THE LATE GALE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 21 August 1880, Page 2

THE LATE GALE.

''"'(by telegraph.)

Chbistchurch, 'August 20. A terrific nor'-west gale lias- been blowing all day, exceeding in violence the storm of September, 1878. It was severest in the morning, and blew so hard in town that what dust there was was swept away instantly and showers of small stones were flying about from all parts of the country. Accounts of damage by it are coming in, but nothing very severe has yet been reported. The principal ravages are confined to trees, outhouses, windows, fences, &c. Some valuable trees in the domain here were completely 4estroved. A branch of a blue-gum was torn from the trunk at QasHmere and hurled into a buggy, The man and horse were underneath and the man was nearly killed and lies "in a critical state. The others were injured. At Lyttelton a prisoner was at work on the roof of,a building in the gaol yard. The hurricane tore the roof and the man bodily off, and by the fall of some 30 feet the man received suph injuries that his recovery is doubtful, fhe high fence round t]io Maori prisoners' quarter? was leypllqd with the ground. Another man on the roof of his house was blown off and badly cut by a, sheet of iron. At Xieithfield, the Presbyterian Church was shifted off its foundations. The stack of chimneys of a large hotel just erected in Rangiora, in imitation of Wain's hotel at Dunedin, was blown down. The tents of the unemployed at Weka Pass have suffered severely, and the railway station at Selwyn has undergone considerable damage. No damage was done to the shipping in port, as the gale was foretold by "Captain Edwin at Wellington, and precautions taken, This afternoon it gradually softened down, and eventually subsided, being succeeded by vivid lightning on the mountains, The gla§s has been falling steadily, and when it commences to rise a vigorous blow is expected from the south-west. Owing to the northwest weather of the last three days, heavy floods are expected, the Waimakariri has already begun to rise. XO p.m, Reports of damage by the gale still come to hand. The most serious is from Waimate, where the fire bell tower was blown over and the walls of the Primitive Methodist Church, of brick, wrecked. August 21. During the gale yesterday, Henry Alexander, in the employ of Sir Cracroft Wilson, was struck by a falling branch from a large tree, and sustained concussion of the brain. He is in a critical state. The gale subsided last night, but commenced again this morning. It is not quite so violent as yesterday.

. Timaru, August 20. . A very heavy north-westerly gale prevailed all over the district last .night. In Timaru a number of windows were blown in and fences levelled. In different parts of thfe district stacks of grain and straw have been scattered to the winds. In the back country heavy rain is falling. August 21. The recent heavy gale unroofed a few iron buildings and broke, down a few fences, but otherwise did little damage.