CANTERBURY’S PLIGHT

Grey River Argus, 12 June 1935, Page 5

CANTERBURY’S PLIGHT

FURTHER STORM Linesmen’s Big Job MIDLAND RAILWAY SNOW DIFFICULTY.

(J’cr Press Association). CHRISTCHURCH, June 11. Ram, hail, sleet and snow returned to-day to make more difficult the task o. the many repair gangs who are toiling throughout Canterbury to restoie the lines of telephone and telegraph communication that were damaged in the heavy snowfall of the week-end. Working at full pressur? the Post and Telegraph linesmen had! succeeded this evening in establishing

; telegraph and telephone circuits from ( hristehurch to Dunedin, Greymouth, an<| We lington. I; All of the available linesmen from the outside districts have been concen- | Dated in Canterbury and they will be supplemented to-morrow by men from the North Island. The snowstorm to-day did not reach f hristehurch and its immediate neigh i bourhood, but this afternoon there was

snow, with rain and sleet at intervals, in the district between the Rakaia ano’ the Rangitata. Rivers, frequently described as mid-Can terbury. The disaster to the telegraph and telephone lines is probably most seri I ous that has ever occurred. Many \ears ago there were worse storms, but in those (Lays there were fewer lines to break. Another heavy fall

would be needed to make disaster Worse, but bad weather would certainly hamjier the work of restoration. The disorganisation of the telegniph i and telephone lines in the country dis' tried,s is still such that it is impossible to get detailed reports of to-day’s storm. At the Bealey there was five inches of snow, and it is still falling. At, Ashburton and Methven, however, the snow ceased at sundown, and the night was clear and frosty.

Tn Christchurch to-night there is a very severe frost. Unless the weather becomes worse, the Department hopes to be able to i morrow to re-establish communications with the country districts and restore telephone subscribers lines. All the work being done now is temporary Many weeks of work will be necessarv to repair permanently the many miles of damaged lines. No estimate can yet be given even of the extent of the task facing the Department. The supplies of emergency material kept in store in Christchurch were! supplemented to-day by ten miles of insulated wire shipped from Welling ton. Tt was at once transported To those districts where there are long breaks in the wires. Ten miles of wire was also received from Dunedin. All the senior officers praise generously the outstanding work of the repair gangs. The men go on duly at daybreak, and have worked till dark, and sometimes into the night. 'The Railway Department com muni' cations are still disorganised this evening, and difficulty has been met in keeping the time tables on the West Coast line. The chief trouble was the freezing of the points. Further heavy falls of snow at Arthur’s Pass last night and early this morning covered the station yard, and tin' trains on this section carried snow guards. To-day' the railway’ difficulties were less than yesterday, and it is hoped that the automatic signal system will be restored to-morrow, when normal running will be resumed.