LAST WEEK’S STORM

Evening Star, Issue 15515, 10 June 1914, Page 3

LAST WEEK’S STORM

IN FOVEAUX STRAIT. [Per United Press Association.] INVERCARGILL, June 9. The heavy weather experienced in the strait last week .appears to have been especially sever© in the vicinity of Dos Island, between, the Bluff and Stewart Island. Following the big storm on Sunday morning of last wek, it was found impossible to get into communication with the lighthouse authorities, at Dog Island on Monday. With the moderation in the storm the telegraph linesmen were able to get across to the island by a launch, and on arrival at the spot investigation showed that the lightning had played havoc with the wire and had done considerable damage to the lighthouse itself. The head keeper (Mr Murray) was on duty when the storm was at its highest, and the flashes first came into contact with the western wall of the lighthouse, extinguishing three of the 16 lights in one vivid flash. The lightning travelled inside the building, and Mr Murray was knocked off a chair on which, he was sitting, while the •windows in tlie lighthouse were all smashed- Boards and bricks were tom away from the structure, as if they were merely bits of paper. A tank stand at Mr Murray's residence on the island was completely torn away, and the cable for a distance of 50 yards was fused and rendered completely useless. All the cable box fittings were struck by lightning, awl this portion of the gear will need to be replaced. The linesmen to-day visited the wire where it enters the sea there, and yjjnununioation is now restored.