THE WEATHER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIV, Issue 10703, 12 July 1895, Page 6

THE WEATHER.

During Wednesday night the snow which had fallen during the previous day froze very hard, and in the early part of yesterday walking was exceedingly dangerous. Later in the day the streets were in a very sloppy and slippery state, and a few instances of horses slipping at the crossings occurred, "No one,' however, was hurt. In the princiual thoroughfares men were put on by the city authorities to clear the footpaths and crossings. Towards evening a light south-west breeze sprang up, but 'at midnight the stars were shining, and it was again freezing. Owing to the grooves of the tramway lines being filled with ice or snow frozen hard, traffic was very irregular oa all the lines. In the afternoon a few cars were running, but the regular traffic was not restored. As cars could not bo got through from New Brighton, the New Brighton Tramway Company brought a number of persons to town in the morning in vehicles, but towards evening through traffic was restored. la the northern district the snowstorm was followed on Wednesday night by a frost of extreme severity. The snow being frozen hard the sun made very little impression on it yesterday. At Eangiora the streets were dangerous for both horse and foot traffic for some hours in the morning. All the hill country to the north and north-west of Culverden is more or lass under snow, and a considerable loss of sheep is feared. The owners of St James’s and St Helen’s stations will faro worst in this respect, their country being very high. It is reported that at St James’s there is about fonr feet of snow round the homestead, and that the greater part of the sheep on the run are snowed up. Our Barfield correspondent writes : The heaviest fall of snow known in this locality fell during Tuesday night. The railway lines had to ho cleared before the trains could proceed. It was with great difficulty that the Whitecliffs train, after many attempts, got away, several men having to clear the track. On Wednesday night the weather was so intensely cold that the engine brake-block froze to the wheels.

LYTTELTON HARBOUR FROZEN. ICE OYER HALF AN INOH THICK. Early yesterday morning those whose duties took them to the water’s edge at Lyttelton were presented with a sight the like of which is altogether unknown in the history of the port. As late as 10 a.m., the harbour outside the moles, from Buckley’s Bay across to Port Jervois, Ripa Island, was one mass of broken ice. On the Diamond Harbour side of the harbour it was not very thick, but towards the Gladstone pier great sheets, over half an inch thick were numerous. Our representative saw several pieces broken off and brought on to the pier, ranging from a half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and the coating extended well up past the entrance to the moles. The sight attracted the attention of many residents. After 10.30 a.m. the ice rapidly disappeared. Mr B. Toomey, one of the lignalmen at

the Heads, was rowing up to Port at an early hour. When bo got abreast of Buckley’s Bay he found his efforts at propelling the boat non-effective, and soon saw that the boat was ice-bound. Before further progress could be made the ice had to be broken away with one of the oars. The sheet was thea almost intact, but rapidly broke up ; and as Mr Toomey laboured up the harbour the pieces became more . detached. The Euapehu was taken out of the harbour at 7 a.m., and Captain Galbraith, the pilot, states that even on her lofty bridge the crackling of the ice ns she went through it could be heard, while the tug lifted up great pieces with her paddle wheels.

|_Per Press Association.! WELLINGTON, July 10. Wellington has so far escaped the excessive cold weather prevalent in the south. Yesterday afternoon a southerly gale came on, with rain, and this morning there was a thin fall of snow on some of the hills, bat the day has been cleat and sunny. The Oamaru Mail says:—The sad news which reaches us from the interior as io the terrible severity of the weather, discounts much of the gratification consequent bn the slightly better outlook in ’the produce markets. There has nob, we have reason io hope, been any loss of human, life, though . there ■ have been several narrow escapes, but the destruction of stock must have been phenomenal, and the position of the settlers is critical in the extreme. There is every reason to fear that the losses consequent on the destruction of sheep will be such as to drive some of the pastoralists to their wits’ end and aggravate the difficulties from which they were already suffering through the badness of the markets. The probability is that, in some instances, Crown lessees will have been reduced to such financial extremities that they will be unable to pay their rents and will need the consideration of the State. Any State lessee who really was precipitated into such a condition through the severity of the weather would be entitled to all the help the State could afford him. All we can hope is that the situation may not be so bad as it seems to be. It is, however, evident that the quality of the sheep and. cattle in the market must for soma time to come exhibit signs of the hardships they have had to undergo.