WELLINGTON.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 864, 6 August 1867, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

HEAVY GALE AND DESTRUCTION ! OF PROPERTY. The Independent of the Ist inst. says : — Within the memory of the oldest inhabitant "such tempestuous weather as during the last two days has raged over this city, has seldom been experienced. Wind and rain, squalls of hail, and sharp sleet have damped the energies of the most enthusiastic, and caused all whose bad fortune takes them out of doors to cower and shiver at street corners. Accidents both serious and ludicrous have occurred,' the victims in either case meeting but scant sympathy, the community generally having suffered more or less from the effects of the gale. Trees have been uprooted, fences blown down, buildings unrooted, and individuals injured. From the ministerial mansion to the pauper hovel, nearly every residence has suffered more or less. We hear of the domestics almost swimming for their lives in one place, of gaily adorned reception rooms being submerged in another, of family wardrobes floating away, and of children being washed about in their cots. The clerk of the weather is evidently no respecter of persons or things, and his emissaries — wind and rain—- equally attack rich and poor. In town the damage done exceeds that of any previous year. The roof of the N.Z.S.N. Company's office has suffered ; Martin's new store on the reclaimed land has lost some of its plate glass ; the Weathercock above the Custom House pensively hangs its head in sympathy with the 'P.N.Z. and A.R.M. Company's flagstaff in its drooping condition ; while several proprietors of stores and shops have to bewail the loss of glass and shutters. Policemen narrate anecdotes passing strange of being blown about the streets, and not a few of the public have circumstantially told how their wrappings were blown about their heads, and themselves bustled into corners and up by-ways, where they had not the slightest inclination to stay. In the suburbs fences and trees incline pensively across the footpaths, and housewives were to be seen busy with mop and broom clearing away ■wrecks. In the harbor the vessels at anchor rode out the gale capitally, showing the excellence of the holding ground. Passing over the multitudes who complain of knocks and bruises received from the falling timber, we may mention that a person' named Hutchens, resident in Te Aro,' was only saved from being carried away in a stream by the exertions of Mr. Ryan and his assistant, who, finding him .floating down the swollen current amidst fragments of an outhouse, gallantly plunged in at great risk, and succeeded in bringing him ashore. The Advertiser 'of the 2nd says : — A heavy southerly gale sprung up on Tuesday last, and continued r with unabated vigor until yesterdoy morning, when the wind blew with less violence, and the rain almost entirely ceased. Fortunately no great damage has been done in the town, but at the Hutt and other country districts the destruction to property has been considerable. The shipping sustained little or no damage, and only some one or two of the vessels dragged their anchors, and these were speedily brought up.. The culvert at "Skeet's Folly," Te Aro, was swept away, and some houses in course of erection ; were blown down. Beyond this, and more or less damage to innumerable chimnies and chimney-pots, fences, roofs, trees, &c, no harm resulted in the town from the gale. In the country, and especially at the Hutt, considerable injury has been done to property. There was a heavy flood at the Hutt, and the river made further inroads on the property of Mr. Riddiford and others in the neighbourhood of the Bridge. The road lias also been carried away in several places, the worst being at that part known as "the big slip," where considerable damage has been done, and we are credibly informed that some £4000 ,or £5000 will be required to repair it. The Ngahauranga road' is also considered impassable, and Cobb's coach was unable to leave as usual yesterday morning.