ENGLISH BLIZZARD.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2913, 17 March 1891, Page 3

ENGLISH BLIZZARD.

l: \ILWAY COMMUNICATION P.LOC'KKD. MOIIK CASUALTIES. (r.v kuxtiuc ncu'i.ii.wii — corv;:i':nr.) L.iMiOV. March 1 I. Xr.MKKors additional dcalhs arc r>port.d by sea and land, and the elle-ts of the snow bii/.zurd :ir>' I>' •i' 1 sevi-r-lv felt liy certain ela -s"s ~, (he

poMilation. OwiiiLV f" ( ' ir ' si-verity of tin: weather, jail work in tin: mines in b'houdda Valley. Wales, has bo-n .slopped, throwing iVi.OUII peo].le out of employment. Uailway eoinmuiiieatiou between London and Kxeter, which was i::(. rrupted, owin<j to the liit>- bein.y; blocked by snow drifts, lias been restored.

The severe weather which has been experienced during Hie p:r-t few days, sliil continues, and shows no signs of iibiitinj,'. The Southern counties have >ulTeivd most from the elfeets of the snowstorms, and the counties of Devon and Cornwall ha.ve. been completely isolated for several days. Tie- tmowfall is the heaviest known for tifty years. liiiilway and, telegraph communication is lnteiTunt'd in all direction.. and tho work on many of the lino* Las been suspended altogether. The trnins which left; the railway station on Monday niiflit, and which encountered the full force of the stovm, lire still buried in snowdrifts. The passengers were rescued from the carriages, unci takon to the udj.icent villages, where they are living provided with food, and shelter mail they are able to resume, their journeys. Six trains are buried between Ivseter und Plymouth. NVar Dartmoor, in Devonshire, a train was embedded in a, snowdrift for two days. During that time, the passengers were without food and the work of rescuing them could only be carried on with i;-reat difficulty. When rescued they were in a pitiable condition.

The weather off tlio coast is very heavy, unci numerous shipping casualties (H'<! reported. Tlio Liverpool Liu-quo Dryad went ashon; on Start Point, and became ;i total wreck. Twenty-four of those on board were drowned.

The ship Calcutta was wrecked while entering Plymouth Haven, and eighteen of her officers and crew were lost.

The pipes which supply Plymouth with water licjamo choked with snow, which froze hard, and 150 soldiers and navvies iire now engaged in cleanup; them. Over l(i() deaths by sea have already been reported, and the number is increasing every day. The storm is raging with renewed vigour in the western counties. One hundred and sixty navvies are elfin-ing the snow from the railway station at Plymouth. The American ship Serviais missing, and it is supposed that she has been disabled, and h drifting about the Channel. March 11. Four vessels have been wrecked uIF the .Start, nnd fifty-three persons drowned. Fourteen vessels including H"ver:d reamers v.-er ■ totally 10-t or ;-"ve-cly dauinged on thu coasts of .Devon and <'orinvall.

The storm hii:i nov.- e"a-ied. T::e express whidi !,-l'l Paddinghm Slmlioii mi .Ar..nd:iy night did noi. arrive at j'lvmoiifli (ill Fn'iliiy night. -\ himdr ■ 1 ]iasser]gers wt re res.-ued neav Okeli;:mptoii' atl'T having been buried in a, snowdrift for twenty-four lio-.i!■■■■. The Servia is .--.afe.