GALE AT THE THAMES.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 19, Issue 1405, 19 August 1872, Page 2

GALE AT THE THAMES.

The following account of a heavy gale in the above locality itffrom theThaines Advertiser:--. : . . v On Saturday evening, 10th.: inst, at about half-past 7 o'clock, the wind began to blow in strong gusts from the N.W., accompanied by rain squalls of great vehemence.' At-about 10 o'clock it had increased to a stonn, which reached its height at midnight, and continued until 2 o'clock, when it became less ; violent, and" an hour later had blown itself out. At one time its violence was little' less; than ! that of a hurricane,' and the largest houses that were at al L exposed to its fury rocked as if there . had been an earthquake. We regret to say that ; the damages were not confined to the mere effects of the rocking motion, however, and in one instance four lives were in imminent danger. The newly-.constructed tramway, which extended from the Albion : Company's shaft, was blown down shortly before midnight, and the large masses of timber of which it was constructed feil with .terrible force through two houses close to the Kuranui Hotel, completely demolishing one of the buildings and about half the other, to the imminent danger ot the occupiers, who.were in bed at the time. The tramway, it will be recollected, was constructed on trestle-work, to a height of about fifty feet, but through the force of the storm the legs of the trestles appear to have worked out of the sockets in the sills of the frame, and as a consequence the whole structure came to gviot. One of the houses destroyed was occupied by a man named Guy and his wife, who were in bed at the time. The house was a complete wreck in a moment, some of the massive timbers of the tramway falling on to the bed in which the occupants of the house lay. By a providential circumstance, the force of the fall was ai rested, otherwise they must have been instantly crushed to death. As it was, they were unable to extricate themselves, but shouted lustily for help. This was close, at hand, and Mr and Mr Guy' Tiarmg'T/eeii extricai ed -fromthe ruins, it was found that beyond a few scratches neither had suslained injury, although, of course, they v.ere thoroughly frightened The other house, which was situated on the tramway, and immediately adjoining Mr Guy's, was occupied by Mr and Mrs Loydon. They were also in bed at the time, and the huge mass broke clear through the roof and fell heavily close to the foot of the bed. A. few spars also fell on Mr Robinson's shop, but without damaging it, as the force of the fall was broken by a heap of firewood. The occupants of the ruined houses were at once received into their neighbors' houses, and so sheltered from the storm. Curtis' wharf was injured, and a portion of it broken, the tollhouse narrowly escaping. A punt, which had been anchored to windward of the wharf, dragged her anchor, aud struck the piles at the inner end, breaking down three sections, and carrying the planking with it. Besides this several of the piles on which the tollhouse stood were carried away; and a small shed attached to it as a loan-to met the same fate. This had been used as a store-room by the watermen, and there was in it at the time a large quantity of gear; such as sails, oars, masts, &c. The only portion yet recovered is one sail, and this was found on Sunday morning, buried in the sand, near Holdship's timber-yard. The watermen were up all night, endeavoring to prevent damage to their boats, but such was the violence of the storm that in some instances this was impossible. A small weatherboard which had recently been remo\ed from the flat, and re-erected on the hill, close to the Queen of Beauty shaft, was thrown over and broken in pieces. Mrs Sinclair's school-room, in Sealey-street, was blown off the blocks, and rolled over .several times. Fortunately it was unoccupied at the time. A great number of fences and outhouses came to grief, but beyond those mentioned we have not heard of anything serious*