THE RECENT SNOWFALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 21

THE RECENT SNOWFALL.

THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY. ' TIMARU, Auguet 23. The Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands for Canterbury returned to-day from a ' visit to the Mackenzie Country. He could not see much of it, as it is all still under frozen snow, except some of the north-west faces, where the warm rains from that quarter cleared patches. The sb.eep axe all very Tv-eak, and the mortality will probably continue. The loss cannot be yet estimated. It took four hours and a-half to ride 14 miles from Burkes Pass to Tekapo, and from there he went to the Head of the Lake in a motor launch. The 6now is disappearing very slowly, and it is now all ice on the flats. North-west rains are hoped for to clear it away. * COUNTING THE LOSSES. '" - CHRISTCHURCH, August 24. TThe Commissioner of Crown' Lands (Mr 3L C. Goldsmith) has just returned from a visit to the Mackenzie Country. In the course of a brief interview with a Truth reporter, he said that, though the snow has' been lying on • the ground for six •weeks, there was still a depth of Between lft or 2ft between Burkes Pass and Tekapp. On the flat country there was from • 2ft ,to 3ft of snow. Mr Goldsmith 6aid that ,it took 13 hours to accomplish the journey from Burkes Pass to Tekapo, a distance of 13 miles, and half the journey "had to be done on horseback. There was 3ft 3in of snow at Tekapo, and) on the hills at Richmond there must have been over sft. It was impossible to 6ay at present what the loss to pastoralists would "be, but Mr Goldsmith was inclined to believe that the estimates published were exaggerated. The loss would have been as big as that of 1895 but for the fact that ■a fortnight after the fall a thaw occurred, •which -gave some "black" country (the ground on which the snow had melted). After that there was a frost, and the shepherds were able to drive the sheep over the frozen snow to the clear land. At present, Mr Goldsmith" said, the 6heep are very weak, and the trouble is that ■when the spring feed comes they will ecour terribly. The station-owners will probably lose very heavily from this cause In some of the Mistake Country there have beesT a' number of landslips, and in every slip dead sheep are to be seen. The snowdrifts in the gullies have also been fatal, and one cannot estimate yet how anany carcases they conceal. The* stationowners will only be able to gauge their losses when mustering and shearing takes place. The children in the Mackenzie Country rather enjoyed their experience.

At Burkes Pass township there were 30in of snow, and for two weeks the children could not go to school. , Instead jf spending their time assimilating learning they had the time of their lives with tobogganing and snowballing.- The amount of energy they spent in making a toboggan slide would nearly have cleared the township of every vestige of snow.