GALE, SNOW, AND THUNDER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 49, 26 February 1916, Page 17

GALE, SNOW, AND THUNDER.

THE NEW TEAR COMBS IN LIKE A LION. , , On January 1 a gale caneed much damage in various parts-of the United Kingdom. In the Yorkshire moorland district the high wind was accompanied by snow, rain and thunder.' At Hull shipping "was greatly inconvenienced, and the ferry service was held up for some hours. A pontoon at the Corporation Pier was swamped; It was eventually towed into' an adjofnfng dock, where it sank. Extraordinary scenes were .-witneaed at Liverpool. A s,oo<M:on - steamer, the Midland, iv ballast, lying-in the Mersey, wasdrlvcn on to the landing stage, where it took possession of the Birkenhead, Seacombe and New Brighton ferry berths. The ferry boats, skilfully'handled, did .not suffer. At the Bon.-Marche, in Church Street, sis plate-glass windows were blown In, and blouses and customers were sent careering down the street! -The boarding round the Liverpool Cathedral was blown down, a passing lady having. a narrow, escape. . ' / ' At Leicester the hurricane created consternation in the open-air market-place. Many canvas and wooden stalls were wrecked, some of them Eelrig blown into the air. A cyclist ;was blown off his machine and-run over by a motor car, but happily escaped with; Blight injury. The roof of a new 'munition works at Sheffield was blown Into a field.' The. chimney-stack of a dwelling-house "in; Attercliffe was wrecked, crashing through' the roof on to a bed and severely injuring an invalid lady. Telegraph and telephone wires were blown hockey and football matches had to be postponed. A number of sheds have been, blown down at Bebrlngton" ' show ground, Cheshire. One man was killed; fourteen soldiers had to be treated, at "the hospital, and many others were slightly injured. Thousands of trees have been blown down in Warwickshire. The war price of timber being so high, many of them have already been sold, and do time will be lost in cutting them up. A cross on St Mary's Catholic Churca at Bradford blew 08, and, falling through the roof of a picture theatre, lulled a boy and injured two other persons. A severe westerly gate raged In the Channel on December 31, and continued throughout New Year's Day. The Dover Harbour tug went out to the assistance* of a Dutch steamer damaged in the storm. The survivors of the Danish barque Dana were brought to South Shields after a terrible experience. The Dana; which had a cargo <ot timber, became waterlogged, and one of the crew was drowned before a trawler arrived and with great difficulty took off the survivors from the wreck. All the men were terribly exhausted. The three-masted Swedish schooner Clara came ashore at Girdleness, near Aberdeen, and broke in- two. There was no trace of the crew, -but as the schooner's small boat was gone it is conjectured that the crew had abandoned-the vessel when it got into--difficulties. Considerable-damage was.caused all over Monmouthshire, houses being unroofed, telegraph and telephone wires broken down, trees uprooted, and hoardings and windows smashed. Great floods are reported from various parts of South Wales.

During the gale Edmnnd Waller's walnut tree In Beaconaneld Churchyard, which has withstood the -storms of ' centuries, suffered the loss of two-large limbs, whieli were ; blown off and fell within two feet of the marble monument which surmounts the grave of the poet. The railings snrlouudlng the prove were, daaiajcd, bnt the nionun'.ciit cfcnpDti Injury..