STORMY WEATHER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 228, 14 February 1913, Page 5

STORMY WEATHER.

FIERCE. GALE TN TTMARU. (Per Press Association). Timaru, Last Night.

A north-west gale set in about 9 a.m. and blew very hard for two to three hours, and steadily throughout the afternoon, when a charge to the south occurred. A very great deal of damage wa« done in the harvest fields, where standing ripe grain was badly threshed, stooks scattered, the tops of stacks ripped oh". Trees were blown down and broken in all directions about the township. Up the Fairlie line much minor damage was done, sheds being unroofed. c\c. At Fairlie two chimneys fell through the roofs. o*ne in the Fair'ie Hotel and the other in the Catholic Presbytery. The Winscombe railway station shelter was shifted and capsized. At Albury a kitchen in a ganger's house was wrecked by a chimney falling through the roof, a blacksmith's shop was partially demolished, the verandah of the Presbyterian manse torn off. and a hole torn in the roof of iiie goods-,bed. At Pleasant Point, orchards have been heavily stripped of fruit. No material damage is reported in Timaru. but some trees and old fences are down. One tree in the Park snapped ■)lf at tUe ground in the afternoon, when half-a-dozen people watching a 'ticket match were on the seats round the trunk. All escaped except Val Scott, a youth, who was pinned down by a branch, which had to be cut to release 'him, and he was taken to the hospital with a broken thigh. At (he height of the gale a Tire broke out in an outhouse in Fairlie. and but for the prompt and siicces«iful attention of a bucket brigade of men who happened to be on the spot, a number of wooden shops must have gone.

In the evening a four-roomed house ::. mile and a half from Eairlio, and its contents, was completely destroyed in the temporary absence of the occupants. It. \va< insured in the Atlas Office, hut the amount is not ascertainable. A BUZZAED IN" INY'EEOAIWILT,. Tnvoreargill. Last Night. A gale bleiv all day on Wednesday and developed into a blizzard to-day. violent wind being, accompanied by ocdownpours of rain and hail. A oonshh 'able amount of damage was done. V - 1 stays of the large wooden at the train way powerhouse being dct;K .'ied. and it was feared that (lie structure would be wrecked. A large wool-drying slied near Wallacotown, four storeys high, and ju*t Hearing completion, was demolished. Minor damage, such as broken windows and partially unroofed promises, wau not uncommon in the town. The gale moderated in the evening, but the weather is still unpleasant. DUNEPTN'S EXPEPIEXCE. TEXTUAL OTAfiO FRUIT CROP ■RUTTED. Dunedin. Last Night. The weather changed somewhat suddenly ibis morning, and after a number of showers !iad fallen a heavy gale set in. accompanied by rain. This raged for about two hours, but the weather afterwards cleared, though it remained cold. The gale extended to Central Otago. and nt Clyde it did considerable damage to (lie fruit eropf, particularly apples and pears, which have fallen heavily. Numbers of trees have been practically destroyed.