TRACK OF THE STORM

Following torrential rain in many places a severe gale his swept the North Island, the width of its track being exceptional. In the Auckland Province two men have been drowned and in Palmerston North one has been killed, but a greater loss of life might have been anticipated. Railway, road and telegraphic communications have been interrupted, power and tram services have been dislocated, there has been flooding in many quarters and a vast amount of damage, mainly of a minor character, has been done. One of the Cook Strait ferry steamers was in jeopardy and scores of small craft suffered through the stern testing of their moorings. Not since March, 1918, has Auckland experienced such a prolonged gale and not for many years such a storm of rain and wind. Orchards and gardens have lost part of the harvest of the year and many individuals will count a loss of to them serious dimensions. The Government and local bodies will have to face a heavy aggregate bill for repairs, the penalty which such visitations usually impose with a strong hand in young countries, where, at the best, many works represent a stage of transition. But there is room for thankfulness that the storm demon of this clime does not develop the ferocity it displays in Bome of the continents. New Zealand t knows nothing of the real tornado of America nor of the full fury of the elements which parts of Australia sometimes receive. The Dominion of recent years has suffered two severe but localised earthquakes but never a tidal wave, which often enough causes havoc and loss of life in Florida. The cyclonic storms which periodically spread destruction over the Pacific Islands are mercifully spared New Zealand. There is ground, - therefore, - for thankfulness and anyone with a philosophic cast of mind who yesterday caught the exultant note from wayfarers struggling against the blast may, upon reflection, see emphasis given to this thankfulness.