GALE IN WELLINGTON.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 42, 17 January 1884, Page 3

GALE IN WELLINGTON.

(Wellington Paper.) A gale of almost unprecedented violence burst over the city and snrroundiug districts aWifc 2 a.m. on Tnesday. About 1 a.m. the win I began to increase, there being a number of premonitory gusts. By 2 a.m. the streets were swept by clouds of dust and grit, the light of the moon which was only occasionally obscured by clouds, assisting m lending an appearance of desolation to the scene. Steadily the wiud increased, at the same time working i*ound to the we.-t\vard and then back to W N.W., until by daylight it was almost impossible to stand m any open street. The general din was of such a nature that it was almost impossible to hear even one's own voice. There was really very little change until about 6 a.m. when there was a slight abatement. When the wind decreased torrents of rain began to fall, and these continued tor an hour or two, when tho »vind again increased, blowing as hard as ever. An opportunity was now afforded to those who had been m the habit of having tales of " windy WWellingtonn n dinned into i heir ears of witnessing what a real hard gale was like. Every squall lhat burst over the harbour lifted the water up m sheets and over aud over again. Anyone standing on the Oriental Bay side found the city and surrounding hills completely hidden from view by the immense mass of spray that was carried up into the air. The foam lay m long streaks on the water, the high sea which gathered force with every yard it travelled only tending to : render them more distinct. About 2 p.m. there was a slight chauge for the bettor, the rain had ceased, and there was a decrease m the force of the wind ; yet even up to an early hour next day it blew with a force lhat is seldom experienced m this jacb of the colony. ' (