ISOLATED BY SNOW

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 38, 14 August 1939, Page 10

ISOLATED BY SNOW

HARDSHIPS OF RESIDENTS

The plight of Waipori township which is still almost cut off from the outside world by hige snowdrifts, in places 20ft in depth, is an unenviable one, and the settlement is like a besieged village in which supplies are daily dwindling. A somewhat pathetic letter, written on Saturday week, has been received from one of the residents by a Dunedin person, and in it are revealed some of the hardships being suffered, states a Dunedin correspondent.

"There must be nearly three weeks' mails and papers in Lawrence," the writer states, "and to have no mail and no papers seems to me to be even worse than to be short of food. But we are going to be very short of food in about a week, and I don't know when anything will get through. The supplies of bread, butter, and tinned milk sent through by packhorse last week were very welcome. It was five weeks yesterday since the grocer was out here.

'•I never want to see another scone. We have been having scones, fried or with jam, for breakfast and tea every day, with curry and rice, potatoes and soup for dinner. We have no milk, so there have been no puddings. I felt quite excited about getting a loaf of bread by packhorse on Friday. We had early tea and two whole slices of bread —and then indigestion.

"I am terrified of another snowstorm before wo get supplies in. Our tea is nearly done and we have very little l^ft of barley, split peas lentils, wheat, herosene and lots of other things. It is like being in a trap."

£inc2 this letter was written another lot of supplies has been sent through

from the Waipori power station to the township, and a third trip was made by packhorse on Friday last. There was a welcome thaw on Friday, but with snow up to the tops, of the telegraph posts in places it will be some time before all the snow is away.

The chief postmaster, •. Dunedin, stated on Thursday that there was no post office,-at Waipori township, and the residents had to collect their mail from Lawrence. A president from the township got through to Lawrence a day or two ago and took the bulk of the letters back with him. The remainder of the mail will have to stay at Lawrence until someone -from the township can collect it.