THE GALE,

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 23 March 1908, Page 3

THE GALE,

BAD WEATHER AT SEA. STEAMERS HAVE A ROUGE TIME. THE "TASMAN DAMAGED^ i.L' nixed P&433 Association. J WELLINGTON; Sunday, The bad weather which had been experienced for several days, seemed to reach its height yesterday. The wind blew with hurricane force, and it raged the whole day. No damage is reported in the city or suburbs, and the railway services were not interfered with. Not so, however, with the shipping.- N j The steamer Rotomahana, which left I Lyttelton -at 6.10 p.m. on Friday, and was thus due about 6 a.m. yesterday, did -not pnt in "an appearance till <9 p.m. When* 'off Kaikoura the. wind began to freshen, and by the time the vessel was passing Cape Campbell, a hard southerly was blowing. - About 4 a.m, the Rotomahana .was near Wellington Head, but being unable to pick up the light she turned south, and steamed slowly till the weather improved somewhat, when at half speed she made three knots an hour against the gale, and 11 knots with the gale. -^The steamer Maitai was two days late in arriving from Sydney, which port she left on Monday,- A heavy southerly gale commenced on Tuesday evening, and continued Until . Cape Farewell was sighted on Friday afternoon. She passed Cape Farewell at 4 p.m., and then ran into a heavy south-' erly gale with high seas and thick rainy weather that she was hove to from -10 p.m. on Friday till 10 a.m. to-day, when the weather moderated, and the Maitai steamed into harbour at noon. The coastal steamer Kahn arrived from Napier at 2.15 o'clock yesterday, afternoon, having taken 85 hours on a trip which usually occupies ., 24 hours. She left Napier on Wednesday night, and except for an interval of 12 hours sheltering at Castle Point,, had been battling with the elements until 2 o'clock on Saturday. Her position at the Heads was serious. The sea, according to Captain Thompson, was tremendous, and the weather thick. Th > coal bunkers of '« e .vessel were at a low level," and there was not enough fuel to take the vessel through the Straits, - and Captain Thompson had great difficulty in making the port. t<i";i|- t^c toughest er!ui:e/i-:e • a* 'li.> of l'i- little steamer rasm.il S..i ftV Ne's-iu *'• Wellington ;•• 1 i. i in Saturhy, and when a fc» i-i:Vs from Cape Terawhiti, she shipped a heavy sea, which washed clean over the bridge into the engine r-H.-m. inutile saloon, and badly started the bulkhead, under the bridge, opening the deck seams, carryine away the bridge "' ck, ladders, and tho hatch over the forehold. . Captain Cox decided to put back, and ran into Oyster Bay, where he conferred with the captain of the s.s. Charles Edward. Captain ,Cox then took the Tasman to Picton. and had the deck temporarily recaulked. She ran across to Wellington this jiorning. During the trip from Picton i heavy sea smashed in" a port in the forecastle ,and the seas went over the I vessel, and again into tha engine room, the vessel having 1 to bi stopped to enable the broken port to be blocked. Owing to *he rain yesterday the Miramar 'pony races and all other outdoor sports were postponed. NAPIER, Sunday. Th2 steamer Wimmcra had an e:<.ecdinely rough trip from Wellington. One heavy"- sea smashed the Akaroa Rowing Club's new four,-oared boat, rendering it useless for regatta pinposes on Monday.