VIOLENT WEATHER.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 72, 25 March 1912, Page 7

VIOLENT WEATHER.

GALE ON 'NEWFOUNDLAND COASTS. THREE MEN DROWNED. STEAMER OVERDUE— FISHING VESSELS MISSING. By Telegraph.— Press Aseocifttlon.-Copyrlght, ST. JOHN'S, 23rd March. A violent gale is raging around the coasts of Newfoundland. Three men were drowned in a small boat, and a member of the crew of the steamer Portia wae washed overboard and drowned. The steamer Erna, bound from Glasgow for St. John's, is twenty days overdue. She carried a crew of twentyseven, and is believed to have been lost. Several veeeele belonging to the fishing fleets are missing. SWOLLEN RIVERS. MUCH COUNTRY INUNDATED. TOWN FLOODED. PITTSBURG, 22nd March. The rivers in Pennsylvania are all swollen, and great floods in the valleys of the Alleghanny mountains are devastating large areas. Coal mines and factories are shut down in many places, and thousands of people are idle in tho western portion of the (State. So far one death has been recorded. A' gorge on the Kanakee- river is choken by ice, and the overflowing waters are flooding the town of Wilmington. TERRIFIC STORM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. SHIP GOES TO PD2CES. , ANOTHER ON THE BEACH. LOSS oFIiFE. PERTH, 24th March. A terrific storm was experienced at Balk Balla, the port of the Pilbarra district, on Wednesday. The Norwegian ship Crown of England, an iron veefiel of 1847 tons, built in 1883, went ashore and broke to pieces, and eight of her men are missing. The Swedish ship Concordia, 1038 tons, is on the beach, but is intact, and ha» a fair chance of refloating. A number of lighters were also' wrecked. The gale swept the north-west coast from Broome to Roebourne. Telegraphic communication is interrupted and details are meagre. It is known that four men are dead, and the bodies of the mate and steward of the Crown of, Eligland have been washed ashore. Seven witnesses in a murder trial, returning to Balla Balla in a lugger, were capsized, and two, M'Guinnesa and Hill, perished. Torrential rain accompanies the gale. Nine inches were recorded at Roebourne, which caused serious floods. [The' barque Concordia, mentioned in the cable from Perth, is an iron veesel. In October last, when voyaging from Swansea, to Balla Balla, she had to put into Fremantle, her cargo of coal being on fire. The closing of the hatches had prevented the fiist spreading extensively, and it was got under quickly.3 FROM WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY. FURTHER DETAILS OF THE STORM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA. BODIES RECOVERED. SEVERAL BUILDINGS BLOWN DOWN. (Received March 25, 10 a.m.) „ ' PERTH, This Day. Further details show that the storm laoted from Wednesday to Friday. Another body, that of a Greek fisherman,^ has been found. The- steamer Bullara has arrived at Cossack Roads. She was three days out from Port Hedland. Ordinarily it is a ten hours' run. The vessel encountered the full force of the gale. Her funnel was carried away and crashed through the deck. The vessel drifted notwithstanding the fact that she had full steam up and both anchors down. LUGGERS LOST. Two Japanese have reported that the lugger Clara was wrecked at Depuch Island. They swam ashore. They state that four coloured men and one white are still missing. The lugger Karrakatta. and another supposed to be the Britannia — were anchored close to the Clara. No trace can be found of them, and it is supposed they eank. Two unknown luggers afio disappeared during the blow. The captain and a portion of the crew of tho Crown of England have arrived at Balla Balla, and reported that they buried six of the crew on Depuch Island, making a total of eleven bodies found. DAMAGE ASHORE. The damage ashore extended over a wide area. The town of Roeburne was flooded. A portion of the Point Sampson jetty, alao the tramway between Point Sampson and Cossack were washed away. Two hotels were blown down at Balla Balla, and other buildings damaged. All the telegraphic lines north of Geraldton were blown down. It is not likely that further news will be received to-day. DANGEROUS ANCHORAGE. The Balla Balla anchorage is recognised as dangerous. It lies between Depuch Island and the mainland, and is ewept by strong high tides, being open to storms. Lost year the steamer Glenbank was lost there, there being only one survivor.