A WESTERLY BLUSTER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 82, 1 November 1939, Page 5

A WESTERLY BLUSTER

YESTERDAY'S BLOW

WHAKATANE HOLDS ITS HAT ON

Gusty weather yesterday, though tlie wind certainly had the Knack o> blowing the war-blues away, dislodging old deposits of longforgotten rub bish, old tins, rag;- and yellow newspapers. The westerly which swung so gleefully across the plains, seemed to have the habit of concentrating the whole of its force on the eoi*ner which rounds the Pohaturoa Rock in Commerce Street. It was interesting and not a little amusing yesterday morning to watch the anv tics of some of the towns folk negotiating the bend in the face of the blast. Hats were whipped off, packets and parcels torn from unwilling hands and at least one cyclist was blown from his machine. The parade across the danger zone in the afternoon provided even more diversion, and the onlookers, from the safety of the overhanging verandah, had the vindictive joy of seeing busy housewives, in all the glory of their afternoon bests, hastily shorn of their attempts at dignity and blustered, heaved and hurled across to the opposite pavement.

Dust and Sand.

But it was not merely the shopping housewives who, received the attention of the playful westerly. Down King Street it howled. Anything detachable felt its force, while washing on the lines tugged frantically, until it was either torn off or wrapped hopelessly around the wires like so many deposits of cement. But it Avas in Lovelock Street that the worst havoc occurred. As all good residents of Kopeopeo know, and many have realised to their chagrin the Borough grader is steadily making progress along this thoroughfare, ostensibly for levelling purposes, with a view to ultimate sealing (we hope) . Clouds of dust and sand were whipped playfully into the air and sprayed liberally among the houses. Penetrating the rooms, the good ladies complained that it was to be tasted in the food the butter) smelt in the air, felt in the bath and even in bed. This was getting beyond it. A lady with a little more audacity than the 'others decided to approach the foreman who at that time was supervising the fun. Could he not divert the work till the wind abated?

The foreman won the everlasting gratitude of the complete female pop ulation of the street by acceeding at once and promising to water the road as a special favour. What a nice man! Little did the ladies guess that in any case the watering would have to be done as the next process in laying the surface for permanent consolidation. In short he could not avoid doing so, and only a paper such as the BEACON, with its reputed low instincts would stoop to relaying the true facts.