Christchurch Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume XX, Issue 1003, 13 October 1893, Page 6

Christchurch Notes.

+ . [Fhom Our Own Correspondent.] Beautiful weather is being experienced all over Canterbury now. The severe ' southerly burster ' of the 30th September seems to have effectually cleared the air. On that particular day the cold was keen enough for mid-winter, and considerable damage was done to the young crops and fruit trees. During Thursday night and Friday the wind was very strong, and a good number of trees were blown down, and roofs lifted off outhouses. Thgre was a light fall of snow on the hills, bub none on the plain. Saturday was one of the finest days we have had this season, and at noon the heat was strong enough to please anyone. The lambing season is now over, and the percentage is said to be very good. The official returns have not yet been published, but I am informed that this season will compare very favorably with the past one. Shorn sheep are already in the market. Shearing will be commenced on most of the big stations this month. Several sheep-owners have been advertising for shearers. The rate seems to be about 16s $d per hundred and found. Things political are very quiet at present, but with the close of the session we may expect the fighting to -commence in earnest. There are now 10 candidates announced for the city, so we will have plenty to pick arid choose from. Two men were arrested on Saturday on a charge of^ burglary. They. had entered a carriage factory on the East Belt and stolen several articles, including blank cheques. Two of these were forged, and one of the accused attempted to pass them, and this led to the capture of the pair. On examination the number on the forged cheques were found to correspond with the block in the book in the hands of thb' police. Both mcli were charged at the Police Court on Monday on charges of burglary and forgery and Remanded. The iron-built barque Evelyn, bound from Newcastle to Lyttelton with a cargo of coal, is supposed to have gone down somewhere in the vicinity of Cbok. Strait with all hands on board. Steamers coming from northern ports last Saturday and Sunday , reported having passed through a large quantity of wreckage, including portions. of = lifeboats, spars, and deck-fittings of a large vessel. On some of the wreckage the name 'Evelyn" could be mad^put, and as this barque was overdue,: some anxiety was felt. A tug boat was sent out from Wellington tp look for the" unfortunate sliip,j ;. : , but ; nothing .but wreckage could be found, .■ Yjt ig ; np^

supposed, that in coming through the strait under full sail the ship must have been struck by the storm wtoich was raging over the Colony' on the 30th September, and gone to the bottom with all hands. Probably nothing more will ever be heard of this fine boat and her crew. An unusually large number of vessels,, homeward bound from New Zealandports, have met- with rough treatment on the passage. The ship Wellington (Captain Cowan), bound frora Picton to London; came iiitO collision with an iceberg off the Falkland Islands, the force of the collision killing two men in their bunks, besides doing considerable . damage to ths ships. The bowsprit and everything forward were completely, carried away, withpiart of the stem down to the second, plate. The foreyard and foretopsail yards were right, but all above that were gone. The hawse-pipe was smashed and the windlass damaged, and the forestays and fastenings were gone altogether. Fortunately the collision bulkheads held out, and with the aid of sails stretched across the bows, the vessel was kept afloat, and put into Rio de Janeiro for repairs. Another vessel/ the. Highland Forest, from Timaru, had a rather exciting time of ifc with bad weather and ice. A private letter received in Lyttelton gives the following account of the voyage :— ' The sea that was raised by the gale took away the wheel and wheel-box, besides companion ladders and other things from the deck, and smashed in the main hatch. In heaving the vessel to she went over on her beam ends, with fore and mainyards in the water, and lay in that position for three days, during . whioh the gale raged with all its fury. The weather was bitterly cold, and a great many of the crew were frost-bitten, and, to add to their discomfort, they were unable to got anything to eat or drink, as all the stores handy were spoiled. The lower topsail and foresail were cut away, and all the starboard bulwarks were carried away. On the third day the glass started to rise, and gradually, as the weather moderated, the vessel righted. For the next three days nothing was done but effect repairs. In latitude. 49deg. to 47deg. south and longitude 47deg. to 50deg. west fully 150 icebergs were passed, some a mile long and averaging from 250 ft to 500 ft in height. Fortunately tbe weather at this time was fine, and the vessel was kept well clear of the bergs.' These are only two of the many that have been at the mercy of the elements.