MIDWINTER STORMS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13647, 15 July 1908, Page 6

MIDWINTER STORMS.

VERY GLOOMY OUTLOOK. Per Press Association. DUNEDIN, July 14. The ouUook in the Nastby da-trict i« very gloomy. Snow commenced again early this morning and fell heavily a I Natseby, Kokonga, Kyeburn, Hyde, Ranfurly, Rough Ridge, bt. Bathans and Waipiata. At Nasi; by the snow is b. ing vigorously shovelled from buildings. Many mofs are being propped up as a precautionary measure. At Alexandra, liiero is talk of sending a, .waggon 10 Law renco for provisions. MOItE RAIN AND SNOW. Fruits sot in with the clearing of the «-ky at. the end of last week, a very sliai p frost beginning a. short series on Friday night. Monday night began with frost, but before morning clouds covered the sky and a thaw set in. Later in I luday, yesterday, a cold southerly breeze sprang up, making wintry weather, with slight showers almost cold enough lov .•-now. Reports from up country showed that it was snowing at Fairlie (after a i|haw in the morning) and beyond. Mr M. White, manager of the N.Z. Loan Company, received by telephone message from Balmoral stationthafc there had been nine inches more snow at Tekapo, and a further fall had taken place at -the- Pass. •Some of the parties of men and hors<t> that had gone up for "snow-raking"— treading tracks for slice)) through the snow —had got through the Pass, whilst othem \\<:iv btuck up on .llu- way. According lo all accounts the north side of the Mack"ii/,ie Country is 10-avjly snowed under, and I lie .-beep on (hat side are in for a, bad time. One of the . Borough Council's waterworks staff told a. reporter yesterday tlm':the slip of the race at Ward's zig-zag (hough only about rive-aniT-fwcn'ty feet l»ng, had Lad a remarkable, effect on the ground below. The 'concrete work of the race had been carried down some distance, and some big trees were uprooted by the slip. Water is being got

past the break in 12-inch iron pipes at present. It will be necessary to bench out a. new race in tho hillside, and as lliero is rock to be blasted, this will make it difficult to arrange for a. continuous How of water by leaving tho pipes in place. Mr Black, Levels County Surveyor, informed a. " Herald " representative yesterday that the county roads had suffered comparatively little damage by the laito floods; that in fact they had escaped wonderfully well. There will be a. good deal of patching of seouis to bo done, but the total will not bo a. serious drain on the Council's funds. The Washdyke Creek had not yet- subsided sufficiently to allow him to see tho exact amount of damage done to the main road bridge, that is, whether the piers have been damaged materially as well as the arch. Mr Black visited tho l'areora main road bridge, and from the position of rubbish lodged on the timbers ho was inclined to believe that it was a good thing that tho river broke out of bounds through the south retaining wall, as had it not done so it was probable that the south end of the bridge would have been earlied away. A well-known laud agent informed a, " Herald" reporter yesterday, when speaking of the heavy fall of snow in the Mackenzie Country, that ho knew of several landowners in that district who had been trying to sell out for the past twelve months, their reason being that they feared a bad winter this year. He thought that with these fears being well-founded not many small farmers would be anxious to support Mr Guthrie's scheme for the closer settlement of the Mackenzie tryRain commenced' to fall in Gcia.ldine about half-past 11 o'clock yesterday morning, and continued throughout tho day. The morning was fine when the express left Christchuich, and the train ran into the. rough weather about Ashburton, the storm apparently working its way up from the south. The ranges were obscured and apparently snow was falling. It is a. matter for regret, as the land 1i;k1 a good soaking last week, and there was still a lot of water lying about the paddocks when the rain came on. The ford above the swing bridge at Geraldine was completely washed away by the flood last week, and several drivers of vehicles and horsemen have had narrow escapes from serious accidents in attempting to cross over. Only yester : day morning some persons in a trap found themselves in an unfortunate plight, and assistance had to be secured before they could be released from danger. The following is Captain Edwin's weather forecast up to 3 p.m. to-day i-"-Weslterly winds, strong to gale are probable north of East Cape and Kawhia, and southerly strong to gale elsewhere; cold and wet weather, probably, everywhere."