HEAVY GALE IN SOUTH CANTERBURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1973, 12 September 1889, Page 27

HEAVY GALE IN SOUTH CANTERBURY.

THE TELEGRAPH LINES BROKEN.

Ashbuhton, September 10. A severe gale from the north-west waa experienced here last evening. The wind blew pretty strongly all the afternoon, but about 9 o'clock it sprang up with hurricane force, and so continued for about two hours. A considerable amount of damage was done. One of the end walls of the Boys' High School, a brick building, fell out owing to the vibration of the building. A Catholic church in course of construction at Methven is reported to have been demolished. A good deal of the roof of the N.Z.L. and M.A. Company's store was blown off, and the main street was littered with sheets of galvanised iron. Blacksmiths' shops at Tinwaid and Wakanui were wrecked, ' and also a grain shed" on the Westerfield station. Many chimneys were blown down, and some windows in shops and many in private houses were blown in. Some paddocks of late sown^ wheat, where the grain had not made sufficient roots to hold have been destroyed, the soil down to the bottom of the plough being blown clear away. The telegraph line suffered severely, and owing to the number of pests blown down communication north and south is carried on with difficulty. The gale was the severest experienced here for many years.

TrKABU, September. 10, A great north- weafc gale swept aerosi the plains iaat evening. All the wires ore down between here and Chriatchurch, and only one wire feleft north of there. The greatest strength of the gale appears to have been about Timaru, A good, deal of damage was done,