THE STORM.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 352, 1 April 1910, Page 4

THE STORM.

Man is impotent when Nature smites him. He must fold his hands and wait until the visitation is past. 'New Plymouth seems to have been specially disfavored ill regard to the record storm that has been raging through the country. The expenditure of cash will quickly rectify the damage to buildings, but time and care alone will replace the vegetation that has been destroyed. Pathetic evidence of the fury of the storm is to be seen in the incomparable Pukekura Park, where giant trees were snapped off as if they were sticks of chalk. The wind wilted vegetation like a hot blast, and Nature, ever fighting, will work hard to heal the wound. There is no doubt that a large number of Taranaki farmers, especially hereabouts, have suffered considerable loss, and it is providential that the present season is a particularly good one for grass. What effect the visitation may have on the immediate "feed" of the future cannot be foreseen; but it is hoped that Nature may smile consistently for some time, so that recovery may take place rapidly. The coming of a storm such as the one just experienced emphasises the fact that in the great scheme of Nature man is but a puny circumstance, and there is cause for thankfulness in Taranaki that although extensive damage to property resulted from the record "blow," there were no direct fatalities as a' consequence.