WIRES DOWN

Southland Times, Issue 25307, 10 June 1935, Page 7

WIRES DOWN

SNOW STORM CANTERBURY PROVINCE OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND CUT OFF EMERGENCY,,. SERVICE WIRELESS PLAYS PART X J Telegraphic and telephonic communication between Invercargill and Christchurch was cut off shortly after eight o’clock last night owing,, it is believed, to a severe snowstorm in Mid-Canter-bury. No definite information of the nature of the break was available last night, but it was believed to be in the vicinity of Ashburton. The Invercargill Telegraph Office was in touch with Dunedin, but that was as far as it could get, Dunedin having lost contact with Christchurch. An attempt to get in touch with Christchurch by telephone also failed. Only four short Press messages had been received at the Times Office by 11 p.m., and an attempt was then made to establish contact with Wellington, from where Press Association cables are distributed and through which the North Island news comes, by wireless. The Post Office willingly agreed to co-operate, and by half-past eleven it was announced that messages would be wirelessed to Awarua from Wellington and then sent to the Invercargill office. The first message to reach the Times Office by wireless and telegraph arrived at 12.20 a.m. Messages continued to arrive slowly, but it was quite impossible for the emergency service to cope with the heavy traffic usually handled by the Telegraph Office on Sunday nights. The bulk of the telegraphic news that should have appeared this morning will not, therefore, be available to readers of the Southland Times till to-morrow.

It was learned from Dunedin last night that about eight inches of snow had fallen in Ashburton, and that the power supply from Coleridge had failed, leaving Timaru, Ashburton and Christchurch without electric light. The weather in Dunedin yesterday and last night was fine, though cold. No snow had fallen. CITY’S MANTLE INVERCARGILL UNDER SNOW. VERY LITTLE IN COUNTRY. Invercargill yesterday was covered with a thick blanket of snow. Though situated in southerly climes, the occasions on which this city experiences a real snowstorm are surprisingly few and the visitation had quite an exhilarating effect on old and young alike. The weather was bitterly cold on Saturday evening, but few, if any, would have predicted that in the morning a mantle of snow would give to the city an Old Country Yuletide dressing. Flakes were falling thickly when, with that Sunday morning feeling, Invercargill awoke, but the effect was as good as a tonic, and the young, at any rate, soon donned their clothes and rushed outside to indulge in snowballing. , , The fall seems to have been almost wholly a local one, for according to reports received from the country districts only sprinklings covered the ground in different parts. Indeed, Te Anau and Queenstown had no snow at all, while there were but light showers at Tuatapere and Otautau. Throughout yesterday intermittent snowfalls occurred in the city and some three or four inches covered the ground at a late hour last night. The evening was very cold and the indications pointed to freezing conditions. Youth found in the snow an excellent outlet for energy.- Snowballing both in the streets and from balconies and housetops was freely indulged in andeven unsuspicious “targets” accepted the hard, cold bullets in sporting spirit. Snowmen of all shapes and sizes made their appearance everywhere, some of the models reflecting credit upon their enthusiastic builders. Many of the men were quite huge in stature and ladders had to be procured to enable the heads to receive their finishing touches. Had only the roads been clear and motorists able to travel at their accustomed speed, several car drivers might well have imagined they had run up against the long arm of the law at the Rugby Park corner. There was erected upon the centre dome a seven-foot traffic policeman with outstretched arm. The model was an excellent one, and a dark overcoat was all that was needed to complete the illusion. ' . But even the older folk enjoyed snow revelling. At a convalescent home in Nith street several patients had the time of their lives on the lawn, while many patients joined the children in their activities. The “little white pill” grew to amazing proportions at the Queen s Park golf links and here a score or more of young boys, with sticks as clubs, enjoyed several “rounds.” A few minor accidents were reported. A man wearing gumboots fell on a slippery surface and sustained a sprained wrist, while break-down motor gangs were in demand by several motorists requiring a tow. It was reported, too, that the windscreen of a taxi had been broken through encountering a fusillade of snowballs sent into it by a small contingent of boys.