GALES IN BRITAIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3590, 2 January 1923, Page 17

GALES IN BRITAIN.

HEAVY LOSS OF SMALL CRAFT. LONDON, December 20. Fierce gales and snow storms swept the south of England and the Midlands. A small steamer foundered m the Channel, and two men were drowned. Ihe rest of the crew were adrift in a boat for hours, being rescued in an exhausted condition . The wild weather in Britain continue#. Blinding snowstorms and floods are reported in many districts. Much wreckage has been driven ashore on the Firth of Forth coast, and thousands of fishermen have been rendered idle. Gales with a velocity of 60 miles an hour are raging on the south coast of England and vessels are battling with the huge seas. While docking at Southampton the Majestic, a 55,000-ton vessel, was swept bv the force of the wind and collided with the Berengaria, of 52,022 t-ons. Fortunately neither vessel was seriously damaged. , . The toll of small shipping is serious. Lifeboats have been continually out. A number of thrilling escapes from wrecks by coastal boats and trawlers is reported. Rough Christmas weather is expected. CREW OF ONE VESSEL MISSING. LONDON, December 24. The schooner Armistice foundered when 30 miles off Cape Vincent. A passenger steamer rescued all the crew. The Maid of Delos, carrying a crew of 26 foundered off Milford Haven during the gale on Saturday. The steamer Great Western responded to a faint SOS. call. She failed to find any trace of the vessel, but a lifebuoy and other wreckage belonging to the Maid of Delos has since been washed ashore at Linney • Head. The fate of the crew is unknown. , Mope has been abandoned regarding the crow of tbv Maid of Delos. The wildest weather pi availed on the English coast and in the Atlantic. The wireless operar tor on the New Columbia received S.lXb. calls from several vessels. It is believed that three have foundered.