STORM ON SEA AND LAND

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 840, 7 December 1929, Page 1

STORM ON SEA AND LAND

Gale Sweeps Great Britain TWENTY-SIX LIVES LOST Havoc in English Channel British Official Wireless Received 11.25 a.m. RUGBY, Friday NINETEEN lives were lost at sea in yesterday’s great gale. and seven deaths due to the storm occurred on land, while there were also many cases of injury and scores of narrow escapes.

Three Dublin fishermen were drowned within a few hundred yards of Dublin during the storm. The wind reached its greatest velocity at Falmouth, where gusts of 94 miles an hour were registered. Air, steamboat and railway services were in varying degrees interrupted by the storm, and telephone communication was dislocated. Although no town was isolated. 12S main trunk lines were out of order, and 1,000 London subscribers’ lines were down. The flooding in many parts of the country became worse yesterday, owing to heavy rains, and many roadways were temporarily submerged. The position in the Thames Valley is being watched with some anxiety. The river rose further yesterday, and the level is expected to be higher today. At the height of the gale the collier Frances Duncan, from Cardiff for Rouen, when two miles off shore was caught by a veritable wall of water near Penzance. She heeled over like a child’s toy, and the water closed above her. When she reappeared she was lying on her side, and sank in full view of the shore and of the crew of the barque Adele Marie, which was near her. Sixteen out of her crew of 21 were drowned. Most of them were trapped below. But by a miracle five were saved, thanks to the pluck and quickness and remarkable seamanship of the crew of the Adele Marie. Those on shore saw a vivid drama, as they watched first the France's Duncan's fight with the gale, then the disaster, and finally the astonishing rescues. The survivors of the Frances Duncan refer to the gallantry of Captain Blaylock and the crew of the Adele Marie, and the superb seamanship with which she was handled. They stated that while the captain manoeuvred to get near the capsized s’eamer, the Adele Marie was not only continuously in grave danger from the mountainous seas which swept over her, but also had to get perilously near to the Longships Rocks.

The Adele Marie had to make many attempts before she could get a line to five men clinging to the keel of the wreck, and immediately they had been taken off the wreck sank. The

survivors included the captain, who is unable to swim. The weather forecast now promises severe southerly gales, particularly in the southern Irish Sea. the English Channel, and the southern North Sea. The fishing trawlers reached Hull in a battered condition. The crews describe the gale as being as bad as any they have ever experienced. Near Bristol railway traffic was suspended by a steel crane having been blown down on to the line. Warnings of the approach of bad weather were given by wireless last night, and small vessels remained In harbour. But many cargo ships were disabled, and passenger ships were heavily buffeted. The P. and O. liner Ranchi, on her arrival at Plymouth, reported that the seas in the English Channel were the worst encountered for years. When the storm was at its height wireless reports stated that the French steamer Cambronne, of 3.U5U tons, and the British steamers Valacia and Rowanburn, 2,399 tons, were out of control, owing to damage to their steering gear. The Danish steamer Helene, 1.199 tons, reported that her engines were completely disabled. Appeals from the Danish steamer Guecho brought two tugs from Swansea to her assistance. The Swedish motor vessel Balaklava reported that the hurricane had damaged her bridges and flooded the cabins amidships, causing delay. Lifeboats were called out during the day from several stations arornd the British coasts. Two houses in London, and several in other towns, collapsed, and many cases of trees, hoardings and walls being blown down are reported. Roads in several parts were temporarily blocked by fallen trees. The London to Bournemouth railway traffic was delayed for three hours owing to a tree having fallen across the rails. The flooding of a suburban line near New Beckenham, Kent, necessitated the cutting off of the current for the electrical trains. A large number of telephone wires were brought down by the storm. The Newhaven-Dieppe steamer services were cancelled, and the Folkestone to Boulogne services were diverted via Dover.