WINTRY SNAP

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 306, 29 November 1927, Page 7

WINTRY SNAP

STRONG WIND AND BITING COLD. HEAVY FALL OF RAIN. POWER BOARD LINES DOWN. ' The heavy downpour in the early liouFs of yesterday morning brought with it a lowered temperature, which culminated in a southerly gale yesterday with conditions almost bad enough for mid-winter. The cold was biting cold and, combined with the wind that raced and swirled, made travelling in the streets of the town extremely unpleasant. Last evening the thermometer was f J at 40 degrees; to-day at 12.30 p.m! it was 03.

Considerable damage was done by the gale to the electric power lines of the Manawatu-Oroua Board which are scattered over a wide area. The bulk of the damage was, however, confined to the service lines to cowsheds and houses through trees being uprooted and flying branches broken off trees by the wind striking the wires. In consequence of this, the Power Board’s staff worked all night in effecting repairs to restore the service to motors used by factories and in sheds. Trees were uprooted in all directions while branches were blown’ several chains in many cases. At Oliakea a bluegum treo crashed on to a cowshed, practically wrecking the structure and doing considerable damage to the milking plant, separator and power equipment. At the same' time a child had a narrow escape from serious if not fatal, injuries. Another cowshed in the Manawatu County was unroofed and the walls blown flat to the ground. Two pinus insignis trees crashed on to a 3300 volt power line at Bainesse, causing a considerable amount of damage, which the Power Board’s staff repaired at daylight this morning. Cabbage trees, which are usually considered safe from damage by gales, wero broken off like carrots. "Within two hours of the gale reaching cyclonic force over 30 “trouble” calls were received at Bunnythorpe sub-statiop, but by this time every member of the staff who could be communicated with had been called out and every car and truck available, totalling 10 in all, were in use effecting repairs as fast as possible. By milking time this morning all calls received had been attended to. At the time of going to press the number of wires broken by trees and the gale was known to be at least twenty.

GIRL GUIDERS’ CAMP. COOKERY SHELTER BLOWN DOWN. The heavy rain which fell on Sunday night and yesterday ' morning, though unpleasant to dwellers in the town, brought far more discomfort to the Girl Guiders, who are at present encamped on Mr P. A. McHardy’s property. Nevertheless, the campers faced the situation cheerfully and were able to keep most of their belongings dry. Worse, however, was in store for them for, though their camp site is well sheltered on three sides, the fourth and unsheltered side was the very one facing the quarter from which yesterday’s gale blew. They managed by dint of hard work in the teeth of the wind to keep their tents standing till late in the afternoon, but in view of the increasing velocity of the gale it was deemed advisable to strike the tents before they were blown away. Fortunately Mr McHardy’s house and adjacent buildings are nearby and to these the 55 campers transferred their bedding, etc., there to spend the night. The cooking shelter, which, together with the big marquee for meals and the store tent, was on a little flat below the camp proper, was blown down though the two last-named tents were left standing. Another source of danger was the little stream, which usually meanders slowly past the cooking shelter and store tent. Swollen by the rain, it threatened to overflow its banks and inundate the flat. Had it done so a considerable amount of stores - would have been damaged. Miss Laing, the camp commandant, told a “Standard” reporter this morning that in all her long experience of camping she had never encountered such a bad 24 hours. “It has upset all our programme,” she said, “as two days have been wasted as far as lectures are concerned, but I do not think a minute of it has really been lost as it was a wonderful practical experience for the Guiders.”

This morning the camp site was a scene of activity as all the tents were being re-erected and supplementary drains dug to carry off the water. SOU’WESTER AT FOXTON. ELECTRIC LIGHTS FAIL. MUCH DAMAGE DONE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) FOXTON, Nov. 29. Heavy rain was experienced locally all day yesterday, which, together with a cold southerly wind, made conditions very unpleasant. Towards evening the rain ceased and a howling sou-wester rose which developed into a severe gale before nightfall. Trees were uprooted in many parts of the borough and Mr H. Reid the local representative of the Horowhenua Power Board, had a busy time in attending to broken services.

At Mrs J. H. Robinson’s property on the Lady’s Mile, seven huge pine trees crashed to the ground and completely carried away the service line from the roadway. The Town Clerk (Mr Wm. Trueman) received word early in the evening that a bluegum tree had crashed at the cemetery and at the corner of No. 6 Line and Avenue Road and had completely blocked the roadway. The road staff was busy in another part of the borough at the time and together with the Mayor (Mr M. E. Perrean) and Cr. Lucineky, the town clerk set to work and cut the tree up and cleared the road. A large 20-gallon b’onzine drum standing empty at the service station in Main Street ..was picked up_ by tho wind and hurled across Main Street into All Saints’ Church yard, while Mr’ A. E. Tong’s plateglass window and >a fan-light were completely blown in. Mr Bryan’s billiard room lost two windows from the upstairs portion ot the building, while fences were razed to the ground in all parts of the borough, much damage being don© to orchards and gardens. At Mr 0. Dawson’s residence two big tanks were lifted bodily from their stand and hurled to the ground. Iron was also torn from the roofs of houses in various parts of the town. TOWN IN DARKNESS. At nine o’clock the whole town was plunged into darkness, owing to a tree falling across the power line between Foxton and Levin. Mr Reid communicated with the Power Board engineer who was able, >a few hours later, to supply Foxton with power via Shannon. In the meantime, how-

even, pictures and other ■ entertainment in progress at the time wero abandoned. The river, under the stress of the -elements, rose rapidly and -caused i serious erosion in the hank at the Presbyterian Manse. Grave anxiety 'was felt for the safety of the s.s. Kennedy which had left Wellington for Foxton yesterday afternoon, but to is surmised that the vessel would put • into Kapiti Island end weather the storm out there. The scaffolding at the new District High School building also suffered a severe buffeting and will have to be renewed in places. VERY COpD NIGHT. » CHANGEABLE CONDITIONS. The Government Meteorologistwired to-day: The indications are for southerly winds, strong to gale at times. The weather will probably, be cold and changeable,, with scattered showers, but conditions should improve. The night- will probably be very cold. Th© baromoter is rising.