THE WEATHER IN THE BACK COUNTRY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXI, Issue 196, 12 August 1895, Page 3

THE WEATHER IN THE BACK COUNTRY.

♦ The excessively severe "weather which has prevailed during the last two months in the back country has been responsible for some truly remarkable stories, upon some of which not a little doubt has been cast by people who, never having experienced such weather themselves, are ignorant of many of its peouliar effects. It is with some satisfaction, therefore, that we learn that, in the opinion of Mr J. H. von Haast, who has been on the Mount White and Cora Lynn stations for some time past, the accounts that have been published have been understated rather than otherwise. All around the homesteads, said Mr von Haast, the ground was covered with more than 2ft of snow. Along the West Coast road by Starvation Gully the snow was so high that anyone could easily touch the telegraph wires with his whip. At Cora Lynn Mr Haast saw a peculiar sight similar to that observed at Kurow. Spirits contained in bottles froze, and gradually forced the corks up till they were perched above the bottle on a piece pf ice two or three inches high. Another peculiar spectacle seen at Cora Lynn was a barrel of water, which was standing by a house and had frozen. The drippings from the building falling on the ice in the barrel had frozen as they fell, and formed a crown of solid ice, standing about two feet above the top of the vessel. "It looked for all the world," said Mr Haast, " like the head on a glass of beer," It was impossible to uncork a bottle of soda water, as it was frozen immediately the button was forced down. Mr von Haast paid he did not believe this when it waß told him by the man at the hotel, and wished to try for himself. It was quite true, however ; on opening the bottle the soda water froze immediately. It was impossible to venture outside without having one's clothes frozen stiff, A handkerchief, if left in the air for a short time, would be as hard and stiff as a board. At Lake Lyndon the horse that Mr Haast was driving strayed off the road, and getting on a drift sank up to his withers. He waß extricated with much difficulty. It is qnite hopeless to woik dogs while tbe enow is on tbe ground, as they are quite unable to proceed at any speed, in fact the sheep oan outstrip them. When questioned as to whether the loss of sheep was as serious as was at first reported, Mr Haast said that while it was quite Mbs EpiibY Tpobnk, who resides at Toledo, Washington, esya she baa never been able to prooure any medioine for rheumatism that relieves the pain so quickly sod effeelively as Chamberlain's Pain Balm, and that she baa also used it for lame baok with great sacoeßß. For sale by F. Biuw, Me«o»lßaH|BU> nheim '

impossible at present to estimate thi loss, he thought that accounts of the enormous loss of sheep were in many caseß exaggerated. It is sincerely to be hoped that he is right, but even if the number of eheep actually smothered in the enow or starved to death is not so great as it has been thought to be, the lob3 must be very great, and it is unfortunately only too likely to be increased when tbe grass begins to grow.