TERRIFIC GALE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1400, 24 January 1860, Page 5

TERRIFIC GALE.

SHIPWRECKS AND LOSS OF LIFE

For a week past Liverpool and other places in England have bceu visited with seveie weather. On Friday night, the 21st, v fearful

thunderstorm, accompanied with hail and snow, broke over Liverpool and neighbourhood, and on bunday morning the town presented a wintry appearance seldom 1 witnessed at this time of year. A very severe frost followed ; but, on | iuesday night, this was succeeded by heavy i,raiu, which continued to pour down until Wed- , neacjay morning the wind began to rise, and continued increasing until a terrific gale was blowing from the northward. About noon it had reached its height, «nd towards evening trradually subsided, the wind then blowing! from the northwest.

from the accounts received the storm seems to have been equally severe from Liverpool round to the East Coast, and a fearful catalogue of disasters and loss of life it is our painful duty to record. The most striking and distressing calamity is the wreck of the steamer Royal Charter on the Welsh coast, with a loss ot over 400 lives, after having made Queens- 1 town from Melbourne the quickest voyage on reoord. The severity of the gale is attested by the fact that intelligence was received at Lloyd's on the 26th from the outports, of the stranding or total loss of upwards of 70 vessels, attended tv many cases with loss of life.

At Liverpool, the sailing of the City of Balti* more for New York, and the North American or Qaebee, was prevented. The White Star clipper bound for Melbourne, was obliged to put back, and was for some time in danger of fouhng on the Plnckington Bank. She escaped the danger, however, and was ultimatel secured hough with the loss of two anchors. The ferry boats only crossed the river at rare intervals, and so severe was the strain upon the small landing stage that many of the timbers started from their places, and the roof of «ne of the refreshment rooms was disjointed. The spire of St. Georges Church was observed frequently to rock, as it was struck by a heavier gust than usual. A flat on going dowu the river towards Runscorni feunder.-d when off Seacomhe Feiry, and twJ men and a boy, in attempting to reach the shore, were drowned. The Semaphore ( Sll ) which left Belfast on Monday, arrived if, the Mersey on the 26th, after a most tempestuous passage. Her cargo of live stock suffered im mensely; and one dealer, wbo shipped 100 head at Belfast, found himself only master of five live beasts when he arrived in Liverpool. 1 he barque Bahamian broke from her moorings in Canada Dock, drove into the gut, smashed her- stern and rudder, and stove in p« rt side against the gates. Several vessels broke adrift in Huskisson Dock and drove against the quay, receiving in »re or less damage. The Ben Lomond had her stern damaged. The roof of the Cunard shed, Huskisson Dock, was stripped by the gale. It may be mentioned that the storn was more violent than any that have occurred in this town for several years. When at its greatest height — about 20 minutes to twelve o'clock— the force of the wind, as registered by anemometer at the Liverpool observatory was 28tbs. pressure on the square foot. In July, 1858, during a similar gale, the pressure was 271b5., and in a gale which occurred in December, 1855, 24!bs. to the square foot. In the totvn slates were blown from the roofs of houses, ami other similar causalities occurred, but! though there were one or two narrow escapee, no one sustained any injury.

London —From a very early hour in the morning a terrific ga!e of wind rage,! over the metropolis and subuibs, continuing nearly the whole day, causing, unfortunately, the loss of more than one life and severe injury to sever*! persons.. About half-past 7o'clockin the moming the residents of Grovr.-lane, Camberwell, and vicinity weie alarmed by hearing a dreadful crash, when it discovered that a wall skirting the roadway, about 27 fpet in length and nearly 15 feet high, had been forced down, together with three very large trees, the latter being snapped off close to the ground. Shortly after five o'clock in the morning, as a man named Robert Martin was passing near the Surrey Canal at Peckbam, he heard a loud scream, aud on looking towards whence it proceeded, he perceived a woman being carried off her feet into the canal by the power of the gale, and before he could reach her she became immersed and sank. Many persons had been taken to the hospitals seveiely hurt from being struck by tiles and chimneys. In the neighhouihood of Dulwich and Sydenham the damage has been extensive; large trees and hedges were blown down and uprooted, and the roadways for several miles were strewn with broken branches, &c. The fury of the gale forced off the roof of a handsome conservatory attached to a gentleman's residence in the Dulwich road. The trees and shrubs in Battersea and Kennington-parks have received much damage, and several large trees were uprooted at Wandsworth and Putney. The wharfs along the banks of the river have more or less beeu damaged from the fury of the sturm. Two barg»s were stove in near Battersea bridge, being both driven on shore and extensively damaged. Altogether the damage done is very great.

Holyhead. — Thk Giieat Eastebn. —On the night of the 25th there was an undoubted test upon the anchorage of the harbour. It blew a terriffic gale from the N. and N. by E. which continued until next morning, and great was tbe anxiety evinced for tbe safety of the biff ship. When daylight, however, allowed a glimpse at her stalwart dimensions, we found her as steady as a rock at her anchors, immovable and unmoving. About half-past ten o^clock on the morning o f the 26th the Great Eastern was seen to swing round, and apparently drifting towards shore, and hundreds of people flocked along the coast, apprehensive of the safetj of the ship. Their fears were, however, soon dispelled by observing that they were merely giving the vessel more protection by throwing down two additional anchors. This was admirably accomplished with steam up without the slightest danger to the ship ; and after encountering one of the severest gales that ever was wituessed in this harbour within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, the Gieat Eastern holds firm to her anchors without the slightest perceptible oscillation. With the wind raging N.W. by E. and back again to N. N.W. and N.W. the vessel was completely exposed to the weather, and, fortunately, "stood firm to the ground." Whilst tbe Great Eastern thus had a " narrow escape," as many landsmen thought, other crafts of smaller dimensions met a worse fate. A gentleman's beautiful yacht, the Marucoiits, sank in the harboi.r, her cable, as we understand, having been run against by a steam tug. A schooner, the Gipsy, was also thrown on to the rocks, and other vessels run on the beach, but without sustaining any very considerable damage. An immense portion of the staging of the North' crn Breakwater has been washed away, and damage done amounting to many thousauds of pounds which cannot as yet be' estimated. The harbour and the opposite beach are strewn with logs of timber. ( Such was the fierceness of the gale that the Irish mail from Kingstown due at I 3') a.m. did not arrive till four o'clock ; and the mail from Kingstown to Liverpool

I (Eblana steamer) turned in here at one o'clock jin the afternoon, and lauded her passengers, being unable to proceed ou her voyage. She had one of her paddle boxes knocked off. The Hibernia steamer arrived in the morning, with a cargo of cattle, after an exceedingly rough passage. Fifteen bead of cattle were thrown overboard, and several others have since died.

HAnTLEPOOL. — Four days of keen frost, with a nippiug northeast wind, was followed, on the 25th, at Hartlepool, by a sudden and delightful change in the weather, the wind having changed to the southeast. In the evening' it increased in violence, and towards midnight the storm raged with great intensity, continuing till about foHr o'clock. The gale was at its height about two o'clock, and those who wit. nessed it describe it as being the most awful that has been seen on this coast for many years. A large number of light cplliers, together with laden vessels, ran into the harbour, and took up their positions alongside the quay, and those that followed were obliged to run aground on the south side of the harbour. About a dozen lay closely packed together, and on the morning of the 26th presented a distressed ap pearflD.ce, with yards, bowsprits, and jibbooms carried away. The brig Margaret, of Colchester, lost mainmast, bowsprit, and jibbuom. Od the mussel-beds, between the jetty and the. commissioners ferry-landings the following vessels weie driven, some of them above the ordinary highwater mark, all of which received more or loss damage from collission with each other ;— the Trio, of Whitby ; the James Dowell, of Newcastle; the John Elliotson, of Whitstable ; the Fly and the Beeswing, both of Whitby ; the Happy Family, of Whitstable ; the Rubinson and the Margaret, both of Hartlepool ; and the Auguste, of Lynn. On Middleton Sands, near the jetty, where the brigs Atlas Wiicher, and the Isabella, Bemm, of Whitby ; and near the north pier at West Hartjepool the Ann, of Stockton. At West Hartlepool the screw steamer Admiral Cator, Paxton, master, of that port, from Rotterdam, with a general cargo, when entering the harbour, struck the south pier on her larboard bow, and immediately began to fill. Her engtaes were reversed to back her off, and then put on full speed again, which was scarcely done before she sank, the water flowing abore her deck. At low water she is uncovered, and she is now being unloaded. The brig: Severn, Richiortan, of West Hartlepool, was driven into a bight in the basin, and where she did considerable injury to the pier and grjoynes, and then was canied ncros3 the basin in the south corner upon the stones. The brigs Eleauor and the Mecca, of Wbitby, were also drireJi into corners between the piers and the groynes, and received considerable damage, the latter losing foremast and bowsprit, and the hull being completely doubled up. The brig Hawkhill, of Whitby, was driven on to the Black Rocks, near the Hartlepool pier, where she will become a total wreck. We are sorry we have to record the loss of two lives, in cpnnection with these casualties. The schooner Wells, of Lynn, went ashore on Sea ion Sands, near the life-hoat house, and two of the crew, the master and mate, were unfortunately drowned. This morning scarcely a vestige of the vessel was visible. About a dozen vessels were cast high and dry alongside the fishermen's cottages in the West Hartlepool basin, and great difficulty will be experienced in- getting them off, -

Bbistot..— Bristol was visited dti the afternoon and evening of the 26th with a heavy storm, accompanied Gy a violent gale from the east, shifting: south, and bringing with it a rise in the temperature after the severe frosts of the preceding days. The mercury fell fust, and at 8 p.m. stood (at 228 feet above the sea) at 28 608 inches, being the lowest since Oct. 8, 1857, when it was 28 529. The rain guage of the Bristol Waterworks Company indicated a fall of 75100 in the twenty- four hours ending at 10 o'clock next morning. In Bristol Chan* nel numerous casualties bare occurred. The sloop Mary was lost with all hands, on Sully Island, on Tuesday night, and the destruction of pilot craft is unparalleled. At Clevedon, the windows of Rock House have been shattered, n-ml the srs wall opposite the residence of the late C. W. Finzel, Esq., has been washed away. Swansea. — The 25ta was cold and stormy, rain aud sleet fell heavily, and in the afternoon it blew a gale of wind. The trains were delayed, and the Lundore and Swansea platforms covered with water. The storm, which commenced at nightfall, blew out all the gaslights. Finding it impossible to keep them lit, the station master had recourse to oil lamps, The gale became bo heavy that a portion of the roof of the newly erected station the Swansea Vale Railway, vt the New Cut, was blown off. The tiles flew off houses iv the t«wn, rendering pedectrianism dangerous. The gaslights at the bottom of Wind-street on the Quay, in Mountstreet, and at Somerset place, was extinguished. A sloop went down at the Mumbles in the 1 evening, and we shall doubtless bear of other shipping accidents having happend.

Shields. — On Wednesday morning, during the gale from the S S.E. the brig Brodiick, which bad just come in from sea, ran with* her bows against a dwelling house a little above the New Quay, North Shields. The bowsprit of the vessel nearly knocked the end of the house in and partly unroofed it. The families of several steam boat men slept in tbe house next the rirer, and had to jump out of bed to escape for their lives. Fortunately none were hurt. One of the steamboat rneD, Robert Cbisholm, in jumping out of bed, caught hold of the ship's bowsprit. *The furniture of the inmates was considerably damaged. The Sea Biid, in coming in from sea, also lan her bowsprit into a house on the Custom-house Quay, Lower Shad well Street, South Shields, and did considerable damage. Fortunately no one was hurt there either.

Exrtek. — Exeter and many parts of the county of Devon were visited with a tremendous storm on the 25th. Torrents of rain fell in the day ; the Exe overflowed its banks, the valley of the Clyst was followed, and tbe property iv many places was destroyed. The raiu was succeeded in the night by a terrific gale. This, in conjunction with a spring tide, has seriously damaged the South Devon line, which runs for a long distance in close proximity to the sea. It is reported that several breaches in the line betweeu Exeter and Teignmouth have occurred. A correspondent writing from Totnes, states that the tide was so high thete that the streets were inundated.

Sussex.— The whole of the Sussex coast was visited by a very severe storm on tbe night of the 25th, which has done immense damage, particularly at Eastbourne and Hastings and between Bexhill and St. Leonard's, where it has washed away nearly 250 yards of the London and Hastings line. Most damage has beeu done at Eastbourne, where oue enterprising tradesman has lost property to the extent of £200. On the Maiine parade several of the best houses have beeu injured. The tide was the highest known for several years, and those who witnessed it assert that beyond all question it " rolled mountains high." At Hastings, too,

great damage baa been done to? 'property though nobody is injured. The lower part of the town has been flooded, many of the dweK lings to the extent of between two and three feet. Two vessels lay close to the beach ;• strange to say thatneither of them sustained the slightest injury. The bathing machines, bow* ever, were much tossed about ; at Eastbourne some of them were earned into the middle 'of the town. At Brighton, Lewes, Newbaven, and other places on the coast more or less damage has been done by the high winds which prevailed.

» Pobtiand.— All the 25th, and more particularly at night, blew one of the most tremendous gales of wind, accompanied by a- terrific sea,, that has ever been experienced on this part of. the coast. The damaged caused by the heavy seas on the great temporary timber support of . the breakwater will entail very serious loss to the contractor, and will also suspend tire quarying operations in the convict quarries, where* the material is obtained for the making of the breakwater. The greatest damage sustained isabout 600 yards from the shore, in the vicinity of the first pier head, and at this point an im»- " mense gap of about 200 feet in length has freerr ' made in the support, the timber from which has been thrown on the beach in all directions. The communication to the outer or great breakwater : thus beiug.c'utoff, the depositing of stone must •' cease until s the repairs have been effected. The-"' granite pier heads and sea walls sustained no> injury, although the wave 3 broke upon then* with awful fury ; and such was the force thaf the spray at times flew in immense clouds ttfi-U altitude of at least 150 feet above the masonry; In the vicinity of the second pier head the da' ■>■ mage sustained is very great. The bugetimber . piles and beareis are many of them displaced and thrown about in all directions. A small vessel of forty tons, the Hope, of Weymouth, v while riding at anchor in this harbour, broke -■ her cable and was cast upon the inner side of the breakwater, sustaining considerable damage,

PwSiooiH, Oct. 25.— Heavy gales prevailed trom tbe southward, veering suddenly east and west, with much rain, and in the evening th» tide rose unusually high. The fisherman were compelled to drop their nets and run into the sound, and the Irish steamers were obliged to remain in port. A schooner, with all hands, ii reported to be lost at Beryhead. At Lrvennead, liTquay, Kingsteignton, and Turf the turnpike roads are generally injured by the overflow, lne sea broke in on the South Devon Railroad at four different points. On the river Teign, in front of Delamere house, the granite coping is. washed down for two hundred yards. Above East Teignmouth both sea walls are hroken fo^ . a quarter of a mile. At Langton Point, between, Dawlish and Starcross, there is another breach; ' and above Starcross, between Turf and Powder*, ham, tbe embankment is destroyed for mor« than half a mile, and thebullast is washed froia uuder the rails.

Portsmouth.— lt blew a heavy gale from the S.E, to S.S.E. all tbe night of the 26th at Ports, mout, accompanied by heavy rain and an extra » ordinary high tide in the harbour. Early next morning the wind veered to N.Vv*., and the day broke clear and dry, bat still blowing a fresE gale. As the day wore ou the wind drew slightly to the westward and considerably moderated.

Dovfiß.— Last night, during a terrific gale from the S.E., the- schooner Pilot, Captain £ Jones, belonging to Milford, and bound fton* Havre to Hamburg, with a cargo of asphhalte,. went ashore off the harbour, between the Admiralty y»ier and the west pier head. The captaiu and two men were drowned. The effects of the gale are seen all along the sea front. The asphalt promenade in frout of Waterloo crescent has been entirely torn up by the violence of the sea, and the windows of some of the houses bare been blown in. Other casualitiej, are reported between this and Hythe. '

Brighton.- Brighton was visited with some extraordinary high tides aud severe gales some ' days before the great gale of the 251 b, which extended along the whole coast, the eastward • having experienced the greatest severity. On the 24th the waves ran higher than has been known for many years, and washed away a large ■• portion of the lower western esplanade, and somewhat damaged the railings on the east side of the first tower on the Chain pier. The gale continued throughout that morning, and but one vessel, which had carried away her mainmast, was descried in the offiing, but way not signalling for assistance ; but a vessel was blown ashore at Portobello Gap, between Brighton and Bottingdeav, shortly before 12 o'clock on the night of the 26th. She proved to be the Ariadne, with dried fruit, from Malaga for Leitb, the chief portion of her cargo consisting of alraouds. Her crew consisted of three men and a boy, all of whom were saved. Considerable damage has been sustained at Eastbourne, and also at Worthing. At the latter place the sea washed into the middle of the town, reaching the Town hall, which is more than 300 yards above bigh water mark. Scotland.— The Dunbar correspondent of the Scotsman writes that on Wednesday a fearful storm raged on the Scotch coast. About one o'clock, a.m., a strong north wind began to blow, and a terrible sea to rise, while there wa* a deluge of rain. At daylight a vessel was observed in the bay in great distress. The coast guard, 1 under the command of Lieutenant Tay-i . lor, were promptly on the shore with one of Manby's apparatus* to bs ready ta reader assis* >"• tance-.; As., the.; day broke, two other vessels , ;! (brigs) were seen in similar danger immediately ■ off the harbour. So fearfully did the storpi ' now.rage, that the spectators along the shore expected every moment to see the vessel dashed to pieces upon (he rocks. No boat could venture out to give the least aid. It was uttejly impossible for the vessel to make the' Firth— to the east it was certain desUuction against the headlands, and in the bays the crew were doomed to fight with the raging elements for their lives. About eleven o'clock one of the brigs was olose on the rocks behind the old castle, but at the moment of greatest danger, she put on more canvass and increased; ■ her outiince from the danger. . During the. afternoou the three vessels struggled bravely against the raging storm. The new harbour works have suffered considerable damage, especially in the scaffolding and contractor's plant • a portion of the scaffolding used in building the sea wall, upon which is placed the travelling cranes, has been thrown - down ; the coffer dams at the mouth of the harbour huve *" also suffered considerable damage, and the temporary railway for conveying the debrit of the new harbour along the east beach has been swept away. It is reported that a foreign sloop bas been cast ashore a total wreck at Bilsdean, between the Cove and Dunbar* but that the lives of thecrew have been saved by Manby's .apparatus. The schooner Black Agnos, of this port, 'the property o f Messrs. Barclay, is a total wreck at Blythe ; crew saved There are reports of otbei casualties aluu* the coast, the particular* of <vhich haw not trana* pired, •-....