ROUGH WEATHER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 79, 23 March 1908, Page 2

ROUGH WEATHER.

ANXIOUS TIME FOR SHIPPING. SOME WIVING EXPERIENCES. Per Press Association. Wellington, East Night. The bad weather which had been experienced for Several days seemed to reach its height yesterday. The wind blew with hurricane force, ana it rained the whole day. No damage is reported in Hie city or suburbs, and the railway serviced were not interfered with- Not so, however, with the pingThe itotonialianii, which left Lyttelton at (i.ltl p.m. on Friday, and was thus ilue about U a.m. yesterday, did not put iu an appearance till !) p.m. When 01. Ivnikoura, the wind began to freshen, and by the lime the vessel was passing Capo. Campbell, a hard southerly was blowing. About 4 a.m. the Rotomanana was near Wellington Heads, but being unable to pick up the light, slit steamed slowly unlil the weather im proved somewhat. When at half-speed she made three knots an hour againsl the gale, and eleven knots with tin

The llaitai was two clays lute in arriving from Sydney, which port she left on .Monday. A lieavy southerly gale commenced on Thursday evening and continued until Cane Farewell was. sighted on Friday afternoon. She passed Cape Farewell at 4 p.m., and then ran into such a heavy southerly, with high .seas and thick rainy weather, that she wafc hove to from 10 p.m. on Friday till 10 ! a.m. to-day, when the weather moderat- ' ed, and the llaitai steamed into the harbor at noon. The coastal steam Kahu arrived from Napier at 2.15 o'clock yesterday afternoon, having taken 85 hours on a triipl which usually occupies 24 hours. She left Napier on Wednesday night, and except for an interval of twelve hours, sheltering at Castlepoinl, had been battling with the elements until 2 o'clock on Saturday. Her position at. the Heads was serious. The sea, according to Captain Thompson, was tremendous, the weather thick, and the coal bunkers of the vessel at a low level. There was not enough fuel to take the vessel through the Straits, and Captain Thompson had great difficulty in 'making port. Perhaps the toughest experience was that of the little steamer Tasman. She loft Nelson for Wellington at 4 a.m. on Saturday, and when a few miles from Cape Terawhiti, shipped a heavy sea, which washed clean over the bridge, into the engine-rooms, into the. saloon, and badly started the bulkhead under the bridge, opening the deck seams, carrying away the bridge deck ladders, and' the hatch over the foreliold. Captain Cox decided to put back l , and ran into Oyster Bay, where he conferred with the' captain of the Charles Edward and Captain Cox then took the Tasman to Pieton and had the deck temporarily re-cauJk-ed. She ran across to Wellington this morning. During the trip from Pieton a heavy sea smashed in a port in the forecastle, and seas went over the vessel, and again to the engine-room, the vessel having to be stopped to enable the broken port to be blocked. Owing to the rain to-day the lliramar pony races and all other outdoor sports were postponed.