MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13651, 20 July 1908, Page 6

MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

NEWS FROM THE STATIONS. DISASTROUS EFFECT OF THE SNOW. A resident of Timaru who bicycled from Fnir'io yesterday afternoon brought, down some interesting information regarding the state of tilings in the Mackenzie Country, though the items are .unavoidably meagre. Unfortunately tliey aie in the majority of cases of a deplorable nature. Generally. the information that had reached Fniriie went to show tho snowfall was the heaviest for the last eight years at least'. When the snow began about a fortnight ago, it was not anticipated that it would become so serous, but. when it had continued for some oa~"s. and was succeeded by i-.harp fiosts, it ivjuj feared that the ruidioldeis must suffer a great disaster. 'llk* following are a few details that had i cached Fairlie yesterday afternoon. Rollesby Station (Mrs E. Havter'sl was buried under 4fti of snow, ' and after ;• thaw in the meantime, there remained' 3ft 2in oil Saturday. There weio about! 12,000 sheep on tho run, and Mr Haytei managed to get out 1500 ami drove them through Fairlie yesterday morning. He feared that the rest would probably be lust, as they had beeu covered twelve days, and must remain covered for some time longer before so much snow could bo nfclk-Q to set them fre-e. Mr McMillan, who has a, small grazing run in tho Opdii Valley, also got out some sheep, and Mr F. tl. Smith saved a, good proportion of his from the snow on \Varatah. The slaoe of things in and beyond the Pass on the north side of the Mackenzie Country who "reported to be very bad iudeed. On Mr Burnett's Sawdon run the snow lies deep, and the 10,000 or so of sheep it carried ale likely to be an almost total loss. Richmond and Lilybanlt-(Mr J. Pringle's runs) are deeply snowed under, and the common opinion was that veiv few of tha sheep (estimated at 20,000 to 22,000) will be able to survive there. Mr Pringie went through t>o Tekapo yesterday,' on ski, accompanying the mailman with his pack-horsci-i. He will endeavour to get through to Richmond to-day. No mention was made of Tekapo Station, at the foot of the lake, but it uAist be heavily covered also. At Balmoral the fall was not so heavy, and the loss there is not expected to be serious, while Mistake Station, at. tho head of tho lake on the further side, is said to be in as bad a case! as Lilybank and Richmond. Beyond Balmoral, Braemar had only 4 inches of snow, and is therefore all right, while Mr Grant's Wolds run is completely covered and serious loss is looked for there. Beyond the Tasmaii. Glenl;inner had only a, comparatively slight fall. Mr 1). Macdonald came down the Taslnan riverbed, and reached Fairlie on Tuesday in search of mails. Ho reported that there was 3ft of snow at the Hermitage. A thaw tet in on Saturday on the front ranges, but it will take some time for even "soft" weather-to make an impression upon such a depth of snow. The mails were got through from Burke's Pass and Tekapo yesterday by means of packhorses, and the mailman intended to push through to Pukaki to-day if possible, and if he gets through it will be for the finit time for twelve days. ' The snow plough had opened up a track as far as> Burke's Pass, but a team of sixteen horses was unable to take ifc through the Pass. Seen Ironi Fairlie, the greater part of Ash wick Flat appeared to be freo from snow, but the ranges were whilo yesterday jo the foot. There were drifts still lying in (lie shade in Fairlie, but the loaiis and railway were clear, the former, however. being very elushy all the way to Albuiy. From Alburv to Pleasant Point the load was in fair condition, and from the latter to Wasltdyke in a very bad state from flood scour. The condition of the road• as a, whole may be gauged by the fact that a motor car took four hours for the journey from Timaru to Fairlie on Saturday.