HAILSTORM AT CHEVIOT.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11480, 13 January 1903, Page 5

HAILSTORM AT CHEVIOT.

* -MT( H DAM AUK DONE. Cheviot, the "Land of Misfortunes," w~.» once more in trouble on Saturday evening. when a hailstorm swept across* a portion of t!ie sfttleiiieiit, doing damage to a very large extent. For destructive force probab.y nothing like it hxs been e-een in Can terbury. Tlie hailstones weie many of them the size of small liens and after the storm the hills arour.d the Maokeiiz.e township had all the uppuuuiuc t>! a coat of snorr. Mr J. J. Jenkins measured w»v*Tal of the stones, and they easily measured one iinJ thiee-quarter inches on iha rule. In ihf track of the storm scncely a window has been left unbroken ou the south-west ;;:di> of all buildings, and corrugated iron rooting h;>> been dfnted in all dilutions, ..;id in many cases perforated. On Mr Savage's cowshed roof twenty holes may be counted in oue sheet of iron. Foitunately the storm did not cover a laxg.; proportion" of the settlement, but the aiea dsviistj.t*d is quit* large enough for the Ki-:r:n to haw aJi'ected a large number of settlers. The storm passed from south-west to m>rth-east, and first commenced to be destine'ive in the Domett Valley, where oat :;nd hay tiops have been flattened to the ground ;us if a mob of sheep had beeu driven over then?. Mr Parkinson had ft tine irop of oats utterly destroyed, and Mr l> C'rampton lips been" similarly treated. On the Domett* Saddle from here tlie *torm took in most of the Jed and Crystal Brook Valleys, and all crops here have been more or less damaged, Messrs Fitssimmons, Reiman, Scan , , Vaugban, McDowell, and Bruce being some of the heaviest iosers. In many cases the settlers have decided to cut the" crops, both wheat and oats, straight away for chaff, as it is impossible to deal with it in any other way The Domain Board's plantations preset a curious sight, as the ground hue been strewn with small branches and fir tips. and the trees h-.ive a. dilapidated and wintry look about them. The Government woolshed hati all its skylights broken, and the ■ streets of Mackenzie on the south-west side I are strewn with glass from the broken win- : claws. The township and surrounding building* have a most rakish appearance, and sacks have been nailed up over windows pend- ; ing repairs. All the glo/ier.s iv tihe settlement ere working at high picture, and a temporary glass famine ;i> threatened. Several narrow escapes from accident* occurred to people driving veiiic'ta. Some persons were struck down by the hailstones, but managed to find shelter. The roof ol a building at Domett was blown off by the wind. The storm passed off over tlie seaward range of hills, leaving the Hurunui and Waiau Flats and the Leamington district unharmed.