SHIPPING SUFFERS

Grey River Argus, 4 May 1936, Page 5

SHIPPING SUFFERS

ON BOTH COASTS Wahine Buffeted CAPTAIN’S SUPERB SEAMANSHIP. (Per Press Association.) CHRLSTCHURL-’H. May 3. Seas on the coast were very rough during the period of the gale. The coastal motor ship. Port Waikato, which left Lyttelton for Dunedin on Friday afternoon met very heavy seas soutli of Akaroa. on Snt.urday, and had to return to Lyttelton, A delay of two ami a quarter hours occurred in berthing the i-tilcr-lslmul steamer Wahine on Saturday with -lilt) passengers üboard, im.-liiding many members of Parliament as well as members of thc Gilberl and Sullivmi Opera Company. She arrived outside the moles al 7.15 a.m., thc vessel having made good time arriving through the gale, and she had to slow down nearing the Heads on account of poor visibility. Owing to the. strength of the gale. Captain B. Irwin had the greatest difficulty in bringing the Wahine through the- moles. Even inside the harbour the surface was “smoking,” and a heavv sea running.

Captain Irwin was baffled not so much by the force of the gale as by its frequent and sudden elianges in the direction from south-east to southwest and vice versa. The Wahine. with her m"-hor dragging fo steady her bow. would come in with the southeastern but. t’mo after time, as she reached the moles the wind would change and th,, vessel would b.e swuntf broadside on. Tier strong engines enabled her to get clear .safely each time, although more than once she was uneoni I’orta bly dost’ to the btca< waters. tug damaged. At 8 a.m the tug Lyttelton went to" assist the Wahine. but could do bttle The tow line which the tug took snapped, and another. time- ilm tug. moving up on the lee side ol the steamer, was trapped as the vessel rolled, ami about 20 feel ol the tug - lailing was smashed. Shortlv after 9 o’clock there was :i slighl ccis ng in the force of the wind, ami Giiplain Irwin quickly seized the opporltmiiv ami brought her in. Just ufler the vessel was inside ‘.he moles. • i terrific squall struck lier. but atiniclv push bv (he tug kept her u-> to the wind, and slie slid into her berth. VII mariners who saw the opcraCons no-reed flrnf the Waliim- was su ]' , .pr bly handled. MAORI’S ROUGH TRIP. The Afaori arrived to-day at 12.4.' mm., having left Wellington at 11 n.m. on Safurdav. The vessel met the full "ale and tremendous head seas and was heavily buffeted until sb" was off Knikonra. nft'T wh <-’' 1 wind and sea. moderated, and _ she made good time for the rest ot the trip. ALARM ON SMALL VESSEL. The Port Waikato was nut so furtunatu as the Wahine and the -Maori, in that she did. not escape damage. Captain Holmes decided when 35 miles south of Akaroa, to return to Lyttelton ou account of the violence of the storm. The sea was too big to permit the vessel to enter Akaroa Harbour for shelter. About three hours after the ship had been tunned,, a big sea came over tly. stern smashing iu the door of the mess room. Hooding tlm gnlffiy and officers' cabins. It also shifted the ship’s boats slightly. The flagstaff at- the stern and th" gratings were carried overboard. At this timu alarm' was caused by the cargo shifting, causing the vessel to list to starboard. However, Ihe little vessel reached Lyttelton lli’iids and anchored there at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The crew restowed the cargo ami trimmed the vessel, and Captain Holmes brought her into the harbour and berthed at- 9 P-"'. To-day the vessel left i'or Dunedin. AIR SERVICE DISORGANISED. Union Airways kept the. time-table with delays. An aeroplane, from the North Island, meeting very bad weather on Saturday morning, ret tuned to Blenheim, landed there. tend after slaving there half an hour came on to Christchurch, arriving 45 minutes late. The northward aeroplane from Dunedin did the flight of 203 miles in 64 minutes, and went o-n to Palmeiston North. To-day the service is running normally.

Ship Forced to Sea FROM NEW PLYMOUTH PORT. A CYCLONIC GALE OUTSIDE. NEW PLYMOUTH, Alay 3. The ship, Cumberland, had a- bad time in the gale. She had to put to sea from New Plymouth port. On reaching the open sea. the Cumberland s troubles had only begun. The cyclonic storm, beyond the shelter of th<» shore, developed even greater intensity, and the ship was lashed unmercifully. The crew described the seas as being mountainous, ami tlie worst they had ever experienced. In tho hurry to leave port, time had not permitted the crew to make everything shipshape on deck, and when the vessel returned to port this morning, a tale was told of a severe battering. Damage was caused to the deck fittings and at. times, with waves crashing over e deck; there was anxiety for the safety of the. ship. The Cumberland steamed slowly, m circles, to await the abatement of the storm When she returned to port au 10 a.nf. to-day. the storm was oven Th c gale had dropped to a breeze, and the sea had flattened out. The ship will complete loading to-morrow, and will sail for Auckland on Tuesday morning.

Storm and Snow in Taranaki

NEW PLYMOUTH II Alay 3

There- was a cyclonic storm in Taranaki "n Saturday early. Ihe damage' done in individual ea.se s was not great, but. in the nggreate if. must be considerable. Ti'legrnph and tele-

phone lines were down in several places in Central anti North Taranaki. Trees were nprooied. and in several cases, iron was blown off the roofs of houses. A huge tree was blown across the road to the north of Eginont Mountain House, blocking access for several hours. The mountain was covered wi’li a hetivy mantle of snow, ;>nd yesterday heavy hail showers .swept the lowland*, of ,llic province. FIERCE WAIN ARAP A GALE. MASTEUTON. May 3. Although a fierce southerly storm raged in the Wairnrapa. on Sij.turday.. no serious datnag e resulted. Trees were nprooied in ’he main street of Greytown, and several windows were blown in in Alasterton residences. HIGH WINDS IN HAWKE’S BAY. HASTINGS, May 3. High vinds, which probably were the tail end of the storm experienced in oilier purls of Now Zealand, were experienced al Hastings and Napier during Saturday and Saturday night. At. times the wind blew with the force of a gale, hut no damage of any appreciable kind was caused. Th- w ; n d ■was spasmodic in force, and direction. The temperatures wore bitingly cold vesterdav. but this morning broke dear and fine, with bright sunshine and almost a cloudless sky. Southland Storm LINES AND TREES DOWN. INVERCARGILL. Alay 3. Only minor damage was caused by the south-westerly storm whieli swept Invercargill on Friday afternoon and yesterday, and it had moderated sufficiently yeisterday to enable iootbaL marches to be played, but hockey fixtures were cancelled. In tli e count.ry districts, some jiowei and telephone- lines are down, land trees have, been blown over. The wind was accompanied by heavy raiin. but the rii-e?s have not risen to any extent that would cause alarm. Snow is lying on the hills around Dipton. In the city the power supply was interrupted' in Gladstone suburb for two hours on Friday night, when the wind was at its worst. The weather to-’day iis fine and cold;, the wind having 'dropped to little more -than a breeze.