SERIOUS EFFECT ON SHEEP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2902, 27 October 1909, Page 22

SERIOUS EFFECT ON SHEEP.

CHRIST/CHURCH, October 24.. It is stated by visitcute to towji that the country sheep-owners have suffered very considerable loes among shorn sheep and lambs. One man says that in the Little River district there are hundreds of dead sheep and lambs in the paddocks. It is impossible to accurately estimate the lose of sheep on the Cashmere Estate, but it can be stated positively that the loss is serious. The station was in the middle of shearing, and the shorn sheets on the hillls would have very little chance of weathering the bitter storm. A resident on the hills states that he saw some hundreds of sheep in a creek near, the Sanatorium, their bodies practically blocking the bed of the creek. Cashmere shears rather earlier than the country stations, and it was, of couree, \ery an-" fortunate that this blizzard should come along. "* Several sheepmen say that it is the worst storm that has been experienced for 10 years at this season. The gale moderated considerably today, though there were occasional showers. The wind >y however, decreased appreciably, and apparently the violence of the blow has been spent. Latest reports are to the effect that about 1500 newly-shorn sheep on the Cashmere Hills Estate died as the effect of the storm. The steamers at sea last night had a particularly bad time in the gale, which worked its way up the coast from the southward and brought with it a very high. No serious damage is reported.