VIOLENT GALE IN THE SOUTH.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1674, 14 February 1913, Page 6

VIOLENT GALE IN THE SOUTH.

| oROPS BADLY DAMAGED. iV; ■ ' - ' \. CHIMNEYS BLOWN DOWN. \. AN EXCITING INCIDENT AT j.v" . TIMARU. ~ | . '(By- Telegraph.—Press Association.) • ' Timaru, Pebniary 13. - i A north-west gale set In about 9 a.m. to-day, and blew very hard for two to three . hours,' andt steadily .throughout the afternoon,.when■ a change .to tho south' occurred.. . " Ji; . . '. Very ;great damage was done in' the I '- ' harvest. fiold9, where tho 'standing Hpe ' r grain was badly damaged and the-fltooks ['.v.. scattered, 'the tops of the'stacks being ripped off. . 'y 7 :. - Trees were .blown do\yn,and broken in all direction's about tho townships up tho I Paittie <linc, vnnd- much minor; damage was done, sheds being, unroofed, etc.

. ■ At .Fairlie two 'chiriweys' feir through roofs,"one in th'eiFairlio Hotel, the other in the Roman,Catholic,Presbytery.

The Winseombe .railway station shelter /fras shifted and capsized. ,

At Albury, the kitchen of the ganger's house was wi-ecked;by the chimney falling through tho roof. The blacksmith's shop was partially; demolished; tho of the Presbyterian .manse was torn ;off, and a liole. was'torn in, the roof of the godds-shed. .. ..

/At "Pleasant Point, the orchards have been heavily stripped of fruit.

No material damage ' is' reported at Timaru, but some trees and old fences are down.'.'."One," treo. in' the park snapped off ■at.the ground in the afternoon, when half • a ddzen people . watching a , cricket raatoh were oh the seats round the trunk.' All Val Scott, a youth who was pinnedi down by a branch which had to bp cut to,, release him; find .he - was taken, to the hospital with a broken thigh.

At the'height of. thfi gale a fire broke out in an outhouse ,in Fairlie,'and 1 but for prompt and miccessful attention by, a bucket brigade of-men who happened to beiqn-.'the spot, 'ft \ number';''of;',\Tvooden shops must have gone. ; '

;In (the evening a four-roomed . house, a :. mile" and a half from - -JFairlie, and: ■ its contents were completely -destroyed in the temporary absence of 'thV occupants, the daughter nnd son-in-law of Mr.'Mariaton, hotelkeeper, to whom, the place .belonged. It was insured in the Atlas .Office, but the ' ..Amount has;not;yet been ascertained. . «AT ASHBURTON. A FURIOUS OLD-TIME NOR'-WESTER. .. Ashburton, Feßruary 13. ; A;furloiis.old-time nor-west gale'sprang , up about ten o'clock this morning, and ■ was n contmumg without signs of abatement at 2 'p.m. 1 It is the worst experienced .here for some years, and ■it is-.feared ~that it will cause great loss all over the v country-side.-where the grain is generally' in .stook,.,or.j'being cut or.'stooked, aucl therefore likely to be blown out. Orchard-ists-insthe town ,and suburbs are siiffer..mg severely, and . Minor damage Is reported to several - glassverandahs in town., •• . ....

IN OTAGO. . .'vrFRUIT CROPS SUFFER. •>. Dunedin, February 13. The weather changed somewhat suddenly this mprhing-,'and after a number'of showers had fallen a lic-avy gale ect in, ncoompanicd by raib. This.raged for about two r hours,.. .but the . weather afterwards cleared, , though it romairisd cold.' Tho ■ gale.extended to<Central- Otago, and 'at Clyde it did considerable damage' to fruit crops; iMi'rtictilarly'apples 1 ': J and' pears, which have fallen heavily. Numbers of tries have bseu practitally. desttoyed.

A BLIZZARD. DAMAGE AT INVERCARGILL. , ' Invercarglll, February 13. A galo blew, all day on' Wednesday, .aid loveloped,': into a biizzafcl'to-day, ..tlio' violent wind-bring accompanied by occasional downpours of rain and hail. A considerable firotiunt 'of damage "vny done, che stays of tho large wooden condenser at tha .tramway ,-powerhouse;being' detached, and ..it., was feared that'' the , structure .would be. wrecked/ A large wool-drying shed "near Wallacetown;' fodr' stories' high and just. Bearingcompletion,' 'was Vde-. molished. -Minor damage, such .as broken windows, and partially unroofed premises, was-, not, uncommon tin town/ The'' galo moderated in the evening, bnt the weather Js still unpleasant. ... . . . .