THE HIGH GALES.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXIX, Issue 46, 17 January 1913, Page 5

THE HIGH GALES.

The high gales of this week caused considerable inconvenience as well as damage in some instances. Shops in Clyde street suffered through the dust nuisance, and yesterday, when it was apparent that the wind had at last subsided, shophands had a busy time clearing up. On Tuesday, at mid-day, the borough daymeu, with the aid of a fire brigade hose, poured water from the hydrants all over Clyde street, which had the effect of keeping the dust down for the remainder of the day. In this instance the benefits of the borough water supply were apparent, and through the thorough flushing out the water was improved, but it was a pity that this step had not been taken early in the morning, as a good deal of harm had already been done by the dust. One of the sheets of iron on the roof of the water tower was loosened on Tuesday, but Mr John Sheddan, waterworks engineer, had this attended to as soon as possible. Some panes of glass were smashed in houses in Balclutha, and a few other minor losses incurred. Trees were snapped, poplars proving easy victims to the relentless gale. As precautions were taken to immediately cut down broken limbs of trees there were no mishaps. The earlier crops suffered to an extent according to their exposure, and in places there are patches almost completely ruined. The belated growth of the straw, however, saved what might have been a serious loss. In the Hilleiul district the velocity of the wind was most felt, and the nor-wester scattered stacks to the four winds, in some places blowing sheaves fifty yards away. A good deal of threshing has yet to be done in this district, and sheaf stacks, standing like sentinels on the hills, awaiting the threshing mills, were lowered, and scattered. On Mr Little's farm there an l six sheaf stacks down, and on Mr Eaitt's four. Mr Reid, Puke Ma, had a good crop of early oats, almost ready for cutting, ruthlessly flattened and tangled, and it will be most difficult to reap it with a machine. Mr T. Jones, of Greenfield, was lucky in having his early oat crop cut, and as it was not stooked the wind passed harmlesslv over his field.

While the raging wind tempered the heat of the sun's rays in Clutha, northern towns were suffering from a heat wave. In Dunedin the temperature on Tuesday was over 00 in the shade, and from centres right up the line there come reports of intense heat, which withered vegetation.