UNPRECEDENTED GALE AT THE PORT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 14 March 1910, Page 6

UNPRECEDENTED GALE AT THE PORT.

In the opinion of the oldest residents, and those with first-hand knowledge of and intimate acquaintance with, cond; lions at the Port, the gale which ocellired this morning is the most severe they have ever experienced. As luck would have it, it is generally line weather when the tides are highest, but this morning a fierce nor'-east wind, increl|sing into a gale, assisted an exceptionally high tide to do damage to the port. About 9 o'clock it became apparent to those in the vicinity that trouble was brewing. Gradually the tide was rising., and quick!y the wind was getting up, and steadily the waves in the harbour wciv- increasing.

NO TIME MUST UK LOST,

The. next instant, almost, it became apparent that no time must be lost if property ou the sea front was to be ; aved. Willing helpers rushed here and there and everywhere, and soon all that was left of things movable was con-.-eved to a place of safety. Extra lines were put on the vessels at the wharf, and, where possible, the small boats anchored off the shore were made more secure. In other places anxious owners stood bv to keep the craft from being broken "to pieces on the shore in case of accident. There were- busy .scenes on the wharves, as well as on the shore, jut in spite of this not a little property was lost. TO THE PORT.

An "Evening Mail", (repnvsentatjve. visited the Port at the height of the sale. Angry waves were lashing the seal'ront from the Saltwater Bridge downwards, and considerable damage, it has .inee been ascertained, has been done to ho railway track. Most of the ballastng on the seaward side had been renoved to the footpath adjoining ,and ,ut a short time the track was given the appearance of a ruined line; but a few days' work should restore it to its normal condition. Proceeding on, the water was across the road from Auckland Point to Russell-street, and in front of the . lasworks it must have been quite a font deep. On a high stretch of ground n Beachville stood a number of stranded pedestrians casting longing ■ eyes at vehicles as they made their way past in manner as if crossing a river, for the stormy nature, of the sea had hurled nany"stones about, and these lay in the vay'of the horses' feet and the wheels. Looking out to sea—but it was only the harbour—an angry sight was iscen. Waves of no small extent, with wildfoaming crests tore themselves about in -11 directions, and came running over the .■reastwork, across railway line, footpath, cycle track, and on to the longuttering Port-road to give tho Councu •nore trouble.

WORKS

FRANZEN'S AND LUKINS' WHARVES.

There was an anxious time being ex perienced at Franzen's and Lukin?' Aliarves. Large waves succeeded in removing no small extent of the decking, .ind in some cases heavier timber '\in> -hil'led. A house in the vicinity had .••ather a bad time, in being no near the .vater. The waves, with great force. ,'ot right under the building, and suo •veiled in forcing the water through the 'looring in most of the rooms. But it

-•.'is the- wharf which suffered most. At "lie portion where a shed was situated the. superstructure had been carried iway and the whole concern was left tailing over very much to one side- At Kranzen's not so much damage was experienced as was to be expected, al:hough the wharf itself has suffered ver\ considerably. In one or two places ir he store room the water came through. '■iut oil-cloths, etc., prevented any damige being done. A BACK-BLOCKS SCENE.

The railway line from Franzen's to the wharf bore the appearance of some hack-blocks scene adjoining a timbei mill. There was the line of railway, in some places bereft of ballast and al others quite covered up with it. Piles for the wharf extension works were ly ing about in all directions across the railway line, and a fair extent of work had to be done before a train could bi< ■rot past the spot, The wharf—that is.the main one—well withstood the storm, as needs it should do; and the- Alexander and Lady Barkly, although quitt safe, had a jumpy time alongside. II you walked along the wharf it wa. purely <i matter of chance if vou got a ducking or not, for the water wa; glutting up in all directions through the decking, in some cases going several feel into the air. The telephone wires t< the wharf are carried along under the structure, and it was found impossible ti communicate with the exchange* owing t( the wire evidently being under water. THE DREDGE SAFE. Anxious thoughts were cast over .o the dredge. which was an chored off the north - eastern cornei ;f the wharf, where she is engaged In dredging. It could be seen thai everything on board was ready in case o 1 emergency, and a volume of smoke frorr. the large funnel indicated power foi hauling was ready if required. .Mr Mc •larg. dredgemaster. said he felt no concern for the safety of the dredge, for slit ivas very safely moored, but the pipes he had for pumping the spoil into the en closure which is being reclaimed were practically destroyed. The heavy ser lifted the punts in all directions, and the movement of the dredge and al made it impossible for any piping to stand the strain. Mr McHarg is of opinion that it will be quite a week be fore the necessary repairs are effected. THE OLD ALBION WHARF. Quite differently, however, from the Railway Wharf the old Albion Wharl fared, and a considerable extent of da mage has been done to it. It seemed to have been lifted away from the mainland several inches, and the decking in sonn places has been left in a very unsound condition. The water was breaking right •ver the wharf, and spurting up between th? boards. The wharf contained r

considerable quantity of coal, and it is thought that about tO tons were washed away. Hands from the Anchor Foundry were engaged in securing the movable timber on the slip and the breastwork, and also in assisting to safely secure the Waverley. which was in a dangerous position in the vicinity. Mr T. Brown said they managed to keep the vessel from be ; nil damaged, but strenuous efforts had to be made. As indicating the force of the elements he mentioned that two wire ropns had been broken bv the vesse" pulling away. A good deal of gear had been washed overboard, but had been

SPRING TIDE & STRONG NORTH EASTER. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE DONE. ROWING CLUB SHED LIFTED. ROCKS ROAD WALL DAMAGED. HEAVY SEA IN THE BAY.

secured bv the Foundry ml '- Ilc whole sea*front in the vicinity gave the same appearance as if a wreck had occurred out at sea. and the wreckage had been washed ashore. Several small cralt at the boat landing had been hauled up on to the road, aiid various primus ot gear lying about helped to make fluplace more wild looking.

ROWING SHED DAMAGED. The breastwork right down from Kirkpatrick's tish and ice works to the Rocks Road was very se\eicly damaged, and the boat sheds in the vicinity, with the exception of the Pilot Station, siitl'ered damage, and the Rowing Shed was knocked about considerably. The breastwork in front of the. fish works >vas washed away, and the platform undermined to a considerable extent. The ilowing Shed was a scene of havoc, and it is estimated that damage amounting to between £IOO and i— has been done The spacious slip has been completely washed away, and in attempting to save

it Mr W. Smith had a narrow escape, as a portion he was standing on lifted away bodily by a wave, and he had only just time to jump to a secure place. But it is inside the shed that most of the damage has been done. The floor itself was lifted bodily upwards for several feet, and stand* carrying boats came crashing down, and it was only the timely efforts of Messrs W. Rogers and W. Smith that saved the plant from _ considerable injury. With the arrival of others the boats were carried to safe quarters across the road, where they remained until the sea abated. The road all along th e Port has been cut up and •burned about, and stones scattered all over the place. Corporation men were. it work removing the large boulders to enable traffic to move on the road with safety. THE ROCKS ROAD.

The heavy seas as they dashed themselves to pieces on the Rocks Road wol! created magnificent sights. Constantly -pray was being hurled great distances into'the air. and repeatedly the overbunging cliffs would be dripping wet. With an angry roar the waves swept over the outlying rocks and foaming, rushed on to the "breastwork where thwarted oortioiis of them not dashed to pieces, swept back to join another wave coming ; n to beat again against the wall. For a •onsiderablc extent of the wall the outlying rocks form a natural barrier, but towards Tahuna it receives the full forci of the waves, and then, owing also to the dipoery nature of the laud near by. the •vail has to stand against very disad vanlasieons circumstances. Here a port am has siiccumber to the strain, and the sea.* continually washing into it are making ilie broach bigger and bigger.

THE MOLE AND RECLAMATION

The mole at the new cut was being completely swept by Heavy seas, and was out of sight most of the time, but it s;cm; ut; have withstood the strain, although certain damage to it has been done, hoi instance, the pole for the light at tin extreme end is not now standing, and. so far as can be seen from the shore. it seems that some of the boulders havi been shifted. The sheds on th,, reclaim cd land have been severely damaged, an-.. one building has had its side completely pushed in. Captain Collins is visiting this portion of the. harbour this afternoon. AT THE LIGHTHOUSE.

•Thin"* hero were beginning io get uno;i;f(irtable." said Mr Arnold, lighthouse itpi-per. when speaking of the.gale. Ihi .«i was over the bank by the fiagstali and a heavy log has been left stranded ■i- l it on top of the hank. .Mr Arnold sau. iliov were thinking about gtting into tin .iglithouse itself, not knowing when tnc waves would sweep through the building. A verv heavy sea was raging out iidc, and the position was one to causr real alarm. SHIPPING-

The Koi came from Motueka in the midst of the storm, and received a good mffe.ting about as she made the new Mitram-e. The Nikau sailed for Motueka •prly in the morning, and after experi encing some difficulty in getting into the larbour and alongside tlie wliart. sc ceeded, and sailed on her return to nel ii tins afternoon. She proceeds U Wellington at a later hour.