THE GALES.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 264, 16 November 1901, Page 2

THE GALES.

MORE W RECKS. NINE PERSONS DROWNED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright London, Nov. 14. A lifeboat belonging to a coaster near Yarmouth was wrecked, and nine persons drowned. The revenue cutter Flora has been wrecked at Kingston. The crew were saved. GALES SUBSIDING. IST LIVES KNOWN TO BE LOST. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Received 1 a.m., Nov. 16. Loudon, Nov. 15. The gales arc now subsiding. It is known that at least IS7 people havo been drowned during tho gales.

CYCLONE IN AUSTRALIA, ' SEVERAL LIVES LOST. ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION OE PROPERTY. By Telegraph. Press Association. Copyright Melbourne, Nov. 15. A destructive cvclouo swept the city and a portion of the suburbs last night, doing an immense amount of damage during the less than half an hour which it lasted. The wind reached a velocity of 7b miles an hour, but scou calmed. A terrilic tali of hail occurred, the hailstones measuring an inch and a half in diameter, and some much larger. Thousands of windows in exposed positions and skylights were smashed. Telephono wires were broken, trees stripped of their lives, gutters blocked, and tho water flooded many premises. At Maple and Co.’s furniture factory the wind unroofed one of tho new buildings, and the water caused damage to the extent of £2OOO. The Royal Arcade was a scene of desolation. The skylights wore riddled, and the rain reached many shops. The photographic studies in the city were heavy sufferers. At Talma s studio the damage was £SOO. Cole’s Rook Arcade also suffered heavily., and it is estimated that the ruin to the books will amount to thousands of pounds. Much damage was also done at Melville aud Mullens’, booksellers, and the Public Library. The total losses in the city are. estimated at £20,000. At Bacchus Marsh, 82 miles west of Melbourne, during tho heavy thunderstorm hailstones fell as large _ as hens’ eggs. Eighty-six points of rain fell in fifteen minutes. Windows and skylights were broken. The wind blew with terrific force. A man named Anderson was blown from a shed over a fence and killed. Anderson’s house was wrecked, and his wife severely injured. The windows and doors of other houses were forced in. Machinery, drays, and stacks wero blown a considerable distance. Similar storms occurred in various parts of tho country. At Ballarat, besides the devastation of the winds and skylights, a number of houses were wrecked, and crops destroyed, stock killed, and houses flooded.

At Sulky Gully two hotels and several houses were destroyed. At Castlemaino, the hailstones weighed up to seven ounces. They smashed most of the windows in tho town, and riddled and unroofed many houses. The streets were strewn with debris. Several persons were seriously injured. At Forest Creek, tho dredge office was blown down, and tho barge destroyed. Four employees were seriously injured. At Chewton, the house of Mr Lamb, exMayor, collapsed. Lamb’s body was aftorwards found in the dobris. Great damage was done to mining plants. For miles around, tho country has beon devastated. Many families havo come to Castlemaino for shelter. Cattle and sheep were killed in great numbers in all directions. At Wesley Hill, nearly every house was destroyed or unroofed, including eburchos. At Auburn, a suburb of Melbourne, a man named Morgan went to tho roof to clear away the hail, where ho was subsequently found dead.

DAMAGE IN NEW §OUTH WALES. GREAT LOSS OF CROPS AND OTHER PROPERTY. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Sydney, Nov. 15. Reports from tho Riverina show that the storm which swept Victoria was widely experienced there. At Berrigan, tho School of Arts and tho immense railway grain sheds were wrecked. Two hotels and numbers of houses were wrecked or severely damaged. Roofs wore carried off bodily, and deposited long distances away. From Dcniliquin and many other places similar reports of devastation have been received. Heavy rains accompanied the storm, which resulted in great losses of crops and property. (Received 0.15 a.m. Nov. 16.) Melbourne, Nov. 15. Nine persons were injured, some seriously, by tailing debris at Castlemainc. Several of them were rescued from collapsed houses after the gale.