GREAT DAMAGE DONE BY GALE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18938, 7 December 1929, Page 1

GREAT DAMAGE DONE BY GALE.

BRITISH ISLES SWEPT; MANY SHIPS DISABLED AND ONE FOUNDERS. (United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright. ) RUGBY, December 5. Several lives were lost and widespread damage was done to propertyon land and sea by the worst storm for many y^ears. A violent south-westerly gale swept over the British Isles last night and continued with unabated fury throughout the greater part of the day. In the Channel and the North Sea extremely heavy seas were running and muQb of the shipping made for shelter, where it was available. Fishing trawlers reached Hull in a battered condition, the crews describing the gale as being as bad as any they had ever experienced. Near Bristol railway traffic was suspended by a steel crane which had been blown down on to the line The gale was accompanied by torrents of rain, which helped to increase the already large flooded areas, particularly in the Thames Valley. The velocity of the wind varied, but in some parts of the country gusts exceeding ninety miles an hour were registered, and it i many places the gusts were between seventy and eighty miles an hour. 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 liner Ranchi, on arrival at Plymouth, reported that the seas in the English Channel were the worst encountered for years. The British steamer Frances Duncan foundered off Land’s End. Five survivors were picked up by another British steamer which went to her assistance when the storm was at its height. Wireless reports stated that the French steamer Cambroune and the British steamers Valacia and Rowanburn were out of control owing to damaged steering gear. The Danish steamer Helene 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 damaged the bridge and flooded the cabins amidships, causing delay. Lifeboats were called out during the day from several stations around the British coasts. Two houses in London and several in other towns collapsed, and many cases of trees, hoardings and walls being blown down were reported. Roads in several parts were temporarily blocked by fallen trees, and London-Bourne-mouth railway traffic was delayed for three hours owing to a tree falling 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 Folke-stone-Boulogne services were diverted via Dover. Anxiety regarding the floods in the lower reaches of the Thames was expressed in a question in the House of Commons. The Minister of Health, Mr Arthur Greenwood, replied that the matter was under consideration, but it was difficult to promise that measures could be taken to prevent floods.

COLLIER SINKS WITH 1 6 OUT OF CREW OF 21. LONDON, December 6. At the height of the gale, the collier Frances Duncan, which was on its way from Cardiff to Rouen, two miles off shore, was caught in a veritable wall of water near Penzance. The vessel heeled over like a child’s toy, and the water closed above her. When she reappeared she was lying on her side, and she sank in full view of the shore and the barque Alice Marie, which was nearby. Sixteen members out of the crew of twenty-one were drowned. Most of them were trapped below, but by a miracle five were saved, thanks to the pluck, quickness and remarkable seamanship of the Alice Marie. It was a vivid drama to those on shore who were watching. First, there was the Frances Duncan’s fight against the gale, then the disaster, and finally the astonishing rescues.