THE WEATHER.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6754, 8 February 1892, Page 3

THE WEATHER.

MISHAP IN THE HARBOUR. The strength and persistence of the gale (mentioned elsewhere) naturally raised a more than considerable soa. By tP’dnight it was running high, and at high t'do, soon after midnight, mountainous waves wore pounding on the beach and pouring over the breakwater, while tha harbour was overspread with a blinding spray driven by the fierce ; gale from the break of the mole. This morn- j ing people began to visit the breakwater in numbers, and a magnificent spectacle was there presented, in the high piled waves and the huge masses of spray that shot up as each wave struck the sturdy pile of concrete, and then, along the outer arm, poured over tbo wall in a sheet, often some feet in depth. At limes tho outer kant seemed to bo completely bui,ed, and the waters insido near the wall woro churned up in a remarkable way. Nothing like this sea has been witnessed since the fateful “ 14th of May,” but the majority of those who remember that day, say it did not equal tbo sea that proved eo destructive that Sunday afternoon, At tho height of the gale, between 1 and 2 a.m-, the barque Irene, lying at the Oiuer buoy, fully loaded with wool for London, broke the ring of the buoy sho was fast too, and driven along by the galo she rapidly went to leeward and shoreward. She passed the Auriga at an outer buoy, then the Arnold off the Moody wharf, and passing between this wharf and the tug Titan came lo a stop by taking the ground. The harbouimaster soon got men lend a hand and the lug was there to help, but the gale was blowing with such violence, and the air was so full of rain and spray that nothing could bo done for some time, and it was nearly 6 o’clock before tho barque could be towed back to her buoy aud made fast again. 1 Anxious enquiries have been made as to tho result of her mishap and so far as wc can learn no ascertainable damage has been done, the vessel making no water. It is to be much regretted that such an accident has happened, but under such circumstances of weather it might have happened in any port. She was returned to the buoy, and a second string supplied, in her anchor, the same additional security being given to tho other vessels. The sea continued to run mountains high all the morning, but began to go down in the afternoon. The beach is strewn all along with kelp torn off by the violence of the waves. The beach at the breakwater has been swept up into a long slope, and piled up at tho crest so as to oveitop the block parapet, and a pile of shingle now lies on the mole, and some even on the wharf. The “ grinding action ” has bad full play, and must have converted a lot of the pebbles into sand and mud. Tho beachline seems to have been driven back somewhat at tho mole. The cow George street sewer end appears to hove withstood the shocks of heavy surf well. Some damage io a small way has been done. Tho wrecks of a good fisherman’s bout, belonging to O, Gruhn, and of two flat boats, lie along the north side. They bad been left high and dry on the rooks and tho waves reached them. They have fragments of cargo shoots lo keep them company, and we noticed floating in the harbour a strut torn out of one of the wharves. The old baths building has been undermined and is on the verge of taking a header itself. The sea gets into Ibis corner owing to its coming so much from the east. The sea has lost its green or blue and is thick with silt from the bottom and with olay from the land drainage.

Captain Ticehursl, the underwriters’ surveyor, name from Christchurch by express, and so far as be can sse there will be no need for tho Irene to go into dock. The diver will be sent down to examine her bottom, and future action will be guided by his report. The rain ceased about 4 a.m., and the sky later on gave promise of clearing, but this was not kept, and rain came on again between 2 and 3 p.m. All the rain rivers are in high flood, and the low lying lands are under water to a very great and deplorable extent. A number of people went by train to a stock sale at Makikihi this morning, and found no one else there,—roads impassable. In several paddocks north and south, stocks are standing in water, end here and there have been swept away along the courses of overflowing creeks and gullies. , The only damage to the railway in this district, wo understand, is a small wash-out near Waihao, which may delay the expresses somewhat. Our -Geraldine correspondent writes that the Waihi river there was in high flood this morning, and that Mundell and Co's mail ( ooach was capsized in it, on tbo way from Woodbury. The horse was drowned, and the driver and a passenger were rescued by a horseman passing by, who also saved the j mails. (By Telegraph.) CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 8. The phenomenal rainfall in Canterbury on ] Thursday, Friday, and again on Sunday excites serious fears for the crops in stock and standing. It is now fine but threatening. OAMARU, Feb 8. g A groat gale began yesterday and still continues. Great damage has been done to crops in the country districts. The Kurow bridge over the Waitaki has been washed away and l ' the bridge over the Marewhenua nt Duntroon, j 1 also tho railway lino at Ngapara and Waihao t is damaged, and the train service disorganised. * The Kakanui river is in high flood. It is rumoured that several people are cut off by J| the flood at Kakanui and their lives are in c danger. A special train loft with a boat to F their rescue. “