali kinds were not only damaged but' • " in many cases swept away entirely ' and; irre- ; ; coverably. The same watercourse ended its > mischief by entering some of the Custom-house ) rooms, alter which it escaped to sea.. Part of the overflow, however, from the London street • culvert running in a westerly direction ■ was ' ', conducted towards the shop of Messrs. Cameron, ■'-•■ Jbrothi vs, on Norwich Quay. Here a .quantity; of veiy valuable drapery goods had been stored , :: on the lower shelves and in unde.i the counters; the water bursting open the back door, entered the house, swamped the dwelling robins, arid ' ; poured into the shop half as high'as the counter. •• The catalogue of mischief done here is iin- j tneuse, and Messrs. Cameron must be con--sidered nearly if not altogether the greatest ' sufferers of the day. ■ ' Between- the eastern and western .water courses several smaller ones intervene.- One of '"' these, which passes under the angle of London. . ; and Canterbury streets, flooded the lower rooms .- A of Mr. Collier's Albion Hotel, and destroyed r much valuable furniture. ' The western watercourse (Salt's gullay) damaged the new culvert at; the > extreme of London street, swept over Mr .Latter's paddock and the bank garden, flowed into the bank itself to the great damage of the furniture, and < destroyed a considerable poition, of the roadway between the Bank and Messrs. Miles and Co.'s store. : '■■''•. These are the chief features of the damage done; the catalogue of minor disasters is immense, and we altogether forbear-to mention the sad effect produced upon tire roads, drains, culverts, I ridges, and paths of the town. The ;. damage done to private property cannot be . : estimated at less than £2,000, and the injuryto public. property at least at half that amount. It is said by old residents that eleven years ago, before the settlement of the. -place, there was a somewhat similar flood in Lyttelton, bat. it had then not so much damage in its power to commit. This flood, which was at its worst between 6 o'clock and half-past 7 on Tuesday =. morning, will not readily be forgotten... We, trust that efforts will be m*ide by the Municipal . Council, if tlmt body be called into existence, ! to see that culverts are made or a proper size ; and construction to carry off any water that . may fall, that so the risk of floods, which ought not to exist in a. town situated as Lyttelton is, may be entirely obviated Tub Ship Cashmbre, Captaiu Petherbridge, sailed for London direct this afternoon, with a: fine breeze from the N.SV. The ' Cashmere' ia the lass wool ship of the season. The estimated value of her cargo is 12s. lid., and when added to that of the other vessels which have preceded her, makes a total of £t28,8H9, us the; value of the „ exports from Wellington for London direct; this sea- , son. Manifest: — 240 bales wool, 1 caaa furniture ' wood^ 1 cask ferns, 78 sheep skins, Levin 6:3 bales and 3 bags wool, 1 bale sheep, skins, 1 , box plants, 1 do. apparel. Betliuno & Hunter; 117 bales wool, Johnston & Co. ; l!Tdo., Stuart Kinross ' & Co.; 9 do., 100 hides, Smith & Co.; 90 bales' and six bags wool, ;Turnbull & Co.;; .26 dp., ; '^79 hides, Hirst; 8 bales wool, Dransfield; T;d?»» Trtylor; 10 do., 4 bales sheep skins, 6 cases plants, ! Lyon ; I caae curiosities,, Costall; 6 casks oil, G. : Moore ; 6 cases shells, W. Lyon ; 27 dd M L.Levy ; 2 cases curiosities, 133 bales wool, 9* bundles sheep ' skins, II cases personal effedfcs, I "case glass, I'car- 1 ! riage, 2 cases, Bowler, Son & Co. ; 7 cases and I■> hhd. shells, W. Bannatyne ; I case, Turnbull <fc , Co. ; 20 bundles sheep skins, G. H. Luxford. Passengers —J. Benwick, Mr. and Mral'TurneU and child— W. Bowler, Son, <& Co.'i Agents. ; - . Recapitulation. •."•.; £ -B.:d. 710 bales and 9 bags, wool ' ..16881 16 % "\ 36 v and 78 sheep skins' - 1 147 0 0. ; 40 cases and I hhd. shells . •' . . 350 6:0 * 6 casks cocoa nut oil , . -67 6.' 9.; ; 079 hides • 199 JO; 0 ;, I case furniture woods & 'QlO > 0 cases and I box plants SS. O'O; 1 cask ferns ' s .10 .'0;,_0; V; 1 box apparel 10 0 .',o. ■'.'•'-■' 2 cases and I box curiosities To 0 P . " ' . , 1 case hosiery , ... , ... '„ BD,.ioiiQ i'tj. ■",;■}';• 12 cases personal effdeta, 2 guns, I ; ; ., -j ,;n . carriage- . 820 0 , 0' ; ] ; 20 bu ndlea sheep sldns ' 80 -\ 5 0 v. 0 { V v Totals; £16,418^ 11; ,; V -■'■-. , ..; Jt l '.' -'■' . •

The French Transport Ship J'Doiuda," 600 tons: -4 guns, Commander Sabourin, left Sydney on the Cth May, met with contiaiy^ jtinds th© whole way, and has jdst put into this port for sup-^ plies,' after which eh© will pioceed on hfor Voyftgd to Tahiti.