HE GREAT STORM IN ENGLAND.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2195, 30 April 1891, Page 4

HE GREAT STORM IN ENGLAND.

The English papers to hand by the mail contain full details of the terrble storm which will make the 9fch and 10th of March memorable in the annals of the West Country. btobm and famine The counties of Devon and Cornwall (says the fc>t James’ Gazette of March 20th) were almost entirely cut off from communication with other parts of the country last week, and it was not until Friday, when the telegraph service was partially restored, that any idea was entertained of the terrible nature of the snowstorm which passed over the two counties on Monday night and Tuesday. It now appeare that no such storm had visited the West of England within the memory of man and that some time. must elapse before the damage of property and stock and the loss of life can be definitely estimated. The traffic on the Great Western and the South Western was totally disorganised, and the Zulu express, which left Paddington Station on Monday afternoon at 8 o’clock foi Plymouth, was on Friday still anowec up near the station at Brent, in Devonshire. The passengers were ai in lodging at Brent, which is situate in a dreary waste of miles of snow. The snowstorms were followed in many places on Saturday and Sundaj by heavy rain. The railway linei have now been cleared, and com mnnieations generally restored. Ac counts of disasters on sea, and; grea privation on land, continue to read us. No letter, telegram,or conveyanci entered or left the town of Helston Cornwall, from Monday week unti Saturday afternoon. The fishing villages of Penberth and . Porthgwarra west of Penzance, had to send i boat to Penzance for bread and provisions and on Saturday afternoon a smal coasting steamer took victuals to th Porthcurno Eastern Telegraph stal of seventy or eighty people,whose fooi supplies had been cut off from Ben zance. On Saturday flour wagons an groeries were dispatched to St. Jusl where want of food had began to b severely felt, some households bavin been without bread for three days. IHIBTY-SIX HOPBS IN BAILWAY CAEBIAGffIS. The story of the “ snowing up ” c the evening mail from Princetown t Yelvelton, in one of the wildest pari of Dartmoor, from Monday night t Wednesday morning with ’four me and two women passengers, is tol fully in the Plymouth Mercury. Th night was spent by the passengers i the direst wretchedness and despai Although the windows were tightl closed, the ventilators fastened, an the curtains drawn, the snow beat i in all directions, and the men employe themselves in filling up every crevic they could. The wind howled unt after midnight, when it graduall subsided, and the weather turned fine Their hopes were raised when dayhgh set in on Wednesday, when th occupants were enabled to obtain th first glimpse of the country sine Monday night, and all strained thei eyes in every direction to obtain som hope of succor or gleam of shunshiat About seven o’clock a neighboring farmer was espied rescuing his shee] from the snow, and his attention havinj been attracted, be assisted to releasi the passengers, who were sadly h need of substantialrefreshment, havinj been snowed up in the worst and moa severe snowstorm ever known in th( West for thirty-six hours. One of the passengers said—Th( driver, fireman, and guard went to thi front of the train with shovels to trj and dig a way for her, but it was n< good. The place where we stopped,ii on a bit of decline, but the engine wai choked with snow. The guard, having told us that we could not get or without assistance, proceed in the direction of Dousland to get help He had been gone about an hour when he returned with the intelligence that he had lost his way, and that il was no use for him to attempt to react Dousland, as the snow blinded him We decided to make ourselves as comfortable as we posaiblj could under the painful conditions to which were subjected—six men and two ladies huddled together in one compartment—the cold being most bitter, and none of us having anything to eat or drink. We lived the night through, but in what way I can hardly tell. In the morning the wind was blowing as strong as ever, and the snow as it fell melted on the window panes, and the lamp—our only light—w«a extinguished at 7 a.m. Just at this time the guard and fireman left us, saying they were going to try and reach Dousland with the “ staff.” Some little time afterwards the driver, who had I believe been seriously ill, announced his intention of going to Dousland. We then felt in a particularly sad condition, feeling our only hope was gone now that the driver had abandoned us, The sterm was raging as fiercely as on the previous night, but at 3 p.m. we were agreeably surprised to find three packers, wh© had tramped up from Dousland with refreshments for ua. knock at our door. We were heartily glad to receive the refreshments, although it only consisted of cocoa, bread and butter, and cake, with a bottle of well-watered brandy to follow. We found there was enough for us to have one piece of bread and butter and cake each. This was not *

very substantial bill of fare for people who had had nothing to eat for over rwenty hours, but we were thankful for small mercies. We then awaited the result of events, The wind was

fearful, and we were all. bitterly cold,, I ( We were nearly dead in the afternoon, ] ■ and we drank all the brandy by eight ; o’clock. If it had not been for that some of us would have. : given : way. ( The weather was milder after, midnight. About seven o’clock one of us, looking out of the window, saw Mr Ililson, of Horsford, farmer, whose farm is only about 260 yardsi from where our tram was lying, picking sheep out of the snow- The rest ia known. The engine of the train, when we left was completely covered with snow, and the snow had drifted a.a high as the carriage, with a blank , space between the body and the wjheels. All the compartments into which I looked before T left her—although the windows and ventilators were closed and doors locked—were full of .snow above the hat racks. It was the most horrible experience of my life. A SNOWDRIFT BRIDGED WITH FOOTWAEMEES. Two commercial travellers, who left Penzance on Monday morning for Plymouth, tell the following ; story relating .to the journey of a train interrupted on Tuesday night a little beyond St. Austell; “We had waited in the snowed-up train for four hours. Then the guard told us that we should have to stay there all night. One of our companions, a Bodmin man, said he knew the road from the place at which we had stopped, and expressed the opinion that if we could contrive to get across the fields and reach the turnpike road we might find our way to Par. We determined to make the . venture rather than remain in the train all night. The Par lady resolved to accompany us. Our first difficulty was how to cross the drift from the carriage doors to the top of the bank We managed it at last by making a* bridge with a lot of foot-warmers, and over this; we all, passed in safety. The fifth passenger went off on an independent course. What became of him nobody knows. The . storm was simply awful, and ,how the lady stood up against it is more than we can comprehend. She was a plucky woman. We clambered over the fence as best we could, halfblinded and half-choked by the snow beating against our faces. How we held on! We had to cross two large fields before reaching tbe main road, wading through a foot ©r two of snow all the way, and climbing the hedges, When we had surmounted the last fence we found the road blocked up by a tremendous drift and were obliged to walk along the top of the hedge for some distance before we could venture to get; down. Then we had a walk of nearly three miles before us. It was bitterly cold, freezing hard, and the Snow as it dashed against our faces Clung to hair and our clothes iu hard masses. Our hands were almost frozen. At last we reached Par, very much exhausted.