Tornado In Victoria.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 179, 2 August 1904, Page 4

Tornado In Victoria.

disas'j r.n by night. A BUILDING SMASHED UP. INMATES KILLED. About three o'clock on Suturdav morning (July loth) a liaaw thunder and wind storm swept over the Aveiiel district, Victoria. At a point two miles from the town the wind raged with tornado-like fury oyer a snip of country about two miles long and a chain and a-half «"»de, levelling everything in the shape of timber, buildings and fences before it, and, unfortunately, causing. the death of a woman and her child, an<! serious injury to the husband. The scene of the disaster is a wide ravine, known as Bowling's Flat, the hills rising on both sides, while Hughes' Creek runs along the western side of the valley. The hurricane travelled from north-west to southeast, and spent its force against flip side of Mount Bernard, which rises abruptly some -100 ft. Situated right on tlw course of the huruicaiiu was a three-roomed weatherboard farmhouse, occupied .by Mr and Mrs- Tal'x>tt and their two young children. Mr C. T. Cole, a resident of Camberwell, who arrived on a visit to the Talbett's the previous night, was sleeping on tho premises. The wind struck tho side of the house, and swept it level with the floor. Tho superstructure was smashed to matchwood, and scattered about the laddock. Mr and Mrs Talbett were lceping immediately at tho back of t;'io chimney, and the stack of bricks «as hurled upon their -bed. Mr Cole, who was in a room in the opposite corner of the house, had a wonderful escape. Ho was thrown out of wound amongst the blankets and nattrcss, and swept about 20 yards from the house. Extricating himself, he went to tlho assistance of Mr Talbett, who was pinned beneath oart of the bed and a mass of ijricks and debris. With tho aid of a lad who had been sleeping in,, a small place about 20 yards away the debris was displaced, and Mr Talbett, who had his eldest child, iged two years, in his arms, was removed to the lad's bed. The gale and the falling rain rendered the use of lights impossible, so that the search made for Mrs Talbett was futile.

The lad galloped to Avenel for Constable Hunt, and when he arrived, accompanied by somo neighbours, about two tons of bricks were removed, and beneath the cot in which the eldest child had apparently been sleeping" tho dead bodies of Mrs Talbett and her infant, aged two months, were found. From tlie position of tho bodies, tho child lying against the mother's breast, the victims appeared to have been killed during sleep. The bodies were not greatly knocked about externally, though tho woman's wrist was crushed. Dr. Dobie, who was early on the scene, is of opinion that both met with instantaneous death. Mr Talbett Was seriously injured. He has a bad cut on the head, and is severely bruised about tho body, Mr Cole escaped with an injured ankle. The little boy, aged two years, who was sleeping in the room with his parents, escaped without even a scratch.

An inspection of the place reveals remarkable' evidence of the cyclonic fury of the storm. Huge green trees Bft in diameter were torn out by the roots, and smaller ones strewn in all directions, thus indicating that the hurricane must have been of the whirlwind character. Limbless dry trees 3ft In diameter have been mown down, and limbs of trees, weighing over lewt, have been carried hundreds of yards. Tn some cases half thelimls of trees have been stripped away as if cut by an axe in a direct line. AI ay shed almost adjoining the demoilished house lost only a few iheuts of rootling. Wire netting and other fences are flattened to tho ground. Tho hurricane swept through part of Mr Maker's fine apple orchard, and about 100 well-grown trees were torn out iby the roots and piled against a fence. A trap was carried away and deposited upside down in the paddock, and a piano was swept out of the house and damaged. An area of a quarter of a mile long by 200 yards wide was

strewn with bricks, splintered quartering, boards, furniture, and crockeryware. Chairs, tables, and beds were broken in several pieces, sheets of iron were torn and twisted like calico and carried nearly half a mile ; and clothing- and linen were wound around fence posts and trees, l'ieccs of quartering 3in by 2ini, from Ift to 12it long, were sticking fast and upright in the ground a Iqji'nrter of a mile from lid wrecked building, as if driven in with a hammer. The track of tho hurricane where tho flying debris struck the ground resembled a course where horses have lieen galloping, while in some places soils have been dislodged aa if someone had been at work with a shovel. The only sound part of the building, which was tho only one in the vicinity, was the floor. About five years ago a narrow tornado of great velocity swept through the same valley, and a number of trees were blown down.

M. Cole states that he was awakened about three a.m. by heavy claps of thunder, (he last being preceded by a very vivid flash of lightiv'ng. This was followed by a terrific roar, accompanied ny a noise on the roof like falling bricks. In an instant he felt himself being rolled away. The bod ho was lying on was broken to atoms.:

There is an enlightened municipality In Sweden which levies a rate on all citizens over a fixed standard of weight. The weight of flesh which a citizen can decently carry about with him is fixed at 1351b. Persons exceeding this limit arc taxed at the following rates : Up to 1001b, about 12s 6d a year ; from 2001b to 2701b, approxiinately 25s ; beyond 2701b about 7s 6d for every pound. The plan seems to have not a few advantages, and the British Medical Journal thinks that our Chancellor of the Exchequer might copy. A tax on a superfluity of fat, which is mostly thu results of luxurious liv. ing, would, it is said, ease Oic Chancellor's mind and raise the moral tono of the community.