NAPIER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVIII, Issue XIX, 8 May 1897, Page 585

NAPIER.

Dear Bee, April 22. Instead of having quite a bright letter for you this week, full of the Easter festivities, as I expected, owing to the TERRIBLE FLOODS and loss of life in this district there is nothing but gloom and trouble everywhere. On Good Friday the rain came down in torrents all day, and some of the low-lying streets were flooded from fence to fence. At about six o’clock in the evening a dull roar was heard, and shortly after a large body of water surged across the swollen river till it gradually reached the town, and flooded some of the houses to a depth of four feet. After some little time it became known that the protective bank of the river at Meanee had given way. The inhabitants of Clive on Friday and Saturday were in a pitiable condition, and to attempt to describe the distress and terror which prevailed daring that time is impossible. On Friday afternoon the Mayor received a message saying that help was urgently needed at Clive, and at about 10 p.m.

the pilot boat, manned by an able crew, was sent to the rescue. It was carried by train as far as Broadbents' woolshed ; but from there two hundred yards of rail had been washed away, and the river, which had formed for itself a new mouth, was rushing fiercely towards the sea. The crew with great difficulty rowed across the torrent, and thence to Clive, where they did good service in the work of rescue. It is feared that Mr Broadbent is drowned, as his cottage was washed out to sea, and he has not been heard of since. A rescue party in two boats started for Clive on Friday night, but in crossing the Waitangi their boats began to drift with the current, and it is supposed that the flood waters burst across the place and carried both the boats and their occupants out to sea be£ond all reach of human aid. In No. 1 oat were Messrs F. Ansell, A. McCartney, F. Cassin, H. Briery and John Rose, and in No. 2 boat were Sergeant O’Donovan, Constable Stephenson, and Messrs H. G. Oborn, G. Chambers, and J. Prebble. In spite of the heavy downpour the Cathedral was beautifully decorated on EASTER SUNDAY, and some lovely flowers were sent by members of the congregation. The church was draped in gold and white, and the decorations were carried out to correspond. The altar and screen were undertaken by Mesdames Hovell and Fraser, and the stone font, which showed well from the body of the church, by the Misses Cross. On the lectern the letters * I.H.S.’ in yellow chrysanthemums were arranged on a bed of the same flowers in white by the Misses Locking. The litany stool was prettily done by Miss Edwards, and the pulpit by the Misses Ormond and Watt. The church was crowded at the evenings service, when prayers were offered for the little daughter of Mr Walker, one of the proprietors of the Hawke's Bay Herald. She fell down a cliff twenty feet high, and was unconscious for twelve hours, but though in a precarious condition, she is gradually recovering.

Marjorie.