THE WEATHER.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIX, Issue 8128, 30 April 1906, Page 5

THE WEATHER.

A HEAVY GALE. A strong wind sprang up on Friday evening and gradually increased to a violent gale, which continued to blow with unabated fury during Friday night and until Saturday afternoon. The gale has been the worst experienced in Masterton for some time, and was sudb as to cause residents much uneasiness regarding the safety of their movable property sueh as houses, fenoesjjand haystacks. Those people whose business compelled tbem to be out of doors found the elements very unpleasant, as the gale was almost of sufficient Btreagth to upset one's equilibrium. Cyclists fared badly, and more than one case of a cyclist being blown from his machine is reported. The dust nuisance made matters considerably worse, and shop-keepers had anything but a pleasant time on Saturday morning. The fury of the gale somewhat abated ou Saturday afternoon, but it sprang up again about 9 o'clock in the evening, and continued until about 4 o'clock yesterday morning. During that time rain fell in torrents, and reals of thunder and flashes of lightning broke over the country at intervals. The wind rapidly dried up the streets and the appearance of the thoroughfares yesterday were aucb as to tend to dispel any idea of there haviug been rain on the previous evening. ' ■ The damage done in the town appears to have been trifling compared with that in the country. On the Upper Plain almost all the stra - ? stacks were blown down, and scattered about the country, and in many plaoes trees were torn up by the roots. One large tree fell on Mr W. MoKenzie's dairy, damaging it, and owing to a tree falling, some windows in the Fernridge Sohool were broken. At Taratahi chains of fencing were blown down, and here again straw stacks suffered severely. Several portions of the roof were carried off the Waingawa works. On the railway line adjoining the works the wind blew some empty trucks along, with tlje result that they dashed into and smashed a railway gate, and had it not teen for one of the men applying the brakes it is probable that the trucks would have been blown off the line, and considerably damaged. A tree falling across the Mount Bruce Road delayed vehicular traffic for some time. For the same reason traffic was interfered with on the Masterton - Carterton Road. At Opaki the straw from the stacks has been scattered broadoast over the paddocks, and settlers spent an anxious time guarding the roofs of their outhouses. Mr T. Welch is among ihe heaviest losers in this district. ® In the town itself numerous fruit trees were uprooted, and several windows broken. Windows in the Town Hall, St. Fatrick's Church, and Messrs Abraham and Williams' premises, were blown in. One of the large arc lamps in the middle of Queen Street bad its globe blown down, and the globe on the arc lamp at the Queen and Kenall Streets corner met with a similar fate. The Borough staff were out yesterday affecting repairs. About 250 dozen bottles, which were stacked in the yard of Mr Brodie's cordial factory, were blown down, and the majority were broken. A number of tiles on the roof of the Occidental Hotel were blown off, and other minor damages are jeported. Mr 'l 1 . G, Hoar, of the Walrarapa monumental works, had two gravestones in the yard blown over by the wind and smashed to pieces, while several others were damaged. Mr Hoar estimates hia» loss at £4O. On the property of Mr W. McKenzie, at Manaia, a tree, growing alongside a chimney, was blown down. The roots were growing under the chimney, and when the tree blew down part of the chimney came down as well. Several limbs of the large piqe trees in the Park wore blown off by the wind.

The gale greatly effected "the transmission of telegrams on Saturday as in many places the lines had beoone entangled, and in other places blown down. All telegrams were delayed, and . as showing that the Wairarapa was not the only pJace which suffered by the sale, it may be mentioned that communication with Greymouth and other places along the West Coast of the South Island was completely out off. Lineman Jackson and bis staff were busily engaged on Saturday and Sunday effecting repairs to the lines which were broken both north and south of Masterton owing to trees falling across them. A large telegraph post in Queen Street, near the Convent, was blown down by the fury of the gale and broken into two pieces. It is expeoted that if the wind ceases telegraphic communication will bo uninterrupted to-day. The heavy rain during Saturday night had the effect of causing the rivers in the district to rise several feet, and many low-lying tracts of land were under water for some fime yesterday. This was especially the case in the Kopuaranga district. No serious damage ia reported from floods. On Friday night Messrs Donovan Bros., of Dreyerton, had a fat cow killed through a branch falling on the animal. KOPUARANGA. to Age). KOPUARANGA, Saturday. A ghoavy gale has been raging here for two days and nights, and was tbia morning acoompanied with thunder and lightning, and a heavy downpour of rain. No damage beyond a fallen tree and a broken window or two isjjreported. EKETAHUNA. (Special to Age.) EKETAHUNA, Saturday. The storm that has been raging here for the past two days is not to be compared with the hurricane that we bad here last night. Blowing

i with terrific force until early thia j morping, it was ;he cause of serious alarm. A great dumber of people were unable to get any sleep as the> force of the gnle when it struck their houses made them quiver and shake like a'miid earthquake. The new Sunday School that Messrs Ross, and Lictlejohn had almost completed is now severely damaged. The roof has been completely blown away,, and the other completed parts, such as the sides and back, of the building, have been so badly displaced that it is feared that it will require to be pulled down and rebuilt, which is a great loss to the contractors, who are to be sympathised with in their misfortune. The roof of a shed at the rear of Messrs Hoar and Bailey's has been blown clean over the shop into the road, .where it is now, not a bit. damaged. The County Council Chambers did not escape, having their chimney distributed bric-a-brac over the yard. This is the second occasion that they have bad a chimney removed by a gale. The large plate glass window, three-quarters of an inch thick, in the shop ot Mr G. H. Loalie, has been blown right in. This ia a heavy loss Jo Mr Leslie, who estimates the damage done at £ls. When the thickness of the glass is considered, the gale must have struck this particular spot with terrific force. Mr Harrison, the local baker, had his faulighS removed, which is causing him great, inconvenience. Therq are other slight damages. One can see them almost at every turn. One small building was removed bodily a distance of about five ya"ds, and not damaged. Fences, flag-poles, and sundry other portable articles have been strewn about to the amusement of some and to the annoyance of others. Considering the destructive force of the gale, it i<i surprising tnat the damage is not greater. Residents say it i 9 the strongest ever experienced.

CARTERTON. At Carterton the gale, which commenced to blow orj Thursday, increased to a. hurricane on Friday night. Houses were unroofed, stacks of hay, chimneys, ana trees blown down. The chimney-stack of the Brick and Tile Company's works, on Rutland Road, fell with a crash through the corrugated iron roof of a drying shed, burying beneath the debris 10,000 bricks. Practically the whole of this stock has been destroyed. The damage is estimated at £l5O. Messrs Booth and Co.'s employees, at Maungatarere Valley, had to peg their whares'down on Friday night with wire. A hurricane on Saturday morning blew three of the whares into the river close by. At the company's sawmill the wind ripped a third of the iron roof from the building there and did other damage, which is altogether estimated at £SO. A whare at Maungatarere was blown clean over a sevenwire into a river. A man named Innis was dashed against a fence by the wind, and stunned for a time. DANNEVIRKE. By Telegraph—Press Association. DANNEVIRKE, April 28. A heavy gale was experienced here last night, being one of the worst ever known. The damage was xcomparatively slight. One or two chimneys were blown, over and several skylights were smashed, besides damage to gardens. Johnson's sawmill audi several houses at Waione were burned during the gale, and at Umutaroa several sheds were blown over or unroofed. About eleven o'clock this morning rain oommeneed to fall, which will prevent further anxiety as to tires. CONoIDERABLE DAMAGE DONE AT GREYMOUTH. GREYMOUTH, April 29. A tornado struck a portion of thetown at 9.30 o'clook on Saturday night. The wiud blew with hurricane force, estimated at seventy or eighty miles and hour, and came from the nurth-west. The area affected ia a strip about two or three chains in widtn. The wiud carried all beforfe it, blowing over • fenceß, ' uprooting trees, bringing down brick chimneys and breaking windows. No one waa iujured. At the Trotting Club's course the grandstand was completely unroofed and the corrugated iron was scattered all over the course. In its flight it broke the palings of fences and rails from the fence round the course. Sheets of iion from were carried a distance of a quarter of a mile. The damage done to some of the residences rendered them temporarily uninhabitable. At the Suburban Hotel the roof and posts of the verandah were lifted bodily, and deposited behind the builipng. The same thing happened to,. the verandah of two residences further up the street, but three houses in between were uninjured. The damage to the Trotting Club's grandstand, fence and oourse is estimated at between £2OO and £3OO. It ,is impoßsiol© to estimate the total damage done in the town, but it iB probably under £I,OOO. Unconfirmed reports state that the Presbyterian Church at Brunner has been destroyed, and the church under erection at Blackball has been shifted off its piles. Railway communication at Otira ia interrupted owing to a wash-out.. It is reported that a store there has been demolished, and the cooperative workers tents wrecked.