NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE

Evening Star, Issue 20022, 13 November 1928, Page 2

NIGHTMARE EXPERIENCE

MOTORISTS BY THE HUNDRED CAUGHT fH STORM . {.Special to the ‘Stab.’] CHRISTCHURCH, November 12. Hundreds of motorists had a nightmare experience in battling homewards against the storm at 5 p.m., yesterday. The fierce wind, rain, and hail buffeted 'the cars, and progress was uncertain, and at times dangerous. This was particularly so on the Main North road. Lured from the city by tho sunshine of the morning and afternoon, thousands of people made for the beaches and picnicking spots north ot Christchurch. The darkened sky over tho city was accepted by many picnickers as a warning to make for home, and there was soon a long string of cars proceeding to the (; vyOver the city, from Sumner rcunu to tho Port Hills, hung a vast, white, steady curtain of thick cloud, resting, as it seemed, on an equally .impenetrable inky . mass. The linu.ot demarcation 'between, black mid . white was very'sharp, and to.motorists bowling citywards in sunshine and very littlo wind, the effect was uncanny .in tho extreme. Presently, near Woodcnd, a mob oi cattle on the road started to run wild, as a whistling gale swept up trom the direction of the city. Two big straw stacks in a paddock were caught by the wind, and the cars were obscured in a deep shower of straw. Then down came rain and the hail. Windscreen wipers worked overtime in clearing tho thick coating of mush from the glass; hail piled on the running boards and on tho cowls of tho cars. Tho gale made the work of keeping a steady course very difficult. Vision was obscured, and Hying branches ot trees were dangerous. Scores or motors were driven into the shelter of hedges, and scores of open cars were pulled up on the road while their drivers, wet through, strove to adjust side curtains, or retrieve those that had blown out. Many hoods were ripped, and cars not equipped with windscreen wipers were held up. The temperature was low, and engines cooled down in a remarkably short time. The experience was one winch many motorists and passengers will remember for a long time.