A TEMPESTUOUS HOLIDAY. EFFECTS OF A SOUTHERLY GALE.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 89, 12 October 1904, Page 6

A TEMPESTUOUS HOLIDAY. EFFECTS OF A SOUTHERLY GALE.

It is no new thing to have bad weather on Labour Day. In fact, looking back over a long series of October denonstraticns, the majority of them will probably be found to have suffered from adverse weather conditions, either in the form of wind and dust or rain and cold. The holiday comes, as it were, between the seasons, and catches the equinoxial winds. Signs of a storm were visible yesterday, consequently the programme of events set out was governed by the expressive " if " — if it should be fine. The change came in the night, when a southwesterly gale broke, in, which has raged since with almost cyclonic force. Dawn was ushered in dismally. The wind was then* at its height, and rain ■was falling in torrents, creating miniature cataracts from the high levels to the low. Happy the citizen with a comfortable bed and nothing to draw him forth ! The town this morning was littered in parts with flotsam and jetsam brought down by wind or water. Plantations flogged by the gale had shed branches and lea\es in all directions, fences were down in places, the water channels were choked, and the streets were sloppy and dirty. Out in the harbour "white horses" chased each other in monotonous procession, and scud flew before the wind. Mariners reported that the heaviest sea experienced for many a- day was running in the harbour. The atmosphere was cold and clammy, due to the piercing nature of the wind and the " salty " character of the air. The severity of the night's rainfall may be gauged from the fact that nearly an inch and a quarter fell between midnight and 9 o'clock this morning. It was some source of tsatisf action, however, to find that the glass began to rise again this morning, which leads lo the hope that the gale will not last long. Few people made their appearance in the streets this morning, though some rose early and struggled down to tha Manawatu station en route to the race "meeting at Otaki. The Labour Day programme proper was abandoned, the Trades Council, which had arranged to hold a picnic at Day's Bay, wisely deciding that on such a day there is " no place like home." The event was accordingly postponed, and a further attempt will be made to carry out the programme on the 9th November. All other out-of-door amusements have also had to be put off until a more favourable season. The business places in the city, however, are .closed, and the holiday is being kept in name, if without pomp and circumstance. The only big steamers which arrived this morning experienced great difficulty in reaching their berths at the extreme end of the Queen's Wha-rf, which was exposed to the full force of the gale. The Moeraki made her first attempt to get up to the wharf at about 8 o'clock, but she was not moored until 10 o'clock. The Rotomahana arrived from Lyttelton at 9 o'clock, but she also was mancevvring for about two hours before being berthed. The sports which were to have been held at Petone this afternoon, and at which the Arnst brothers, the Canterbury cyclists, were to have completed, were postponed. The gale raged furiously along the harbour frontage between Kaiwarra and Petone, and churned the sea into a mass of foa,m. Two small open boats and a large punt resembling a Harbour Boai - d craft were washed ashore, whilst the barque Maelgwyn, moored off Kaiwarra, dragged her anchors, and appears to be very close in to shallow water. The large ocean liner Athenic, which is also moored off Kaiwarra, has two anchors out, and is straining heavily on them. ♦THE HOLIDAY AT OTHER - CENTRES. [by Telegraph — pkbss association.] AUCKLAND, This Day. Labour Day is being observed as a pretty close holiday, even wholesale houses closing at noon. The procession of trades was the best yet held in Auckland, making a splendid display, which took an hour to pass a given point. The weather is showery, Avhich may prevent the programme of sports being carried out. An aquatic carnival is also ibeing held at Motutapu, comprising swimming events, with hakas and other Maori dances. DUNEDIN, This Day. Though it is still raining northward of Waitati, where there was a, heavy fall of snow last night, the weather to the southward has cleared. In the city it is quite fine overhead Racing at Wingatui and labour sports at Outram are the principal attractions for the holiday, but the dampness of the ground affected the attendance at both. Later. The weather has turned very cold again, and snow fell to-day at Naseby and Roxburgh. OAMARU, This Day. It rained heavily all night, and there was a fall of hail this morning. All outdoor arrangements are cancelled. The weather is now dry, but there is a heavy south-wesfc gale. A close holiday is being observed. .