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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43758 ***
+
+    THE
+    Blizzard in the West:
+    BEING
+    A Record and Story of the Disastrous Storm
+    WHICH RAGED THROUGHOUT
+    Devon and Cornwall, and West Somerset,
+    On the Night of March 9th, 1891.
+
+
+    WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+    COPYRIGHT.
+    _The right of reproduction is reserved._
+
+
+    London:
+    SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LIMITED,
+    PATERNOSTER ROW.
+
+    Devonport:
+    A. H. SWISS, PRINTER AND STATIONER,
+    111 & 112 FORE STREET.
+
+
+
+
+    THE LARGEST
+    FLORAL
+    AND
+    FRUIT
+    ESTABLISHMENT
+    WEST OF LONDON.
+
+    W.G. HODGE, F.R.H.S.
+    FLORIST
+    AND
+    FRUIT & VEGETABLE PURVEYOR,
+    49 GEORGE STREET, 17 UNION STREET,
+    90 OLD TOWN STREET,
+    PLYMOUTH.
+    AND
+    _76 George Street, DEVONPORT_.
+
+    Telegrams, "FLORIST," Plymouth. Telephone No., 80.
+
+    NURSERIES: CROWN HILL.
+
+    Specialities: Wedding & other Bouquets.
+
+    FUNERAL WREATHS, CROSSES, &C.
+    From 5/- to Two Guineas,
+    Per Parcels Post to all parts of the Kingdom.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+    CHAPTER
+         I. INDICATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.
+        II. THE BLIZZARD.
+       III. ON THE RAILWAYS.
+        IV. AT SEA.
+         V. IN TOWN AND COUNTRY.
+        VI. IN PARK AND FOREST.
+       VII. AFTER THE STORM.--THE WATER FAMINE IN THE THREE TOWNS.
+      VIII. SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES.
+
+
+
+
+    SPOONER & COMPANY.
+    FLOOR COVERINGS.
+
+    S. & Co. beg to draw the attention of their customers to the
+    large portion of their premises reserved for the exclusive sale
+    of the above, ever increasing variety of
+
+    BRITISH & ORIENTAL FLOOR COVERINGS,
+
+    and for the development of which SPOONER & CO. have given their
+    special attention, resulting in their having always on sale an
+    unrivalled selection of
+
+    AXMINSTERS, WILTONS,
+    BRUSSELS, TAPESTRY CARPETS,
+    KIDDERMINSTER CARPETS,
+    FLOOR CLOTHS,
+    LINOLEUMS, CORK CARPETS.
+
+    Fully maintaining their reputation for Superior Designs,
+    Durability, and excellence of Material.
+
+    SPOONER & COMPANY,
+    Complete House Furnishers and Art Decorators,
+    =PLYMOUTH=.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+The record of the Blizzard of 1891 was undertaken in response to a
+generally expressed desire on the part of a large number of residents
+in the Western Counties.
+
+It would have been impossible to compile the work, imperfect as it is,
+without the assistance and co-operation of the editor and staff of the
+_Western Morning News_, who have been most active in its promotion.
+Assistance has also been kindly rendered by the editor and staff of the
+_Western Daily Mercury_.
+
+Thanks are also largely due to many others, who, besides furnishing us
+with interesting details and views, have offered us every facility for
+obtaining information.
+
+Valuable particulars in some instances have been afforded by Dr.
+Merrifield, of Plymouth, and Mr. Rowe, public librarian, of Devonport,
+who has also sent some of the views appearing in this book.
+
+To the artistic photographic skill of Messrs. Heath and Son, of George
+Street, Plymouth, Messrs. Denney and Co., of Exeter and Teignmouth, and
+Messrs. Valentine and Son, of Teignmouth, we are indebted for several
+of our illustrations. To the amateur photographers in various parts
+of the West who so kindly sent photographic views we tender our best
+thanks, and regret that space did not permit us to use a larger number.
+
+Much necessarily remains untold, but we have endeavoured to depict a
+very remarkable event as fully as the pages at our disposal permitted.
+
+    _Devonport, April, 1891._
+
+
+
+
+    NESTLÉ'S
+    FOOD
+    A Complete and Perfect Substitute for
+    Mothers' Milk.
+    *****
+    OBTAINED THE GOLD MEDAL
+    AT THE
+    PARIS EXHIBITION, 1889.
+
+
+
+
+THE BLIZZARD IN THE WEST
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INDICATIONS AND OBSERVATIONS.
+
+
+On the morning of the 9th of March, 1891, when inhabitants of the
+three westernmost counties in England set about preparing for the
+routine duties of daily life, nothing seemed to indicate that, with
+the approach of nightfall, the gravest atmospheric disturbance of
+the century--in that part of the world, at all events--would come to
+spread terror and destruction throughout town and country. The month,
+so far, had not been a gentle one. Following in the footsteps of a
+memorably genial February, March had been somewhat harsh and cold,
+without yielding the rain that was by this time greatly needed. There
+were rumours of "a change of some sort," of an approaching "fall of
+something," and other vaticinations of the same familiar character
+floating about, but in the west country these wise sayings fall so
+thick and fast and frequently as to possess little more significance
+than the most oft-repeated household words. When the day drew on,
+and signs of a rising gale were uncomfortably apparent on every
+hand, recollections of a promised storm from the Observatories of
+the United States began to be awakened, but it was found on sifting
+the matter, that if this were the disturbance indicated, it had come
+about a fortnight too soon. Students of "Old Moore's Almanack" were
+better informed, and it is probable that if this ill wind blew good
+to anybody, it was in the shape of discovery that by virtue of the
+truth of his forecast, a favourite and venerable prophet was deserving
+of honour at the hands of the people of his own country. Unhappily,
+however, there is nothing to show that advantage had been taken of this
+warning, in any practical sense. On the contrary, the blast came down
+swiftly upon a community that was almost wholly unprepared to receive
+it, and one of the saddest parts of the story of its fury will be the
+account of the devastation wrought among the unprotected flocks and
+herds.
+
+On referring to the remarks on the subject of the weather published in
+the local press, and obtained from official scientific authorities, it
+will be found that at an early hour on the morning of March 9th the
+barometer had been rising slightly, and that the day "promised to be
+fine." Other accounts hinted at the probability of some snow showers,
+and snow was reported as falling heavily in North Wales, but north and
+north-easterly winds, light and moderate, were anticipated. Nothing
+was said about a great fall of snow, accompanied by a hurricane fierce
+enough to send it down in powder, without even allowing time for the
+formation of snow-flakes.
+
+According to one Plymouth correspondent, whose observations are both
+reliable and valuable, the only intimation of the coming storm was
+by the barometer falling to 29·69 on the evening of the 9th, with
+an E.N.E. wind. The hygrometer was thick and heavy--a sign of rough
+weather. During the night the glass fell to 29·39. On Tuesday it fell
+to 29·180. Another account says that it has not, perhaps, occurred in
+the experience of many, except those who have known tropical storms,
+that the movement in an ordinary column barometer might be seen during
+the progress of a gale. Such, however, was possible in the case under
+notice. Though the glass had been falling during the day, yet there
+were no indications of any serious disturbance of the weather. On many
+occasions there have been greater falls in the barometer than on this
+occasion. When this storm was at its height, the barometer at Devonport
+was observed to be at 29·27, but in the course of half an hour pressure
+was indicated by 29·20, the rise being, of course, a considerable and
+sudden one. Within an hour of this register being made, a fall had
+again occurred to 29·25, and even a little below this was marked, at
+which point the column remained until the early hours of the morning.
+
+It is clear that during the whole progress of the storm the temperature
+was never very low. The great cold came from the strength of the wind.
+During the storm, and in the course of the severe days that followed,
+not more than five or six degrees of frost were registered, and on one
+day of the week, when there was snow on every hand, the thermometer
+never rose higher than freezing point. The wind, however, was terrific,
+its maximum force during the night being 10, and 12 is the highest
+possible. To this extraordinary velocity is due the fact that the
+visitation is best describable by the term "blizzard." With a less
+violent wind, there would have been a great fall of snow, as great
+probably as that of January, 1881, when difficulties and disasters
+painfully comparable with those of the present year were spread
+broadcast over not only the western portion, but the whole of England,
+but it would have been a snowstorm and not a blizzard, and many of
+the phenomenal aspects of the visitation under notice would have
+been absent. In the course of the present narrative many remarkable
+effects due to the powdery nature of the snow will have to be recorded.
+Before concluding the meteorological portion of the subject, and
+getting on with the story, it may be well to observe that according
+to the best authorities a blizzard is caused by the fierceness of
+the wind, which blows the cold into the vapour in the atmosphere and
+consolidates it into fine snow without allowing time for the formation
+of a snow-flake. We are accustomed to associate ideas of gentleness
+and beauty and stillness with the fall of snow. The blizzard, which is
+apparently--but, of course, only in name--a new acquaintance, shews us
+the reverse side of the picture, and suggests nothing beyond merciless
+fury and destructiveness.
+
+As to the quantity of snow that fell, accounts differ. There were
+huge drifts in most places; in others there was a comparatively
+level covering of many feet in thickness. The condition of a part
+of George Street, Plymouth, which received a very fair quantity, is
+artistically portrayed in the accompanying illustration, copied from a
+photograph taken on the morning of Tuesday by Mr. Heath, photographer,
+of Plymouth. According to observations made by Dr. Merrifield, of
+Plymouth, the value of whose scientific researches into the mysteries
+of matters meteorological are beyond question, the quantity of snow and
+rain that fell between Monday evening and early on Wednesday morning
+was ·68. This was registered at the doctor's residence, which stands
+125 feet above the level of the sea, and faces S.S.E. With the depth of
+snow in other places, this record will deal in due course.
+
+[Illustration: GEORGE STREET, PLYMOUTH.]
+
+During the whole time the blizzard was raging, the wind varied from
+N.E. to S.E. The changes were very rapid, but this was the widest
+range. Along the coast the greatest severity appears to have been
+experienced from a point or two eastward of Teignmouth to Falmouth Bay,
+many towns exposed to the sea having to bear their share of the burden,
+and unhappily many valuable lives being lost through disastrous wrecks.
+If a map of the three counties of Devon, Cornwall, and Somerset be
+consulted, it will be found that, taking this portion of the coast as
+an opening through which the broad shaft of a hurricane entered, now
+sweeping in a north-easterly, and now in a south-easterly direction,
+the area of country that has sustained the heaviest damage will be
+embraced, the intensity of the violence inflicted gradually diminishing
+the further one travels towards the east, north, and west. Dartmoor
+forms a kind of centre of the chief scene of desolation, and Plymouth,
+being well within the range, has suffered far more severely than any
+other large town in the three counties. To the eastward, in particular,
+it is clear that the effects of the gale are not nearly so serious,
+though the fall of snow was pretty abundant all over the southern part
+of England. Outside of Devon and West Cornwall there are no great lots
+of timber down, though here and there a fallen tree is observable.
+
+Unhappily the departure of the storm was not so sudden as its advent.
+The Tuesday following the night of tempest was an indescribably
+wretched day, and the barometer fell to 29·180. Wednesday brought
+sunshine and hope with it, and afforded the one bright spot in this
+gloomy record by showing up many effects of wonderful beauty in the
+snow-covered landscapes. Still the wind was never at rest, though
+the thermometer went up to 120° in the sun. Thursday followed
+with more snow, and occasional sharp and ominous squalls, and some
+apprehension was felt that a repetition of Monday's experience was in
+the air, but fortunately the week wore away without further calamity,
+and the work of repairing to some extent the damage done, and thereby
+making existence for man and beast possible, a task hitherto carried on
+under tremendous difficulties, was vigorously pushed forward.
+
+A letter, which will be found interesting, was, on the day after
+the storm, written to the editor of the _Western Morning News_, and
+published in that paper, by Captain Andrew Haggard, of the King's Own
+Scottish Borderers, now stationed at Devonport. The writer is a brother
+of Mr. Rider Haggard, and himself a novelist of repute. This letter was
+as follows:--
+
+    "SIR,--The cyclonic nature of the blizzard that has been
+    annoying us all so much, and causing such a frightful amount
+    of damage during the last two days, may be judged by the
+    following observations taken by several officers in the South
+    Raglan Barracks on the evening of the 9th instant. From these
+    observations it would seem as if for a time the South Raglan
+    Barracks were in the exact centre of the storm, being left for
+    varying periods in a complete calm in consequence. Here are the
+    notes we made:--At 8·12 P.M. the storm was raging so furiously
+    that the solid old Raglan was shaken to its foundations, the
+    fire was roaring up the chimney as if in a blast furnace, and
+    the noise made by the blizzard generally was such that it was
+    difficult to hear one's neighbour speak. But at 8·13 suddenly
+    came a complete lull. The elements ceased to wage war, the
+    fire assumed its normal demeanour, and an officer who went
+    out to see what had happened came in and reported that it was
+    so calm he was able to light matches outside. For thirteen
+    minutes did this calm last. At 8·26 with a roar like thunder,
+    the wind returned, and once more we were dreading that the
+    armies of the chimney pots would fall upon us in their fury.
+    Only for twenty minutes, though, did the hurricane scream
+    and yell, and as before make itself generally obnoxious. At
+    8·46 there was another absolute cessation of wind until 8·53,
+    when it 'blizzed' worse than before. And shortly afterward
+    everyone started forth to put out fires, when all the amateur
+    meteorologists discovered to their grief that whatever the
+    cyclone might do in the way of lulling occasionally down at
+    the Raglan, on the top of Stoke Hill it blizzed all night with
+    perfect impartiality.
+
+    Yours truly,
+    "ANDREW HAGGARD.
+    "DEVONPORT, _March 10th_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE BLIZZARD.
+
+
+Soon after daylight, on the morning of Monday, March 9th, over the
+whole of the West of England, the fine weather that had prevailed
+for several weeks past gave place to a most unpleasant condition
+of affairs. The temperature fell, almost suddenly, and in the
+neighbourhood of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, snow was falling
+fitfully from about an hour before noon. There was a gradually rising
+wind, that assumed menacing proportions as the afternoon wore on,
+while the snow that had, for the first few hours, thawed as soon as it
+fell upon the yet warm ground, was rapidly forming a white covering on
+every position exposed to the sky. At six o'clock, in the three towns
+some four or five inches of snow lay upon the ground, and the wind
+had increased to a hurricane. Slates began to start from the roofs of
+houses, and chimneys to fall, and in a very short time the streets
+assumed a deserted appearance, and all vehicular traffic was stopped.
+Advertisement hoardings were hurled from their positions with some
+terrible crashes, and in many instances the splinters were promptly
+seized by a thrifty populace and taken away for firewood. Many trees
+were blown down in the early part of the night. In Buckland Street,
+Plymouth, a tree of sufficient size to block the roadway fell at about
+eight o'clock, and not long after another heavy tree fell from Athenæum
+Garden across Athenæum Street, the main road to the Great Western
+Railway Station, completely closing the thoroughfare. Our illustration,
+reproduced from a photograph taken by Mr. Heath of George Street,
+Plymouth, on the morning after the storm, gives a realistic idea of the
+condition of Plymouth streets, and of the quantity of snow that was
+blown about during the night.
+
+On Plymouth Hoe, iron seats were blown from their fastenings and
+rolled over and over, the ironwork in many instances being curiously
+bent. The statue of Drake, the Armada Memorial, and the Smeaton Tower
+looked, however, none the worse for the wild night. Perhaps, when the
+sun shone upon them on Wednesday they may be described as having looked
+better for the patches of glistening snow that clung to them in most
+picturesque form. Strange to say, the Pavilion Pier sustained no damage
+beyond a smashed pane or two of glass. Exposed as it must have been to
+the full fury of the gale, it stood the turmoil gallantly, and this
+fact speaks well for the soundness of the structure, and for the good
+workmanship and material used in its erection.
+
+Trees were uprooted or snapped short off at Woodside, the residence of
+Mr. Bewes, at Portland Square, and in many other parts of Plymouth. Of
+these irreparable losses much more will be said in the course of this
+record. Concerning the damage wrought among houses and homesteads,
+and the marvellous escapes from injury to life and limb, our limited
+pages would not permit of the chronicling of one hundredth part of
+those that were met with in the Three Towns alone during that night. At
+Clifton Place, Plymouth, a chimney fell through the roof into a bedroom
+occupied by three little girls, and completely buried them, two being
+so badly injured as to necessitate their removal to the hospital. In
+this instance the staircase was blocked by the débris, and access to
+the terrified children could only be obtained by means of ladders, and
+with the greatest difficulty.
+
+[Illustration: ATHENÆUM STREET, PLYMOUTH.]
+
+On Mutley Plain, one of the most exposed situations in Plymouth, the
+storm raged with terrific fury, women and children being blown off
+their feet and half-suffocated with the rush of snow-laden wind, while
+such cabmen as had ventured abroad with their cabs, made their way back
+to more sheltered quarters with great difficulty. Numerous instances
+in this locality of strong men receiving severe contusions through
+being blown against walls and railings are recorded. At Alexandra
+Place, Mutley, a terrific gust of wind caught one of the chimneys of
+the house, sending it through the roof, and the only means of rendering
+the house habitable for the time was by stretching tarpaulins over
+the breach. There is no statement accessible of the number of fallen
+chimneys and damaged roofs that might have been discovered in the Three
+Towns alone during that night, and even if there were, to recount
+them all would only be to tell one sad story over and over again with
+wearisome monotony; but it is probably safe to say that scarcely
+one street in the whole of the district escaped without some house
+receiving injury. Fortunately the storm was at its height at about 8
+o'clock in the evening, an hour when bedrooms are usually unoccupied.
+Had the chief fury of the gale been spent some hours later, it is more
+than likely that numerous fatalities would have had to be recounted.
+
+At a shop in Fore Street, Devonport, a similar accident occurred, two
+children while lying in bed being badly crushed through a chimney
+falling. At the Main Guard, at the top of Devonport Hill, the windows
+were blown in, but the soldiers on duty fortunately escaped without
+injury, and were removed into the barracks. The roofs of the "Crown and
+Column," and of the wine and spirit store in the occupation of Messrs.
+Chubb & Co., both in Devonport, were seriously injured, while at
+Wingfield Villa, Stoke, the residence of the rector of Stoke Damerel,
+soon after 8 o'clock, a terrific squall burst upon the house and sent
+a large chimney stack crashing through the roof into the drawing room,
+doing great damage to some valuable furniture. Altogether, a lengthy
+chapter of accidents might be recorded as the result of the gale on
+Monday evening in Devonport. In a few instances personal injuries of
+a more or less serious nature were sustained, but it is not a little
+remarkable, that here, as elsewhere in the immediate neighbourhood,
+while there were many narrow escapes no case of a fatal character
+occurred.
+
+Among other narrow escapes at Devonport may be instanced that of a
+gentleman living in Albert Road, Morice Town. He went to a back bedroom
+on the top storey to nail up a board to prevent smoke from blowing down
+the chimney, when a sudden gust struck the stack and precipitated it on
+to the roof, which fell through the ceiling into the bedroom, burying
+him and carrying a portion of the floor into the back drawing-room
+below. The gentleman in question managed to extricate himself from the
+débris, and escaped with a severe shaking. In another case, a family
+occupying two rooms at the top of an old house in Cannon Street,
+nearly lost their lives. The occupier, his wife, and mother-in-law,
+were sitting around the bedroom fire when the roof fell on them. Their
+injuries were not of a serious character, but considerable damage was
+done to their furniture. It is estimated that about £50 worth of damage
+was done to the buildings at the back of Hope (Baptist) Chapel in Fore
+Street; a chimney falling bodily crashed through the roof, and carried
+one of the class-rooms and the gallery of the Sunday-school into the
+vestry. A chimney stack falling from No. 7, Chapel Street, destroyed
+a conservatory, and did considerable damage to the roof of the
+adjoining house, No. 6. A large portion of the roof of the South Devon
+Sanitary Laundry, Cornwall Street, was blown away, and the work of the
+establishment was temporarily disarranged in consequence. Extensive
+damage was also done to property at 10, Stopford-place, Stoke.
+
+One of the most miraculous escapes that occurred was that at the
+residence of Mr. Perkins (Lord Mount-Edgecumbe's surveyor) in Emma
+Place, Stonehouse. During the hurricane Mrs. Perkins heard the windows
+and doors rattling, and rushed up to the nursery to see that the
+windows were closed and doors fastened. The servant was closing the
+window, her mistress standing near the chimney breast, when there was
+a sudden crash. The servant clung to the framework of the window, but
+Mrs. Perkins immediately found herself buried in bricks and mortar.
+She was sitting on a portion of the floor near the window, with her
+legs dangling over an abyss; the floors having been carried away, with
+the exception of two floor boards, upon which, happily, she had been
+deposited. The snow found its way into the house, and although no one
+could distinguish her or the servant, she seems to have grasped the
+situation and called to her husband to bring a ladder to release her
+and the girl. This eventually was done, but the intense excitement of
+the moment may be well imagined. Mr. Perkins, having obtained a ladder
+and a light had the greatest difficulty in discovering the position of
+those above, but having done so, he released both from their perilous
+position, little thinking that the ladder was resting on fallen
+rubbish, the slightest shock to which would have precipitated all to
+the basement.
+
+During this night of disaster, probably the most calamitous incident
+that occurred on land, was a fire which broke out at about 8 o'clock
+at 4, Wingfield Villas, Stoke, the residence of Mr. Venning, Town
+Clerk of Devonport, and which resulted in the total destruction of the
+house and its contents, as well as in material damage to the adjoining
+villa. A chimney-stack facing the direction from which the wind blew
+gave way and, crashing through the roof of the nursery, carried with
+it a quantity of débris through the floor of the nursery into the
+drawing-room below. Through the aperture thus made the fire from the
+nursery grate, and it is supposed also a lamp, were carried, and
+speedily ignited the contents of the drawing-room. The fire, being
+fanned by the fierce gale, just then at its height, increased rapidly,
+and the premises were soon in a blaze.
+
+Owing to the elevated position in which the house stood the
+conflagration was visible at a great distance, and in spite of the
+weather, large numbers of people visited the spot, although the journey
+thither, under the circumstances, was one of the most difficult it
+is possible to conceive. To those who ventured on the walk, however,
+the sight presented was an extraordinarily impressive one. The flames
+raged like the blast of a furnace, and the mingling of smoke, sparks
+and snow-dust produced an effect that was as novel as it was terrible.
+Sparks from the burning building were carried immense distances, and
+beaten, with the snow-powder, against the windows of houses that faced
+the burning villa. Standing at a distance of nearly a mile, with eyes
+fixed on the blaze, it was impossible to believe that the roar of the
+fire could not be heard, so nearly did the howling and surging of the
+wind resemble the roar caused by a great volume of rushing flame.
+
+In connection with the fire several narrow escapes are recorded. Mr.
+Venning's daughter, about six years of age, had a perilous experience.
+She had been put to bed by her nurse, and, during the absence of the
+latter from the room for a few minutes, the chimney clashed through the
+roof into the drawing-room. Fortunately Mr. Venning's daughter received
+nothing worse than a severe fright, and she was quickly removed to a
+neighbouring house. The ladies who were in the drawing-room at the time
+of the crash were also greatly alarmed, and made a hasty exit from
+the building, being hospitably sheltered at Wingfield House by Colonel
+Goodeve, R.A., and also at the house of a relative, in Godolphin
+Terrace.
+
+The efforts of the firemen to prevent the spread of the flames, under
+circumstances of great difficulty, were crowned with a well-merited
+success. Water was not readily available, and when obtained was not
+abundant, but notwithstanding this a gallant fight was made, and
+although to save the one dwelling was impossible, the contents of
+the adjoining one were safely removed, and the structure itself was
+snatched from total demolition. In addition to the West of England
+and Devonport Fire Brigades, and a large staff of constables under
+the charge of Mr. Evans, the Chief Constable of Devonport, there were
+present Colonel Liardet, R.M.L.I., the field officer of the day, and a
+detachment of men belonging to the King's Own Scottish Borderers, under
+Captain Haggard. Several manual engines from the troops in garrison
+were taken to the scene of the fire, but, with one exception, they were
+not brought into use. A number of civilians were conspicuous for their
+energy in performing voluntary salvage duty. The damage resulting from
+this fire has been estimated at something like £7,000.
+
+On their way to and from the scene of the fire by way of Millbridge,
+many pedestrians from Plymouth had narrow escapes from being blown
+over the parapet of the bridge into the Deadlake. About half-past
+eight, when the fire had somewhat abated, the majority of the Plymouth
+spectators moved back with the intention of re-crossing the bridge,
+but the wind had increased in violence, and the water in the lake
+was so disturbed that the waves could be heard lashing against the
+bridge and on the shores. Some who ventured on the bridge were driven
+back, and consternation began to spread among the crowd, many women
+screaming loudly. To proceed to Plymouth by way of Pennycomequick was
+also a matter of difficulty, as the full fury of the gale blowing down
+the valley had to be faced. Many waited on the Devonport side until
+there was a lull, when some of them linked their arms in those of their
+friends for safety's sake and so crossed to Plymouth.
+
+During the whole of Monday night Her Majesty's vessels in the Hamoaze
+were in positions of great peril, and those holding responsible posts
+in connection with them underwent great anxiety. The _Lion_ and
+_Implacable_, anchored just above Torpoint, which form an establishment
+for training boys, under the command of Commander Morrison, dragged
+their moorings during the evening. The vessels were moored stern to
+stern, and connected by a covered gangway. The cause of the mishap
+was the parting of the starboard bridle of the _Implacable_. At about
+half-past nine signals of distress were made to the shore, and it was
+stated that the two ships had been driven ashore, and were in the
+mud off Thanckes. This, however, proved not to be the case, as the
+vessels never even touched the ground. As soon as the danger was known
+all available tugs at Devonport Dockyard were despatched with a view
+to taking off, if necessary, the hundreds of boys who were on board.
+At midnight, however, all apprehension for the safety of the vessels
+had been practically removed, although as the storm had by no means
+abated, the tugs were ordered to stand by all night in order to give
+any assistance that might be required.
+
+In the meantime there was great excitement in Sutton Harbour. Between
+eight and nine o'clock several of the trading vessels, trawlers, and
+fishing craft lying at anchor began to drag, and extra warps had to
+be got out, and the vessels secured. The sea in the harbour was very
+heavy, and at one time some fear was felt for the buildings along
+the quay, but no damage of this nature occurred. Some of the stores
+along the North quay were roughly handled by the wind, the roof of
+the new coal store of Messrs. Hill and Co. was blown off, and a
+similar accident occurred to the premises in the occupation of Messrs.
+Vodden and Johns, but generally speaking the damage on the quays was
+satisfactorily light. A good deal of anxiety was expressed as to the
+welfare of trawlers who were known to be in the channel, and, as a
+subsequent chapter will show, these fears were by no means groundless.
+The cutter of the harbourmaster, lying in Plymouth Sound was reported
+to be in a sinking condition during the night, and a tug was sent to
+her assistance. She had four men on board, who were removed for safety,
+but ultimately the cutter weathered the storm, and is still afloat.
+
+Under conditions like these the night of the ninth of March wore away
+in the Three Towns. To many the night was a long one, and crowded
+with all sorts of apprehensions. The wind, never for a moment silent,
+rose again and again to hurricane force, and the fine snow so swiftly
+covered the window panes that to look out upon the night soon became a
+matter of difficulty. There was no great feeling of security indoors,
+but to remain out for long was a matter of impossibility, and the
+imperfect and disconnected rumours of disaster that were disseminated
+created all the more alarm from the fact that they could not be
+investigated. Hundreds of households did not go to bed at all, while
+very many sat up all night because their bedrooms were in a state of
+hopeless confusion, or of absolute wreck. Some were without fire,
+through a defect having been brought about in the chimney, or through
+the chimney having fallen in altogether; and in those localities where
+the buildings were of the dilapidated or frail order the wretchedness
+for the night, and, indeed, for the week throughout, was very great.
+
+Not the least serious part of the gale was the number of friends
+missing from the Plymouth district. Quite early there was a breakdown
+of the telegraph wires, which made all telegraphic communication
+with other parts of the country impossible, and the late arrival of
+many trains into the west, and the non-arrival of others, led to
+much anxious conjecture as to the fate of those whose appearance in
+Plymouth during the night had been confidently expected. The first
+indications of telegraphic interruption were observed as early as
+half-past four on Monday afternoon, when communication with Tavistock
+was suspended. Following this, the reports of breakdowns from all parts
+of the two counties became very frequent until about seven o'clock,
+when communication with London and all places above Plymouth ceased.
+Penzance, and one or two Cornish towns could be communicated with
+for some time longer, but soon all operations were suspended, and no
+messages were received at the Plymouth office after eight o'clock.
+As a general rule the breakdown was caused by trees falling across
+the wires, or by the telegraph posts having been brought bodily to
+the ground. As will be subsequently seen, this condition of things
+prevailed to a great extent, and in some cases the telegraph wires and
+posts got upon the railway lines and prevented the progress of the
+trains.
+
+The interruption of the local train service commenced early on Monday.
+Trains due at North Road Station, Plymouth, between mid-day and eight
+o'clock in the evening were all considerably behind time, and the
+telegraphic and telephonic instruments being rendered useless, thus
+making communication with other stations impossible, the officials had
+an anxious period of waiting for information of belated trains. At
+about nine o'clock the "Jubilee," which left London at one o'clock,
+and should have reached North Road, Plymouth, at 7·30, came into the
+station. With the remarkable experiences of passengers by this, one
+of the last trains that reached Plymouth by either the London and
+South Western or Great Western lines from Monday night to Saturday,
+and other trains that failed to reach Plymouth at all, a subsequent
+chapter will deal, should space permit. A train from Tavistock, due
+at 8·40, did not appear until eleven o'clock, and the eight o'clock
+train from Launceston did not come at all. The "Alexandra," a train
+that left Waterloo Station at 2·40 arrived at nine o'clock, the driver
+stating that near Okehampton he had to drive through three feet of
+snow. These, however, are the trains that did arrive. There were many
+that did not, and in many scores of instances a member of a family was
+not heard of for days, although, happily, in the majority of cases, the
+missing one ultimately turned up with nothing worse than a severe cold
+and a great distaste for winter life in small Devonshire or Cornish
+towns.
+
+So far the state of affairs in the Three Towns only has been dealt
+with, but it will be readily surmised that adjacent towns, and more
+especially those in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor, and the more open
+parts of Cornwall, suffered very considerably. Generally speaking,
+the damage to house property was nowhere so great as in Plymouth and
+Devonport. In the country districts, as a matter of course, calamities
+of a most serious and special character were met with, and trees were
+felled, sheep buried, and oxen frozen in enormous quantities,--in some
+instances, also, human life was sacrificed, but in none of the other
+larger towns was the devastation so widespread as in the Three Towns.
+At Exeter, the fall of snow was said to be the heaviest for years, and
+by reason of its suddenness, even more severe than the storm of 1881.
+The drifts of snow in some places were of great depth. As at Plymouth,
+traffic as well as business was suspended, but there were no serious
+mishaps, the force of the wind, though great, being evidently not so
+fierce as was the case further west. Railway communication between
+Exeter and Plymouth was of course impossible, but there were on Tuesday
+four trains trying to run between Exeter and Taunton. The North of
+England mail, which should have arrived at Exeter at half-past eight
+was four hours late, but it did put in an appearance. The trains of the
+London and South Western Railway ran to Exeter from the North just as
+usual, throughout the week.
+
+At Torquay the storm was the severest experienced there for many
+years. There was a heavy fall of snow on the night of Monday, and on
+the following morning the ground was covered to the depth of a foot. A
+strong easterly wind was also blowing, and trees were uprooted in every
+part of the district. At the Recreation Grounds the roof was blown
+off the grand stand, and a huge tree blew across the railway at Lowes
+Bridge, near Torre Station. An engine of the up-train cut through this
+and traffic was suspended until the line was cleared by a breakdown
+gang on Tuesday. The trains from London and Plymouth failing to run,
+Torquay soon became isolated, and telegraph and telephone communication
+was early interfered with in consequence of the poles being blown down
+and the wires broken by the burden of snow. Considerable damage was
+done to the New Pier works by the heavy gale. Plant for moulding the
+concrete was washed away, as was also a portion of the masonry, while
+parts of the sea-wall were damaged, and a flight of stone steps leading
+to the sea-wall were swept completely away. Street traffic was so
+much impeded by the snow that on the Tuesday after the storm the Town
+Surveyor constructed a wooden snow-plough, and with this, drawn by two
+horses, the roads were cleared. All the public clocks in the town were
+stopped by the snow.
+
+Tavistock was one of the towns that had the severest experiences. The
+barometer fell rapidly on Monday morning, and at about eleven o'clock
+snow began to fall; while, as the day advanced, it was accompanied by a
+high wind, that, towards seven o'clock in the evening, increased to a
+hurricane. In Tavistock, and all along the Tavy Valley, the full force
+of the storm was felt, large trees being uprooted, houses unroofed,
+and chimney-stacks blown down in every direction. One of the latter
+instances occurred in West Street, where the occupant, a lady, had been
+suffering from a serious illness. The chimney-stack being blown over,
+the débris fell through the roof into the bedroom where the invalid was
+lying. Her attendant received some cuts on the head, but the invalid
+escaped the falling masonry, although she received a severe shock to
+the system through the incident. A waggoner employed at the Phoenix
+Mills, Horrabridge, was returning to Tavistock from Lifton on Monday
+night, in charge of an empty waggon and three horses, and when within
+two miles of his destination, found that through the violence of the
+storm he was unable to continue his journey. He took the horses out
+of the waggon, and made an ineffectual attempt to drive them home.
+Failing in this the waggoner walked into Tavistock, and at about ten
+o'clock returned to the spot where he had left his horses. By this time
+the snow was so deep that the horses could not be seen, and it was
+necessary to leave them until the following morning. Eventually they
+were dug out, and driven home, not much the worse, to all appearance,
+for their night in the snow. Tavistock being an important market town,
+and the centre of a large district, experienced great inconvenience
+through the interruption in railway traffic, and the impassable state
+of the roads. Wednesday, March 11th, was the monthly cattle fair day,
+but not a single animal was brought in. At the Fitzford Church the
+window was blown in. Like many other towns in the Dartmoor vicinity,
+Tavistock received more than one disastrous visitation during this
+memorable week, and its record of lost sheep and cattle, to which more
+extended reference will be made further on, is a very serious one.
+
+At Bideford, and in the surrounding country, the weather was more
+severe than any experienced since the winter of 1881. The barometer had
+been steadily going back all day on Sunday, and on Monday a cutting
+east wind blew with considerable force. Snow commenced falling at
+noon, and continued until the evening, when the streets and roads were
+covered to some depth. Then the wind rose to half a gale, whirling
+the snow into little clouds, which filled both doors and windows. All
+through the night the wind increased in force, until it blew a perfect
+hurricane. Icicles hung inches long from windowsills and launders of
+the houses. In the country, traffic was completely suspended, the
+snowdrifts being as high as the hedges. Farmers were consequently
+unable to get into market, and provisions went up considerably in
+price. The mail coach started for Clovelly and Hartland as usual on
+Tuesday morning, and managed to reach Clovelly. There, however, the
+horses had to be taken out, and the driver rode through the deep drifts
+to Hartland on horseback. The return journey was performed by another
+man in a similar way. All the mails were delayed, and rural postmen's
+districts were mostly impassable.
+
+At Teignmouth, Exmouth, Dawlish, and most other seaside places from
+the estuary of the Exe to the Start, the effects of the gale were
+severely felt on Monday night. At the former place the sea ran high,
+and the breakers fell with great force close to the landwash and over
+the promenade. Opposite Den House the roadway was undermined and washed
+away, and had it not been for the fact that an hitherto existing stone
+wall lay buried beneath the surface, which acted as a breakwater
+against the heavy sea, it is almost certain that Den House and Bella
+Vista would have been washed away. As soon as the tide ebbed, the wind
+veered towards the northward, and the sea went down. A gang of men were
+at once set to work to shore up the embankment, and fill in the cavity
+made by the sea. The Promenade towards the East Cliff was also washed
+up in several places. In the Exeter Road and at Brimley a large number
+of trees were blown down, and traffic was generally suspended.
+
+An illustration from a photograph by Messrs. G. Denney & Co.,
+photographers, of Exeter and Teignmouth, portrays one of the scenes in
+Exeter Road, which was impassable for a day or two.
+
+At Totnes, Brent, and in fact every town in Devonshire, damage of a
+more or less severe character was sustained. Space will not allow of
+a separate reference to each locality in the present chapter, but in
+dealing with occurrences that took place after the early force of the
+blizzard had been exhausted on that memorable Monday night and Tuesday
+morning, there will be found few districts that necessity will not
+compel us to bring under notice.
+
+[Illustration: EXETER ROAD, TEIGNMOUTH.]
+
+Reference has already been made to some towns in the North of Devon.
+Throughout the whole of this district the storm raged furiously,
+rendering communication with many parts impossible. Although snow did
+not commence to fall until Monday afternoon, by the evening of that day
+the drifts had reached a depth of several feet. The train which left
+Barnstaple for Ilfracombe at about half-past eight on Monday evening
+became embedded just below Morthoe station. At Ilfracombe a strong
+gale raged throughout Monday night, and the brigantine _Ethel_, of
+Salcombe, 180 tons went ashore at Combemartin, but in this instance
+no lives were lost, the crew having taken to their boats. In North
+Cornwall, a terrible snowstorm raged for twenty-four hours, resembling
+in many respects the great storm of the 18th and 19th January, 1881.
+The atmospheric pressure was about the same as then, and the storm
+burst from the same point. On the first day of the great storm in 1881,
+the temperature varied from 26 to 30 and on the second from 25 to 30.
+On the 9th of March in the present year it varied from 29 to 31½. The
+roads were soon blocked in all directions, trains on the lines ceased
+running, and no mails could be sent or received. Bude was cut off
+from the outside world, except by telegraphic communication. In the
+roads around Bude the snow was quickly as high as the hedges, so that
+traffic, even on foot, was rendered impracticable. Falmouth, Liskeard,
+Camborne, and indeed all other Cornish towns, had a rough night, and
+before our story is finished, like many towns in Devonshire, they will
+be found to have suffered severely. To approach them with any hope of
+successfully relating how they all fared on the night of Monday and on
+the Tuesday following, we must deal with the railways, for from railway
+travellers who were detained in certain places on the course of their
+journeys, and from the energetic officials who after heavy and anxious
+toil succeeded in releasing them, many of the most thrilling narratives
+have been obtained.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ON THE RAILWAYS.
+
+
+Some incidents in connection with the suspension of the railway service
+on every line connecting Plymouth with the rest of the world have
+already been related. It is unnecessary to dwell at further length on
+the terrible mental and physical suffering entailed by this state of
+things. Facts need no comment that tell of passengers being snowed up
+in a train for thirty-six hours on a stretch, and others being unable
+to communicate with their friends for nearly a week, to say nothing of
+all that the engine-drivers and other officials had to endure.
+
+One of the first expeditions that set out into the dreary night in
+search of the cause of delay was undertaken by Mr. C. E. Compton,
+the divisional superintendent of the Great Western Railway Co., and
+other gentlemen, who went out on a pilot engine as far as Camel's Head
+Bridge between eight and nine o'clock on Monday night. The cause of the
+interruption in the telegraph system was here ascertained, the poles
+being blown down and lying across the line. Later in the evening Mr.
+Compton pushed on as far as Hemerdon, on the main line, where a similar
+state of things was encountered, and it was learned that at Kingsbridge
+Road and at Brent Station the snow had drifted to such an extent as
+to block the line. A train due from Penzance was known to be somewhere
+on the Plymouth side of Truro, but its exact whereabouts could not be
+discovered. There was some anxious looking out for the "Zulu" express
+from Paddington, due at Plymouth early in the evening, but the train
+was at Brent, with about ten feet of snow on the line, between it and
+Plymouth, and, as will be presently seen, the passengers were meeting
+with some novel and undesirable experiences.
+
+The mail train from Plymouth for London left Millbay Station at
+the usual time, 8·20, and Hemerdon Junction was reached with much
+difficulty. Here the first deep cutting had to be encountered, and the
+driver, approaching it at a reduced speed, observed that the drifting
+snow had practically blocked the entrance. The seriousness of the
+situation was realized by one and all of the passengers, and, although
+there was an anxiety on their part to get to their destination as soon
+as possible, they agreed that there was no alternative but to either
+remain where they were or return to Plymouth. The latter course was
+decided upon, and shunting was at once proceeded with. The drifts of
+snow rendered this work very difficult, and the frequent jerkings
+caused the passengers much inconvenience. Eventually the driver, after
+most skilful handling of the locomotive, succeeded in reversing the
+position of the engine, and a start was made for Plymouth. Much to
+the relief of the passengers, the latter place was reached, after a
+slow but sure journey, about half-past one next morning. The utmost
+consideration was shown the passengers by the station officials, and
+accommodation was found them for the night at the "Duke of Cornwall"
+Hotel and in the station waiting-room.
+
+All traffic on the London and South Western Railway below Okehampton
+ceased soon after eight o'clock on Monday night. One of the slow
+passenger trains from Okehampton was snowed up in a deep cutting
+between Meldon Viaduct and Bridestowe, one of the bleakest spots on the
+South Western system. The express due at North Road Station at 11·4 on
+the same night was stopped at Okehampton. The ordinary seven o'clock
+up-train was despatched on Tuesday morning from Mutley Station, and was
+drawn by three engines. Considerable danger attended railway travelling
+in consequence of the jolting and straining that occurred when the
+numerous obstructions were met with. All the points at the Tavistock
+Station were completely choked, and though for some hours a number of
+men were employed in an effort to keep them clear, the task was found
+impossible, and as a result the train that might have proceeded in the
+direction of Plymouth remained where it was as the engine could not be
+shunted to the Plymouth end of the train. The last up South Western
+train on Monday night was snowed up at Lidford, but the passengers were
+released. One of the vans of a goods train proceeding to Tavistock
+early on Monday evening was blown away.
+
+Serious as was the condition of things on all the railways on Monday
+night, on Tuesday matters became worse. During that day only two trains
+reached Millbay Station, Plymouth, and these, which came from Cornwall,
+should have arrived on Monday night. One account, of experiences as
+unique as they were unpleasant, is thus given by the _Western Daily
+Mercury_:--"The mail train from Cornwall, due at Plymouth at 8·10
+on Monday night, reached Millbay at 9·30 A.M., bringing some eighty
+passengers; amongst whom were Mr. Bolitho, banker, of Penzance, and
+Mrs. Bolitho, who were wishful of getting to Ivybridge to attend the
+hunt, and Mr. J. H. Hamblyn, of Buckfastleigh, who was _en route_ from
+Liskeard to Bristol Fair. All went well with the mail until St. Germans
+was reached at about 8 P.M. It was found that no further progress was
+possible, and that there was no help for it but to pass the night in
+the carriages under the shelter of the station. Mr. Gibbons, one of
+the assistant-engineers of the line, and Inspector Scantlebury, who
+were travelling in the train, resolved to walk to Saltash. The snow was
+not so very deep at this time, and the block was due principally to
+the wholesale destruction of telegraph poles. After a rough time of it
+the two officials reached Saltash, and afterwards pushed on to Camel's
+Head, where was the biggest block of all, fir trees and telegraph poles
+and wires being scattered about broadcast. Meanwhile at St. Germans the
+station-master (Mr. Priest) was doing his best to make the passengers
+as comfortable as possible. In fact, all of those who reached Plymouth
+after the night's adventure are loud in their praises of Mr. Priest.
+Messengers were despatched by him to the village, and loaves, butter,
+tea, and coffee were speedily bought up. At the station fires were
+lit in all the available grates, and very soon the passengers were in
+possession of hot tea and coffee, as well as bread and butter. This
+modest fare was repeated at intervals during the night, and it goes
+without saying was most welcome.
+
+"After spending something like ten hours at St. Germans the mail was
+able to leave at eight o'clock on Tuesday morning for Saltash, but
+here another delay of nearly two hours took place, in consequence of
+the block on the Devonport side of the Camel's Head bridge. To remove
+this a breakdown train had been sent out from Plymouth at 6 A.M. in
+charge of Mr. H. Quigley, the assistant divisional-superintendent. This
+train got as far as Keyham Viaduct without much interruption. Here an
+array of prostrate poles and fir-trees required removing, and then
+the breakdown train forged ahead slowly to the Weston Mills Viaduct,
+where there was a confused mass of poles and wires stretching from one
+side of the creek to the other. This accomplished, a move was made to
+Saltash, where the mail was met and safely escorted to Plymouth, which
+all were glad to reach, after a novel but most unpleasant night's
+adventure."
+
+[Illustration: ROAD BETWEEN ST. CLEER AND LISKEARD.]
+
+The difficulty that beset those that attempted to travel by road the
+above view indicates, and is from a photograph by A. Leamon, Esq., of
+Liskeard.
+
+One of the passengers in the train snowed up between Princetown
+and Plymouth in the evening mail has related the following
+experiences:--"We left Princetown at 6·30 P.M. on Monday--the regular
+time--with five bags of mails. The snow beat in our compartment through
+closed doors, ventilators, and windows so much, that in a few minutes I
+had two inches of snow on my umbrella. We stuffed paper, handkerchiefs,
+and cloth into every hole or crevice we could find, and this remedied
+matters a little. The coach we were in was a composite one--of four
+third-class compartments, one second class, one first class, and
+one guard's, and we were all in one compartment. Well, the wind was
+blowing great guns, and we passed through two large drifts just after
+leaving Princetown, but it required some heavy pulling. We had just
+been congratulating ourselves on having been lucky in getting so
+nicely through the storm, when we suddenly stopped, and we knew we had
+stuck in the snow. The engine driver came and said, 'I was afraid of
+it; we have got over a bar, and we cannot go on. We ought not to have
+started.' The ladies became alarmed, and with that the driver, fireman,
+and guard went to the front of the train with shovels to try and dig
+a way for her, but it was no good. It is true that the place where we
+stopped is on a bit of decline, but the engine was choked with snow.
+The guard, having told us that we could not get on without assistance,
+proceeded in the direction of Dousland to get help. He had been gone
+about an hour, when he returned with the mournful intelligence that he
+had lost his way, and that it was no use for him to attempt to reach
+Dousland, as the snow blinded him. We decided to make ourselves as
+comfortable as we possibly could under the painful conditions to which
+we 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--was
+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,'
+so as to let them know of the disaster, and see what help could be
+rendered. It is true that the fireman was lame, but I understand they
+had fearful trouble, as he was sadly knocked up and his foot badly
+lacerated. Some little time afterwards the driver, who has, 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 storm was raging as
+fiercely as on the previous night, but at 3 P.M. we were agreeably
+surprised to find three packers, who had tramped up from Dousland
+with refreshments for us, knock at our door. We were heartily glad to
+receive the refreshments, which, I believe, were sent from the railway
+company to us in our forlorn position--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 one piece of cake each. This was not a very substantial
+bill of fare for people who had had nothing to eat for over twenty
+hours, but we were thankful for small mercies. There is one thing I
+forgot: the packers were very kind, and brought us out the guard's lamp
+from his van, which we afterwards lit. One of the party, I think Palk,
+asked if the packer thought we could weather the journey back. The
+packer replied, 'It will take you about two hours.' This was enough for
+Palk, who said he thought he was better where he was. Besides, we asked
+him to stay and not desert us in the time of trouble.
+
+"We then awaited the result of events. The wind was fearful, and we
+were all bitterly cold. We were nearly dead in the afternoon, and 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 this morning one of us looking out of the window saw Mr.
+Hilson, of Horsford, farmer, whose farm is only about 250 yards from
+where our train was lying, picking sheep out of the snow. We whistled
+to him, and on his coming to us he was told of our predicament. He
+expressed his astonishment that he knew nothing of the accident. We
+do not see how he could have, because the snow had been so blinding
+in character until that day that it was impossible to see anyone
+ahead. He offered us the use of his farm, and we joyfully accepted
+the same, leaving the train after being in her for 36 hours. Poor
+Mrs. Watts was much distressed and we had to assist her down. We had
+breakfast at Mr. Hilson's, and then four of us--Hancock, Viggers, Palk
+and Worth--started to walk to Dousland, which we could see ahead of
+us. We got on fairly well over the snow, which was very deep in some
+places. We could not keep our eyes open owing to the snow when we left
+Princetown, and when we asked the station-master for tickets he said,
+'You can have them, but I cannot promise you will get there.' It did
+not strike me at the time, but if a station-master had any doubts as
+to the safety or otherwise of a train he should not allow the train to
+travel. It is true the wind was in our favour when we started. Mrs.
+Watts is very bad indeed, and also the engine-driver and stoker. The
+engine of the train when we left was completely covered with snow,
+and the snow had drifted as high as the carriage, with a blank space
+between the body and the wheels. All the compartments into which I
+looked before I 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."
+
+[Illustration: EXPRESS TRAIN, G. W. RY., TEIGNMOUTH.]
+
+Great anxiety was felt in Exeter and Plymouth on account of the sea
+wall which carries the line of the Great Western Railway Company from
+Dawlish to Teignmouth. In past years this piece of line has suffered
+very severely, and rumours were in circulation that it had been
+washed away in some places. Happily, however, it was found, as soon
+as communication became opened up once more, that the line remained
+intact, the damaged portion of the sea wall being a carriage-drive
+close to the town. One of our views, from a photograph by Messrs.
+Denney & Co., photographers, of Exeter and Teignmouth, gives an
+admirable idea of the force of the sea in this district, during the
+progress of a gale from the south-east.
+
+Difficulties and dangers on all the lines of railway multiplied as time
+went on, and the horrors of the Monday night, of which the foregoing
+narratives present only a partial view, were succeeded by some sad
+instances of loss of life, besides great damage to the property of the
+respective companies, and as a matter of course, a heavy falling off in
+their traffic returns. The returns for the week, following March 9th,
+on the Great Western system, showed a decrease of £12,980 as compared
+with the corresponding week of the previous year, and the South-Western
+Railway's decrease amounted to £3,662--all but £650 of which was lost
+from the non-conveyance of passengers and parcels. This was regarded
+as especially unfortunate in the case of the South-Western Railway,
+as its traffic returns had previously been going up week by week, and
+in the eleven weeks of the year had increased by £12,120, as compared
+with the first eleven weeks of 1890. In addition to these losses heavy
+expenses were incurred by all the companies by the efforts made to
+clear away the snow, by means of snow ploughs, and the employment of
+large gangs of men. The inadequacy of the snow ploughs, which dated
+in England from the time of the heavy snow-fall in the early part of
+1881, for clearing away heavy drifts, has been generally admitted. The
+ploughs are quite competent to get rid of from 4 to 5 feet of snow, but
+their capacity is not equal to depths ranging as high as 18 feet, such
+as were dealt with in some places between Newton Abbott and Plymouth,
+on the Great Western system, to say nothing of other sections and
+branches. The ploughs, which are kept at Swindon, have an iron ram
+in front, projecting like that of an ironclad, with a "cutter." The
+attention of engineers has, however, been now directed to a new kind
+of machine, with a revolving, spade-like apparatus, having a powerful
+shaft, and a propeller that is designed to scatter the snow with which
+it is brought into contact, and throw it clear of the rails on which
+the engine is travelling. The work of cutting out engines that had been
+absolutely embedded was very arduous, and in one case, lamentable loss
+of life accompanied the other misfortunes brought about by the storm.
+
+One or two instances of striking and unprecedented experiences of the
+night of Monday must be recorded before this part of the subject, which
+is, in itself, enough to fill a volume, is dismissed.
+
+Passengers by the train which left Queen Street Station, Exeter, on
+Monday evening at 6·38, and was in connection with the 2·20 from
+Waterloo, had an exceptionally rough time. The train, a slow one, had
+to make its way across Dartmoor from Okehampton to Tavistock, and on
+starting, the guard, Mr. Moore, had orders to proceed as far as he
+could. After cutting through the snow for some miles the train reached
+Okehampton, and then attempted to brave the force of the storm that
+was sweeping down from the Dartmoor hills. It got over the Meldon
+Viaduct safely, and then it was attempted to go on over Sourton Down,
+but in going through Youlditch cutting it ran into a snow-drift, and
+about three miles to the west of Okehampton it was brought to a stop.
+Efforts were made to run back to Okehampton, but the rapid drifts of
+snow, which were from ten to twenty feet in height, prevented this
+being done, and it was soon seen that there was nothing left but to
+remain until help of some kind could be obtained. There were only
+eleven passengers, including two ladies and two children. The ladies
+and children, who were well supplied with wraps, were bestowed as
+comfortably as circumstances would permit in a first-class carriage,
+the male portion of the party, with the guard, Mr. Moore, the driver,
+Mr. Bennett, and the fireman, Mr. Oates, trying to find some warmth
+in the guard's van. This, however, was a matter of impossibility, the
+bitter wind and the fine snow finding its way into the compartment,
+to the great discomfort of the occupants. The engine fire was kept
+alight, but was useless to impart warmth to the unfortunate party. It
+was only on the following day, and just before relief arrived, that Mr.
+Bennett had succeeded in getting a fire in the van by means of boring
+holes in one of the engine-buckets, filling the bucket with coal and,
+after much difficulty, kindling a flame, which the draught obtained
+through the holes soon increased into a most welcome blaze. Mr. John
+Powlesland, auctioneer, of Bow, was one of the belated travellers, and
+was especially assiduous in his efforts to do all he could for his
+fellow-sufferers.
+
+When the train first showed signs of becoming embedded, a telegram
+was sent from the nearest signal-box to Exeter for assistance, and
+two engines were sent down. These approached within three-quarters of
+a mile of the snowed-up train, but could not be taken nearer on that
+line. They were then, with some difficulty, shunted on the up-line,
+with the view of pushing their way to the carriages in that manner, but
+the only result was that they became snowed-up in their turn.
+
+As day approached Mr. Moore and Mr. Oates made their way to the Sourton
+Inn, which stood at no great distance, for the purpose of obtaining
+food, but their endeavour met with but slight success, the inn being
+also snowed-up, and the occupants having but little in the way of
+provisions that they could spare. No help arrived until Tuesday, at
+mid-day, when a search-party, headed by Mr. Prickman, the Mayor of
+Okehampton, and consisting of some half-a-dozen gentlemen of that
+locality, succeeded, after a difficult journey, in reaching the train.
+They took with them food and liquid refreshment, and were most heartily
+welcomed by the imprisoned travellers. By this time the train was
+entirely buried on one side, the engine having forced the snow on the
+left side up to a height of fully twenty feet. Only a small portion of
+the engine and carriages was visible, and the scene is described as a
+remarkable one.
+
+The travellers were at once conducted by their rescuers to Youlditch
+Farm, where Mr. Gard treated them with much kindness, and took care of
+the ladies and children. The gentlemen subsequently made their way on
+to Okehampton, where they were detained for several days. The guard,
+engine-driver, and fireman were not able to leave the train until the
+following day, when a breakdown gang was employed to cut a passage for
+the train through the snow--a task that occupied nearly the whole of
+the week.
+
+[Illustration: SNOW DRIFT, ROBOROUGH DOWN, DARTMOOR.]
+
+On the Launceston branch of the Great Western Railway, the down-train,
+which left Tavistock at seven o'clock on Monday evening, remained
+embedded in the snow outside Horrabridge for several days. Between
+the Walkham Viaduct and Grenofen tunnel very heavy work had to be
+done, a deep cutting being not only choked by the snow, but quite a
+score of trees having been blown across the rails. The accompanying
+illustration, depicting a snow-drift in this locality, from a
+photograph by Mr. Sheath, of George-street, Plymouth, conveys an
+excellent picture of the heavy masses of snow that had accumulated on
+this part of Dartmoor.
+
+A passenger by the train which left Penzance at 6·25 P.M. on Monday and
+arrived at Plymouth at 3 P.M. on Tuesday, has supplied an interesting
+account of the blockage near Grampound Road. The train, containing
+about a dozen passengers, was only a quarter of a mile above Grampound
+Road Station when it encountered a drift of snow fully twenty feet
+high. It was impossible to proceed or to retreat, for the blinding
+storm had drifted more snow on to the line behind, so that passengers
+left the train and crossed some fields back to the village, and found
+shelter at the Grampound Road Hotel. It was then about 10·30 P.M. The
+guard Kelly remained on the train, and the under-guard Hammett walked
+back to Grampound Road and wired to Liskeard for a relief engine. He
+then walked on to meet an engine which had been sent for from Truro,
+and returned to the train on it. A relief gang arrived from Lostwithiel
+under engine-driver Harris, and the men dug at the drift until eleven
+A.M. on Tuesday, when the train was able to proceed. One of the workers
+described the cold as so intense that the snow froze on the men's
+clothes, practically encasing them in ice, and the under-guard Hammett,
+who had been at the work for over twenty years, said he never had such
+an experience, and even in the terrific storm of 1881 the snow was not
+so blinding.
+
+Another passenger who travelled by the 6·50 Great Western up-train
+from Plymouth on Monday returned by a somewhat roundabout route, and
+he thus described his experiences: Hemerdon was reached without
+any delay on the journey, but at that point the train was drawn up
+for about three-quarters of an hour, to allow a down-train to pass.
+It then proceeded slowly in face of a terrific gale, accompanied by
+blinding snow. After leaving Cornwood, a grating sound on the roof of
+the carriage suggested broken wires, and this was followed by a jerk
+and a stoppage, and the interesting announcement that one coach and
+the engine were off the rails, and embedded in a snowdrift. There was
+nothing for it but to wait, and the "wait" lasted the whole night.
+There was nothing to eat for anybody, and the forty or more passengers
+(amongst whom were several ladies) had to make their night watches as
+comfortably as was possible under the circumstances in the Langham
+cutting! It seems that the driver and one of the guards succeeded in
+reaching Ivybridge, about a mile away, in the late evening, but no
+notice of the proximity of the village was given to the passengers. On
+Tuesday morning a small party from Ivybridge, under Messrs. Brown and
+Greenhough, two engineers superintending the alterations to the line
+in the neighbourhood, came to the rescue of all who were willing to
+face the blinding storm. Only four consented to go, and they were very
+thankful to exchange the cold comfort of the railway carriage for the
+hearty hospitality offered by these gentlemen in Ivybridge.
+
+The officials here do not seem generally to have been equal to the
+exigencies of the situation, no notice of their whereabouts being
+given to the passengers, nor any organised attempt made at rescue or
+provisioning, but a porter and a packer from Ivybridge station arrived
+about daybreak with whisky and brandy. When the four passengers
+referred to were leaving at about 9·30 on the Tuesday morning, bread
+and butter and tea were being dispensed. Many of the remaining
+passengers were hospitably accommodated by Miss Glanville at her house
+close to the half-buried train, the ladies being assisted thither by
+the engineers and their party. Another train was detained at Ivybridge
+Station, and the passengers from it were lodged in the village.
+
+In West Cornwall three trains were snowed up. The train which left
+Plymouth at five o'clock on Monday night and should have reached
+Penzance at 8·45, arrived there at eleven. The "Dutchman" which should
+have, in the ordinary course of things, followed within fifteen
+minutes of this train, did not arrive at all, and news soon reached
+Penzance that the fast train was snowed up, but in what spot was only
+ascertained with much difficulty. A train was at once got ready, and
+on it Mr. Blair, the station-master, Mr. Ivey, the superintendent of
+the locomotive department, Mr. Glover, and a breakdown gang, proceeded
+to Camborne, which was reached about noon on Tuesday, it having taken
+about nine hours to accomplish a journey of thirteen miles. All the
+way along huge drifts of snow were met with, completely blocking
+the passage, and at frequent intervals the way had to be literally
+cut through the drifts by the men of the breakdown gang. Thus, with
+great difficulty, Hayle was reached, and from thence to Camborne the
+task became almost overpowering. Here the open country favoured the
+accumulation of snow, and the drifts were immense. In a deep cutting,
+close to Gwinear Station, was encountered a drift of about eighty yards
+long and nine feet deep.
+
+On at length reaching Camborne it was discovered that the missing 8·45
+train had left Redruth at about ten o'clock on Monday night--an hour
+and a half late. The storm was then at its height, and the snow was
+driving with such force that only very slight progress could be made.
+The train passed Carn Brea safely, but when within sight of Camborne
+Station, close to Stray Park, the engine left the metals, running on
+the south side, and finally bringing up at a hedge against which it
+lay on its side. Fortunately, at the time of the occurrence, speed was
+slow, and nothing more serious than some damage to the rolling stock,
+and the inconvenient detention of the twenty or thirty passengers
+occurred. These included five ladies, who were taken to the house of
+Mr. Maurice Reed, the Station Master at Camborne, the gentlemen of the
+party having good opportunities of finding comfortable quarters in the
+hotels of the town. Another train was embedded in fifteen feet of snow
+on the Helston branch line from Gwinear Road to Helston, and the guard,
+engine-driver, and stoker, with their one passenger, were compelled to
+abandon the train and seek shelter in a neighbouring farm-house.
+
+While great inconvenience and discomfort was caused by the blizzard
+on the Cornish railways as a whole, no fatalities were reported, and
+the work of clearing the lines, great and arduous as it was, was
+accomplished in less time than in the districts above Plymouth, and in
+the vicinity of Dartmoor. Communication between Plymouth and Cornwall
+was opened up some days earlier than that with Totnes, Exeter, and
+other towns. The scene here depicted shows the depth of snow in this
+neighbourhood, and is from a photograph by A. Leamon, Esq., of Liskeard.
+
+[Illustration: MAIN ROAD BETWEEN LISKEARD AND TORPOINT.]
+
+Above Exeter things were not so bad. In the Tiverton district the
+effects of the blizzard were rather severely felt, and communication
+between some towns was for the time cut off. The railway authorities
+were very active, and gangs of men were sent up from Exeter on Tuesday
+to clear the lines, but they could do little more than keep the points
+clear for shunting, watch the signals, and fix detonators where
+required, the driving snow being so blinding, and the coldness of the
+bitter wind so intense. The difficulties of the neighbourhood commenced
+on Monday evening at the Whitehall tunnel, when the pilot, in front of
+the express, got off the line. Daylight came before a gang of packers
+sent from Taunton could effect a clearance, and instead of passing at
+ten o'clock on Monday night, the express only struggled into Tiverton
+Junction, with two engines attached, at half-past six on Tuesday
+morning. The night mail, and the North mail followed some hours after,
+and managed to get through to Exeter, but after that, until Wednesday
+morning at eleven o'clock, no train could leave the junction.
+
+After being snowed up for some hours at Burlescombe, the first part
+of the newspaper train reached Tiverton at half-past ten on Tuesday
+night. The train was stopped at the home signal, and so intense was the
+cold that the machinery was, in a few minutes, frozen, and the train
+could not enter the station. The ladies--mostly for Plymouth--who were
+in the train, were carried on chairs by porters and packers to the
+adjacent Railway Hotel, where they, and some of the male passengers,
+were able to obtain beds for the night. The train remained in the
+same position until Wednesday morning. In a siding also stood a slow
+train, which should have reached Tiverton on Tuesday at ten in the
+morning, but which did not get in until the afternoon. The passengers
+by this train were transferred to the first down-train that was got
+out from Tiverton on Wednesday. The second part of the newspaper train
+remained at Burlescombe all Monday night. The store of provisions in
+the hamlet was already exhausted, and although as much as a guinea was
+offered for a bed by some of the passengers, neither food nor sleeping
+accommodation could be obtained. A very uncomfortable night was passed
+in consequence, and many of the ladies suffered severely from hunger
+and exposure.
+
+H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, on his way to Devonport, was snow-bound
+at Taunton on Tuesday night, but with about two hundred other
+passengers, was able to proceed on his journey at the end of the week.
+
+His Royal Highness afterwards conveyed to the Directors of the
+Company his appreciation of the courtesy and attention he received
+from the officials and servants of the Great Western Railway, on his
+journey during the gale and snowstorm, and during his detention at
+Taunton, on March 11th and 12th, and particularly thanked the Taunton
+station-master for his services.
+
+At Brent, one of the most exposed railway towns on Dartmoor, the Zulu,
+from London, which was due at Plymouth at 8·55 on Monday night, came to
+grief, and a number of passengers spent several days of that week in
+this very bleak locality. Especial discomfort appears to have prevailed
+here, probably on account of the difficulty of obtaining assistance or
+information from any neighbouring town, and from the limited resources
+for personal comfort that the town afforded. There can be no doubt
+that the experiences of the first two days and nights must have been
+wretched in the extreme. After two hours waiting in the carriages, in
+a state of considerable doubt as to what was to happen, the travellers
+found themselves at length at the Brent station. Here there was neither
+refreshment nor accommodation, but the hotels of the town were made
+for. Quarters were difficult to obtain, however, as a large number of
+contractors men working on the new line of railway were residing in the
+place. On Monday night many passengers lay upon the floor, using their
+overcoats for pillows, and their rugs for coverings. A Mr. Stumbles, a
+commercial traveller, who was one of the Brent unfortunates, gave an
+account of his experiences to a representative of the _Western Morning
+News_, which has led to much subsequent controversy, and to a shower of
+letters, conveying many diverse opinions, being sent in to the editor
+of that paper. It appears that there were about forty passengers in the
+train, and that many of these remained at the station all night, either
+in the train or in the waiting-room. Next day Brent was visited, and
+refreshments were bought at, as Mr. Stumbles says, famine prices.
+
+The account referred to goes on to say:--"One gentleman bought a bottle
+of brandy, for which he had to pay 6_s._, the inns charged us double
+price for ordinary meals, and some establishments refused to supply us
+at all, probably thinking that a famine was impending. We returned to
+the station as best we could, through the great drifts of snow, and,
+with such provisions as we could buy, did the best we could, cooking
+such things as bloaters in the station waiting-room. Our scanty
+supply, I must say, was most generously supplemented from the small
+stores which the railway officials, such as signalmen and others,
+had with them. There were a number of sailors and soldiers amongst
+the passengers, and most of them were without means. One gentleman
+gave them a sovereign, and ladies from Brent also brought them money,
+tobacco, and provisions during our stay. On the following monotonous
+days we spent our time in smoking and in conversation, and also in
+'chaffing' the station-master, whom we christened 'Dr. Parr.' On
+Wednesday an enterprising amateur photographer from Brent took several
+views of our snowed-up train, with the eighteen or twenty passengers
+who stuck by it perched in various prominent positions upon it. We all
+united in praising the minor officials, and the men in charge of the
+train, for remaining faithful to us, and excused the want of sympathy
+of 'Dr. Parr' on account of his age. The driver kept the fires of his
+engine going all the time, but his boilers had to be filled with water
+by hand, and in this work valuable assistance was readily given by
+the soldiers and marines in the train. Just before we were enabled to
+leave Brent, we were visited for the first time by the clergyman of the
+parish, and our final leave-taking was celebrated by three sarcastic
+cheers for 'Dr. Parr' and for 'Brent.' The passengers in this train
+included Lieutenant Rice, of the Essex Regiment; Mr. R. Bayly, J.P., of
+Plymouth (who succeeded in getting through to his home on Wednesday)
+Miss Sykes, and a nurse who was travelling from Scarborough to the
+South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, Plymouth."
+
+It is only fair to the station-master at Brent, and to the residents
+of the town generally, to repeat that this description has been
+extensively contradicted, and among others, by Mr. Robert Bayly, of
+Plymouth, who was another of the detained passengers. Mr. Stumbles,
+however, has adhered to his description, and in more than one instance
+his version has been supported. Among other interesting details of the
+week in Brent, is the account of the arrival of the first newspaper, a
+copy of the _Western Morning News_, which was brought over from Totnes
+on the Thursday morning by an adventurous policeman, who successfully
+undertook the dangerous walk. This paper was eagerly sought after, it
+having been the first account of the doings in the outer world seen
+since Monday, and one of the enforced sojourners in Brent is said to
+have paid five shillings for the use of the paper for one hour. The
+fortunate possessor of the journal declared that he had been offered
+two pounds for it, and had declined to trade.
+
+At Totnes a number of passengers were detained, among them being a
+reporter of the _Western Morning News_, who went to the town on Monday
+to report a meeting, and was only released on the following Friday
+night. A number of passengers who left Friary Station, Plymouth, by the
+3·47 P.M. South Western train on Thursday, were taken into Tavistock on
+the following day, after having spent the night at Lydford. Instances
+innumerable of the same character occurring on the Launceston and other
+lines could be related, but as their points of interest bear such a
+strong resemblance to each other, it is unnecessary to proceed further
+with them.
+
+Thursday, March 12th, was a day of very severe weather, and the efforts
+of the hundreds of men working on the various lines to clear the snow
+and also to release some of the buried trains were seriously retarded.
+By the end of the week, however, things were beginning to assume their
+normal aspect, and the trains were running with tolerable punctuality.
+The telegraph service, in a deplorable condition of collapse throughout
+the week, was restored, and the masses of accumulated correspondence
+in the post offices were sent on to their destinations. The labour of
+clearing the lines was as dangerous as it was arduous, and unhappily
+an accident, proving fatal to one man, occurred during the operations
+on the Great Western Railway at Ivybridge. Work was being carried on
+at this spot under the superintendence of Mr. C. E. Compton, and a
+number of men were engaged in getting an engine on to the line, when
+a train dashed round a curve among the workmen killing one, named
+William Stentiford, of Plymouth, and seriously injuring two others. The
+lamentable occurrence was purely accidental, and that this was the only
+fatal occurrence during the whole of the operations of this most trying
+week indicates the care that was taken by all those engaged on the
+railways from the highest officials downwards. Such an experience was
+never before met with, and it was a matter of congratulation that those
+in power were able to cope with the difficulties as well as they did.
+No doubt some practical lessons were learnt during the operations, and
+should such a visitation unhappily occur in the West of England on any
+future occasion, the experience gained during this terrible week will
+not be without value.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+AT SEA.
+
+
+Sad and disastrous as were the effects of the blizzard on land on the
+night of Monday, March 9th, they were in most cases of a nature more
+or less reparable. At sea, however, the case was different, and from
+the afternoon of the day on which the storm commenced to the end of the
+week wrecks, resulting in the loss of over fifty lives, were strewn
+along the coast from Start Point to Falmouth. In most cases, such
+was the fury of the gale, but little help could be afforded from the
+shore. Generally, to launch a boat or to use a rocket apparatus was
+out of the question, and those on the shore, anxious to send help to
+the doomed vessels, had great difficulty in escaping from being blown
+into the sea. In many instances gallant services were rendered, and
+all that courage and self-sacrifice could do with the hope of saving
+life was accomplished; but the time was one of no common peril, and on
+the Tuesday lives were lost in full view of the cliffs upon the rocky
+fringes of which the vessels had been driven.
+
+In Plymouth Sound, and the Hamoaze, well protected as they are from the
+gales of winter, much damage was done on Monday night. In addition to
+the accident to the _Lion_ and _Implacable_, and the critical position
+of the Queen's harbour-master's cutter already briefly described,
+the _Julia_, a small coastguard cutter, moored inside Drake's Island,
+parted her moorings during the early hours of Tuesday morning, and went
+ashore on Bottle Nose, a point eastward of Devil's Point. She was badly
+knocked about, but there were no men on board at the time. Whilst the
+heavy squalls were on Tuesday morning the _Impregnable_, training-ship
+for boys, Captain Harris; the _Cambridge_, gunnery school ship, Captain
+Carr, and the _Achilles_, battle ship, all dragged their moorings, but
+not to any alarming extent. Staff-Captain Burniston, who, with the
+dockyard tugs under his command, was afloat during the whole of Monday
+night, and on Tuesday, under very trying circumstances, succeeded in
+getting out fresh anchors and hawsers to make the vessels secure for
+the night, a course which was wisely adopted, as the hurricane showed
+no signs of abating, there being, on the contrary, another great fall
+in the barometer. The men who were on board the tugs on Monday night,
+speak of the weather as being the worst that they ever experienced, and
+the manner in which they did their work under such trying circumstances
+was, as was the case so frequently throughout that, and several
+succeeding days, most praiseworthy.
+
+Considerable damage was done during Monday night to many of the hookers
+belonging to the fishermen of Kingsand and Cawsand. The full force of
+the blizzard was experienced in Cawsand Bay, and ten of the hookers
+which had been moored up for the night were driven ashore and sunk. The
+only boat which rode out the storm was a craft owned by Mr. Andrews
+of Cawsand. A pilot boat went ashore in one of the little coves just
+south of the coastguard station, and a small fishing vessel was wrecked
+close under Lady Emma's Cottage, at Mount Edgcumbe.
+
+The captain of the Norwegian galliot _Falken_, from Shields, with coal
+for Portugal which was found on Tuesday off Fowey, by the tug _Belle of
+Plymouth_, half full of water, and with her sails blown away, stated
+at the time that on Monday his vessel was caught in a kind of small
+cyclone, and that whilst about twenty miles south-west of Start Point
+he had a strange experience. The vessel was being driven along at a
+furious rate by a north-easterly gale, whilst ahead, within sight, a
+westerly wind was blowing. This bears out the theory of the cyclone
+to some extent, as on other parts of the coast the gale was found
+to blow only from the north-east or south-east, in rapid changes.
+The Channel was very rough at the time, and the vessel was greatly
+endangered. On Tuesday the boats were smashed, and the sails carried
+away. Pumps were manned, and kept working so long as the crew could
+hold out, the endeavour being to reach one of the ports. It was while
+the _Falken_ was in this condition that the _Belle_ came opportunely
+to her assistance, and towed her into Plymouth harbour, where she was
+laid up alongside Bulteel's Wharf, in the Cattewater, to discharge
+her cargo and be repaired. Several of the Lowestoft boats, and other
+fishing vessels which had been out in the Channel on the Monday night,
+returned to Plymouth on Tuesday, and reported having experienced very
+bad weather. The sudden squalls encountered were terrific, and the
+oldest fishermen on board declared that they had never experienced
+such violent weather on the Devonshire coast.
+
+During the height of the storm the schooner _Alice Brookall_, from
+Swansea to Jersey with coals, ran ashore at Mutton Cove, near Godevy
+Hayle. She ran so far in that the crew--five in number--managed to
+drop from the bowsprit on to the rocks. The poor fellows had to pass
+the night exposed to the fury of the storm, with no other protection
+than they could mutually afford each other by huddling together. At
+daybreak they climbed the cliffs, and managed to reach the shelter
+of a farm-house. The vessel soon went to pieces. The schooner
+_Perseverance_, of Preston, Dandy, master, from Swansea to Salcombe,
+with coals, ran ashore a mile east of Hayle Bar. The crew of four
+remained by her during the night, and landed at daybreak. Both vessels
+experienced fearful weather on the way down Channel, the sea running
+mountains high. No one knew of their position until twenty-four hours
+after they struck.
+
+At Exmouth, Dawlish, and Teignmouth, although the force of the wind was
+great, and all three towns sustained damage, there were no calamities
+at sea. Great injury was done to the pleasure and fishing boats at both
+of the latter places, but Teignmouth was not so unfortunate as Dawlish
+in this respect. Its harbour is almost land-locked, and from the beach
+where the boats are moored, as well as from the quays, the eye glances
+north-west and south-west upon a beautiful picture of river scenery,
+of which the distant Dartmoor Hills and the Haldon Heights form the
+background. The accompanying illustration, from a photograph by Messrs.
+Valentine & Son, of Teignmouth, taken during the week of the blizzard,
+depicts one part of this scene in as wintry a garb as any it has worn
+during the last half century. The village of Shaldon, on the opposite
+side of the Teign, lies exposed to a S.E. gale blowing across the
+low-lying sands of the Teignmouth "Point," and here the owners of
+fishing and other craft had much to lament in the way of destruction to
+their floating property.
+
+[Illustration: TEIGNMOUTH JETTY, WITH HALDON HEIGHTS.]
+
+In Torbay a French brig, the _Emilie_, of Cherbourg, was driven ashore
+at Hogg's Cove, under Berry Head, at about four o'clock on Tuesday
+afternoon. The coastguards and Royal Naval Reserve, under the direction
+of Mr. Drayton, chief officer of coastguard, and assisted by a large
+number of fishermen, got out the rocket apparatus, and the crew, eight
+in number, were quickly landed. They were at once invited to the house
+of the Misses Hogg, at Berry Head, and provided with refreshments. The
+vessel was badly injured, and became a total wreck.
+
+The ketch _Sunshine_, of Faversham, from London to Exmouth, with
+manure, was fallen in with on Thursday at noon, by the Brixham
+fishing ketch _Inter-Nos_, Berry Head bearing north-west, and distant
+twenty-five miles. She had her mainsail blown away, and her boats
+and water-casks washed overboard. When fallen in with, the crew were
+without water to drink, and their vessel was labouring heavily in the
+trough of the sea. The _Sunshine_ was taken in tow by the _Inter-Nos_,
+£250 being agreed upon for the service, and both vessels arrived at
+Brixham on the same night. The fishing ketch _Gertrude_ arrived in
+Brixham on Thursday, having on her deck the boat of the _Crusader_, of
+Aberystwith, which she had picked up in the channel with eight hands on
+her, and landed at Falmouth on Friday. The ketch _Annie_ also arrived,
+with sails blown away, and her ballast shifted. The _Olive & Mary_ and
+the _Pickwick_, ketches, had their sails blown away and their bulwarks
+damaged. All the crews described the gale as the heaviest they had
+ever been out in, and one skipper stated that he had seen four vessels
+founder without being able to render assistance. Later news has not,
+however, verified this story.
+
+Some trawlers were reported during the week as missing from Brixham,
+but in course of time anxiety on their account was removed, and they
+either reached home or news of their safety was received from other
+ports to which they had run for shelter. Some Plymouth trawlers were
+also in difficulties, and it was feared that they had been wrecked, but
+in a few days their whereabouts was ascertained, and it was discovered
+that they had escaped with somewhat severe damage.
+
+Start Point was on Monday night and again on the succeeding Tuesday a
+scene of some heartrending disasters. Many vessels, including the iron
+steamer _Marana_, 1,682 tons register, belonging to Messrs. George Bell
+and Co. of Liverpool; and the full-rigged ship _Dryad_, 1,035 tons
+register, owned by J. B. Walmsley, of Water Street, Liverpool, were
+totally wrecked within a short distance of each other, resulting, it is
+calculated, in an aggregate loss of over fifty lives. The _Marana_ left
+Victoria Dock, London, at 11 A.M. on Sunday, March 1st, with a crew of
+twenty-eight. She was bound for Colombo with a cargo of sleepers, but
+was proceeding first to Swansea for coal. Whilst going down Channel
+on Monday night she encountered the gale which, charged with blinding
+snow, was blowing heavily from the S.E., and struck on the Blackstone
+Rock, at Start Point. Seeing that the vessel must go to pieces very
+shortly, the officers and crew took to the boats, most of them having
+life-belts on. The starboard lifeboat, in charge of the boatswain and
+with twenty-two men on board, proceeded in the direction of Prawle
+Point, and was almost immediately followed by a smaller boat in which
+were the captain, the chief engineer, the mess-room steward, and three
+seamen. The latter boat was soon separated from the lifeboat, and was
+never seen again. The lifeboat got under the coastguard station at
+Prawle, but the appearance of the coast was threatening, and the crew
+pushed off again. Almost immediately a sea struck the boat and capsized
+her. A bitter struggle for life on the part of the twenty immersed
+seamen succeeded, and those who had clung to the boat managed to get
+her righted, and clambered on board, but soon after she was again
+turned over. Once more she righted, and eventually drifted on to the
+Mal Rock to the east of Prawle Point, where the four occupants--all
+that remained of the crew of the vessel--contrived to get on to the
+rocks.
+
+After a while they climbed the cliff, three of them carrying the fourth
+survivor, who was suffering from exhaustion and injuries, and after
+heavy toil they managed to get near to Prawle. Here two of the men
+agreed to remain with the shipmate, who to all appearance was fast
+succumbing to exhaustion, while the other went into the village for
+help. The man, like his three surviving comrades, was a Swede, and
+consequently unable to make himself understood, but Mr. Perry, Lloyd's
+signalman at Prawle, and the coastguardsman on duty, supplied him with
+food and clothing, and then went to search for traces of the wreck
+which had clearly taken place not far off. It was not until long past
+midnight that the mates of the Swede were discovered, and then it was
+too late to save the exhausted man, who died almost immediately after
+their arrival. The remaining survivors were taken into Prawle, and
+under kind treatment soon recovered.
+
+Mrs. Briggs, wife of one of the lighthouse keepers at the Start, says
+that she was looking out of her window a little after half-past five
+o'clock on Monday evening, when she saw the steamer pass very close
+to the east side of Start Point as if she had come out from the bay.
+Seeing her great danger, and thinking it was impossible for her to
+clear the rocks running off from the Point, she hastened to another
+window, from which she had a view of the Blackstone Rocks. She then saw
+the steamer broadside on to the rocks. She at once gave an alarm to
+Mr. Jones, the head-keeper, who hurried out to give any assistance in
+his power, but within a very few minutes the vessel parted in two, the
+stern part sinking near the rocks, while the fore part washed away and
+sank a short distance to the west of the Start.
+
+Mr. Crickett, chief officer of Coastguards at Hallsands, has stated
+that he received intelligence of the casualty at 6·40 P.M. by a
+messenger sent by Mr. Jones, of the Start Lighthouse, who said the
+vessel had struck the rocks about 500 yards south-east of the Start.
+He immediately despatched a messenger to Prawle, a distance of nearly
+five miles, for the life-saving apparatus. Another messenger he sent
+to Torcross to Mr. Ridge, the chief officer of Coastguards there, and
+Mr. Crickett then proceeded to the scene of the wreck, but on arriving,
+nothing could be seen of the vessel, as she had totally disappeared,
+and she was supposed to have gone to pieces five minutes after she
+struck. The coastguard at Hallsands say that they saw the _Marana_
+fully an hour before she struck, and she was then near the Skerries
+Bank, off the Start, acting in such a manner that they considered her
+steering gear was out of order. They saw her come into the bay and
+afterwards go out again, and watched her very closely, but they thought
+she had gone clear of the Start until they heard otherwise from the
+lighthouse-keepers.
+
+John Nelson, one of the survivors, said in the course of his evidence
+at the inquest held on the first eight bodies recovered from the
+wreck:--"On Monday, 9th inst., I had tea at five o'clock, and went to
+my bunk. It was the first mate's watch. As I was turning into my bunk
+I heard someone shout out, 'Land right ahead.' It was blowing a bit
+stiff in the afternoon at three o'clock, and as the gale increased
+the canvas was taken in. The vessel struck almost immediately after I
+heard the shout, and the engines were going full-speed at the time. I
+came out and stood in the forecastle door. The captain was then on the
+bridge. The vessel struck first at the bow. When I came on deck she
+struck aft as well, knocking her propeller and rudder away. The captain
+then gave the order to get the starboard lifeboat ready for launching.
+All the three officers were on the bridge. The wind was blowing hard,
+and the waves were dashing all over the ship. It was daylight, but the
+Start light was lit. We could see the land plainly enough, although
+it was thick with heavy rain. There were two lifeboats, one on each
+side of the ship, and two smaller boats. We lowered the lifeboat and
+got into it, some 20 or 22 being in it, and got away from the ship on
+the starboard side. The boat was in charge of the boatswain, and the
+second and third engineers and the chief steward were in the boat. We
+left on board the captain, the three mates, the chief engineer, and the
+mess-room steward. Just as we were turning to get clear of the rocks,
+we looked at the ship, and saw the captain and the others leave in the
+other boat on the starboard side. They got safely away from the ship.
+After the vessel struck we hoisted a red pennant with a white ball as
+a signal of distress. When we got away it was getting dark, and we saw
+nothing of the other boat afterwards, but supposed they were following
+us. We pulled in shore to a kind of bay, but not thinking it safe to
+land, we went out of that. We could see nothing but rocks on our coming
+down, and in getting out of the bay our boat capsized. There was a
+very heavy sea running up against the rocks. We got hold of the keel
+of the boat, some twelve or fourteen of us that remained, and then the
+boat turned over again. After that only four or five of us remained
+sticking to the boat. We stuck to the boat until she broke up on the
+rocks. When I let go the boat I could feel the rocks with my feet, and
+I then walked on shore. There were four of us that came on shore, but
+I could see nothing of any others. When we got on shore we walked to a
+brake and got shelter. We had to help Rasmossen up, as he had no boots
+on. He was living half an hour before the coastguards found us, but we
+had been on shore a long time before they found us--about five or six
+hours."
+
+Many of the bodies of the unfortunate men were washed ashore within a
+few days, and not far from the spot where the vessel went down. All
+of them were not identified, as the survivors had joined the ship too
+recently to be acquainted with all the officers and crew.
+
+Another serious calamity in Start Bay occurred during Monday night,
+and not many hours later than the wreck of the _Marana_, when the
+ship _Dryad_, bound for Valparaiso, with a crew of 22 hands all
+told, went ashore about a mile to the eastward of Start Point. When
+the ship went on shore Mr. Hewett, with the life-saving apparatus,
+had left Hallsands for Prawle, from whence rumours of disaster had
+been brought, and he had got as far as Chevilstone Cross when he was
+overtaken by a mounted messenger despatched by the chief officer of
+the coastguard at Torcross, who desired him to return to the Start to
+the assistance of the _Dryad_. He got to the scene of the wreck at
+half-past two in the morning. By that time the vessel had broken up,
+all her masts having gone overboard, and but little of her could be
+discerned in the darkness. The place where she struck was right under
+the high land of the Start where the cliffs are very precipitous. With
+regard to this vessel, the coastguardsmen say that they saw no signals
+of distress whatever, and it has been considered probable that she was
+proceeding with a fair wind down Channel, and no land being visible in
+the snow-filled gloom of the night, those on board were unconscious of
+their proximity to the land until they found themselves on the rocks.
+In this case there was, perhaps, no time to show distress signals, and
+the ship may have been some time ashore before she was discovered by
+the coastguards.
+
+About midnight on the ninth, the storm was at its height, and all men
+of Start Bay agree that they never remember such a violent storm, the
+water of the bay being one mass of foam, it being almost impossible
+to look to the windward. Mr. Jones, the head keeper of the Star
+Lighthouse, says he was standing in the yard by his home a little after
+midnight, looking in the direction of the Bay, when he saw right under
+the headland, and close to the Start, what he considered to be a ship's
+lights. He called the other keepers, and as well as they were able they
+got down to the place where they saw the lights. It was at the risk of
+their lives that they went down the cliffs, and it was only by holding
+on to each other they were prevented from being blown away. When they
+got down they could not discover a vestige of anything, neither did
+they hear a cry of any sort. The coastguards at Hallsands also saw
+lights, and fired off a rocket and burned a blue light to warn the ship
+of her danger, but the vessel's lights were only seen a few minutes
+before they disappeared.
+
+In spite of all the efforts of those on shore no trace of a ship could
+be seen, and it was not until daybreak the next morning that a man
+was discovered lying on a low rock, known as John Hatherley's Nose,
+some 500 yards from the spot where the _Dryad_ ultimately proved to
+have struck. Help was at once sought for, and Mr. Briggs, one of the
+keepers, and Mr. Pollyblank, the coastguard, then returned to the rock
+with ropes. They threw the rope on to the rocks, which fell only about
+a foot away from the sailor. He saw it and then slid down, evidently
+with the intention to secure the rope, but he seemed to be afraid,
+and instead of slipping on the lower ledge of the rock where the rope
+was, he climbed on the top of the rock again, and laid himself flat on
+it on his face and hands. He then seemed to lose his hold, and slid
+down, holding on to the rocks for several seconds, when he fell head
+over heels, and was washed away and drowned. Those trying to rescue
+him, seeing how exhausted he was, had fetched a ladder to get to him,
+and Mr. Briggs fastened a rope to himself to swim out to him, but in
+the meantime he was washed away. He was a young man. Grave doubts
+were expressed as to what vessel he came from, for it seems almost
+impossible he could have got to the rocks from the _Dryad_; and there
+was some wreckage visible near the rocks that did not appear to have
+belonged to the _Dryad_. The coastguards at Hallsands said distinctly
+that the lights they saw were a steamer's lights, whilst there is no
+doubt that the lights the lighthouse-keepers saw were those of the
+_Dryad_. Only a piece of the bow of the _Dryad_ was discovered in the
+morning, but a large mass of broken wreckage was discovered along the
+coast, and tons of it were washed out to sea by the next tide. Eight
+bodies were recovered, and friends of those composing the crew of the
+_Dryad_ journeyed to Hallsands for the purpose of identifying their
+friends or relatives. There were no survivors, and consequently no
+details are known, but a statement has been made that the channel pilot
+had warned the captain that the ship's compass was two points out.
+
+Whilst Mr. Crickett and some of the coastguards under his charge at
+Hallsands were at the Start Point on the night of the 9th, trying
+to render assistance to the stranded steamship _Marana_, they saw a
+light in the bay, and they answered it by burning a blue light, and
+one of the coastguards was sent back to try and discover the place the
+light proceeded from. On the remainder of the coastguards returning
+to Hallsands shortly after, a light was seen near Beesands, and on
+reaching that place they found the schooner _Lunesdale_ stranded.
+Mr. Ridge, the chief officer of coastguards stationed at Torcross,
+had arrived with some of his men, and they, with the assistance of
+the Beesands fishermen, were trying to effect a communication with
+the vessel. The captain was in the fore starboard rigging, and the
+remainder of the crew, four in number, were in the starboard mizen
+rigging. All these men were thus on the weather side of the ship, and
+the captain not being so exposed from his position as the others,
+succeeded with the utmost difficulty in getting round to the other,
+or shore side of the vessel. A fisherman named Roper, of Beesands,
+then at the risk of his own life, made a desperate effort to save the
+captain. He got a line with a lead attached to it, and threw it close
+to the captain's feet, the latter succeeding, after a frantic effort,
+to fasten the line to a lifebuoy, and attached himself to it, and was
+then safely hauled on shore. The other seamen were not so successful
+in changing their positions, and in their endeavours they were washed
+away and drowned. All this time the seas were breaking right over the
+vessel. The coastguards and fishermen remained by the vessel for nearly
+an hour afterwards, shouting to see if they could get any response
+from the crew, but getting none, all hope of saving them was given up.
+When it was found that the Prawle life-saving apparatus, in charge
+of Mr. Hewett, could be of no service to the _Marana_, a message was
+left at Start farm for it to be brought on to Beesands to the help of
+the _Lunesdale_, but it arrived too late to be of any service. The
+_Lunesdale_ was a three-masted schooner of 141 tons register, owned by
+Messrs. James Fisher & Sons, of Barrow, and was bound from London to a
+Lancashire port.
+
+While efforts were being made at Beesands to save the crew of the
+_Lunesdale_, a schooner named _Lizzie Ellen_, 73 tons register, and
+belonging to Mr. Samuel Coppack, of Chester, with a cargo of clay from
+Charlestown for London, went on shore just opposite Hallsands. In spite
+of the tremendous force of the wind and the blinding spray and snow
+six fishermen, named T. Trout, George Stone, Robert Trout, James Lynn,
+William Mitchell, and John Patey, at the imminent peril of their lives,
+made a gallant effort to rescue the crew of the vessel, which consisted
+of four hands. With great difficulty, and by the aid of ropes, these
+men succeeded in lowering themselves to the bottom of the cliff. By
+throwing lines on board the schooner the mate and the third hand were
+saved, but the captain and the boy were lost. The captain, Robert Dood,
+urged the boy, who was crying bitterly, to jump over into the sea, with
+the chance of being drawn on shore, but he could not persuade him to
+take the leap. At length the captain jumped himself, but at the wrong
+time, and he was carried out by a receding wave. The boy, Frank Davis,
+also perished.
+
+For some time after this week of tempest, all along the coast from
+Prawle to the Start, could be seen broken wreckage. Such was the fury
+of the gale that everything seemed split to matchwood. It is supposed
+that other wrecks than those of which some knowledge has been obtained
+occurred on this eventful night. Mr. Crickett, a coastguardsman, picked
+up on the following Saturday a board bearing the words "Nymph of
+T----," it being broken off at the letter T, and it is conjectured that
+this may belong to one of the vessels referred to. A painful sequel
+to the wreck of the _Marana_ occurred on Wednesday, March 18th, nine
+days after the catastrophe. A molecatcher of Prawle found at about
+half-past eleven, in a field half a mile from a village named Furze
+Brake, and about a quarter of a mile from the sea, the body of a man.
+The corpse was lying flat upon its face, and was clothed in an oil-skin
+coat in addition to the ordinary kind of seaman's dress. A life-belt
+was lying close by, and the locality was not more than a hundred yards
+from the spot where the two survivors from the _Marana_ had been found
+supporting to the best of their power their dying comrade. Unknown to
+the other survivors this man must have succeeded in reaching the shore,
+but only to die. Undoubtedly he walked in search of help and shelter
+until he sank from exhaustion, and was covered with a fall of snow
+thick enough to screen his body from view until a thaw had set in.
+
+The inquests held on the bodies of those unfortunate seamen who lost
+their lives in the vicinity of the Start have had the effect of a
+communication being made to the Board of Trade as to the necessity
+of life-saving apparatus being placed at Hallsands. In the face of
+a hurricane of almost unprecedented force, many gallant and eager
+attempts were made to save life, but with only a very limited measure
+of success, owing as much to the want of suitable appliances as to the
+rugged character of the coast, and the merciless fury of the gale.
+
+Along the coast, in the neighbourhood of Falmouth, which from its
+exposed position was fully open to the strength of the blizzard, there
+were more disastrous wrecks, and here also the loss of life was great.
+The most serious calamity occurred at about half-past one on Tuesday
+morning, and was that which, at Penare Point, near Helford River,
+befell the four-masted steel ship _Bay of Panama_, of London, 2,282
+tons register. This vessel, owned by the Bullock's Bay Line, was from
+Calcutta, with a cargo of 17,000 bales of jute for Dundee. The captain,
+David Wright, of Liverpool, his wife, all but one of the six officers,
+four apprentices, and six of the crew, were either frozen to death in
+the rigging or drowned. This made a loss of eighteen lives out of a
+company of about forty all told.
+
+At the village of St. Keverne, not far from Penare Point, it became
+known at about noon on Tuesday that a wreck had occurred at the mouth
+of the Helford River, and from there the first news of what had
+occurred was conveyed into Falmouth, with great courage, and in the
+face of tremendous difficulties, by Mr. J. H. James, of Old Vicarage,
+St. Keverne. At one o'clock, Mr. James started on his pony for Helston
+in the midst of a terrible snowstorm. His intention was to telegraph to
+Falmouth, but all the wires were down, and communication was impossible
+except on foot. This he undertook, and by dauntless perseverance at
+length accomplished; but his experiences during the journey are among
+the most thrilling personal incidents connected with the gale. After
+proceeding for about two miles, he could only get along by crawling on
+his hands and knees through the snow, and his face had become coated
+with snow, and icicles hung from his ears. He at last found shelter
+at a wayside cottage, and at daybreak next morning again set out,
+reaching Falmouth at 9 o'clock, and giving information to Messrs. Broad
+and Sons, who sent out steamers to the scene of the wreck. The _Bay
+of Panama_ was discovered with her head to the north, broadside on to
+the sea, and jammed under the Nare Head, close against the cliff. Her
+mainmast was gone, and the sea was making clean breaches right over her.
+
+Fortunately for the survivors clinging to the stranded ship, before Mr.
+James had started on his adventurous journey to Falmouth, on Tuesday
+morning, the rocket apparatus, in charge of the coastguard, who were
+aroused by Mr. Nicholls, of Penare, had reached the scene from Helford.
+The first rocket fired threw a line right over the ship, and within
+fifteen minutes the whole of the survivors were safely on shore.
+Chief boatman Fisher, of the coastguard, went on board the vessel
+after the hands taken off to see if any one was left alive, but his
+self-sacrifice was without result. Accounts of survivors, including
+those of Mr. Fred Evans, boatswain's mate, Mr. Charles Higgins,
+quartermaster, and Mr. Beresford, apprentice, relate that the _Bay of
+Panama_ was 111 days from Calcutta when she struck. There had been
+forty-two days of severe weather before reaching the western end of
+the English Channel, and here severe snowstorms and heavy squalls were
+encountered. At half-past eleven on Sunday night they sighted a light,
+and being in a position of danger they burned several blue lights, the
+captain thinking the light came from a steamer. The vessel was now
+drifting to leeward without a stitch of canvas on her, and the captain
+soon expressed the opinion that they were to leeward of the Lizard and
+clear of all land. At half-past twelve the watch went below, put on
+some clean clothes, and got into their bunks. The captain remained on
+deck, his wife being in her cabin.
+
+Within an hour from this time the ship struck and began rapidly to
+fill. Most of those who had been below went forward, though the
+forecastle had been burst in, and was flooded. Seas were breaking
+over the vessel, and nearly all the officers were early swept away.
+The second officer went to fetch a rocket, and was never seen again.
+Attempts were made to get a line on shore, and one seaman is said
+to have volunteered to swim the distance, but the former was found
+impracticable, and in the latter case the other seamen held their
+comrade back. Some of the crew took refuge in the rigging, and at
+daybreak the second quartermaster died there, the mate died an hour
+after, and the boatswain, in a state of delirium, jumped from the
+mizzen-top into the sea and was drowned. Just before six o'clock in the
+morning, the after-end of the ship broke in two, the mainmast having
+previously fallen. It is said that, at the time the rescuing party
+arrived on the scene, six men were frozen in the rigging. The survivors
+were taken to St. Keverne Farm, which they reached at half-past ten
+on Tuesday morning, and where they were kindly treated. They remained
+there until four in the afternoon, when they were conveyed to Gweek
+in a 'bus. From here it was absolutely necessary for them to walk to
+Falmouth through the snow, and as many of them were thinly clad,
+and had no boots, their trials were not over until Falmouth was
+reached, where Messrs. Jewell and Burton, and Mr. and Mrs. Weir, of
+the Royal Cornwall Sailors' Home, treated them with all the kindness
+and attention they so much needed. Most of the bodies from the _Bay of
+Panama_ were recovered, that of the Captain's wife having been found
+lying on the shore early on the morning of the wreck.
+
+Though this was the most serious wreck near Falmouth, it was far from
+being the only one. Reports of wrecks and loss of life continued to be
+received for many days following the beginning of the gale on Monday.
+Near Porthoustock, on Monday night, the sloop _Dove_, of Topsham, was
+lost, but in this case the crew were saved. The _Dove_ left Exmouth
+Bight on March 8th, arriving at Plymouth Breakwater early on Monday
+morning. Just after daybreak, in company with several other vessels,
+she left for Falmouth. There was a strong wind blowing, which, as time
+went on, increased with much violence, and was followed by a blinding
+snowstorm. The captain and mate of the _Dove_, who were both at the
+helm, could, they said afterwards, scarcely see their hands before
+them. At about three o'clock in the afternoon the vessel was near the
+Manacle Rocks, and off Porthoustock Cove, and here, while in a most
+critical situation, the tremendous sea lifted the little craft clean
+over the rocks, and she was washed up on the beach. The skipper threw
+his little boy overboard, he and his mate following in the same way,
+and all were rescued by those persons on shore. Near the same spot, the
+ketch _Aquilon_, of Jersey, and the ketch _Edwin_, were reported lost
+with all hands.
+
+The steamer _Stannington_, from Newport to Exeter with a cargo of
+potatoes, broke her shaft on Monday off the Longships, and was towed
+into Falmouth on Wednesday afternoon. The barque _Frith_, of Lorne, 333
+tons, from Hamburg to Glasgow, in ballast, was in a critical condition
+on Tuesday, about ten miles south of the Lizard. She slipped from the
+tug towing her, and was on her beam ends, and fast making water, when
+she was picked up by the S.S. _Anglesea_, of Liverpool, and towed into
+Falmouth. A German steamer, the _Carl Hirschberg_, from Hamburg to
+Cardiff in ballast, drove ashore at Portscatho. The schooner _Agnes and
+Helen_, of Beaumaris, went ashore on Tuesday morning in Bream Bay. A
+steamship named the _Dundela_, from St. Michael for Hull, with fruit,
+was totally wrecked at Portloe, near Falmouth, on Monday night. All the
+crew, except a boy named Taylor, who was lost, were brought ashore over
+the rocks by the aid of the fishermen and coastguard, who contrived
+to get a line from the shore to the vessel. The brig _Crusader_, of
+Aberystwith, from Carnarvon, with slate for Hamburg, was abandoned
+at one o'clock on Tuesday off Trevose Head, with seven feet of water
+in her hold. The _Crusader_ left Carnarvon at nine o'clock on Monday
+morning, in fine weather. It remained fine up to six o'clock the same
+evening, when severe weather was encountered. At nine o'clock, off the
+Bishop, it was blowing a gale, and the brig was fast making water.
+The pumps were kept going until one o'clock on Tuesday afternoon,
+when it was found impossible to keep the water under. The brig was
+therefore abandoned, having seven feet of water in her hold. The
+captain and crew, seven all told, took to the boat, in which they were
+tossed about for nineteen hours, enduring great privation. The weather
+was bitterly cold, and the men were almost frozen. One of the crew,
+Thomas Owen, succumbed to his sufferings at four o'clock on Wednesday
+morning. "Another two hours in the boat," remarked Captain Williams,
+"and we should have all perished." To keep the boat from being swamped,
+she rode with sea-anchor out, and everything was thrown overboard,
+including spare clothes. At eight o'clock on Wednesday morning, when
+thoroughly exhausted, they were fortunately picked up by the fishing
+smack _Gertrude_, about thirty miles off the land, and arrived at
+Falmouth on the same day. The crew were received at the Sailors' Home.
+
+The crew of the Netherlands barque _Magellan_ were taken into Falmouth
+on the evening of Sunday, March 16th, the vessel having foundered on
+the previous Thursday in the Channel, in lat. 47·48 N., long. 6·53 W.
+
+A large number of minor accidents at sea occurred on this part of the
+coast, and while the Channel outside contained numerous traces of
+floating wreckage, disabled vessels of all descriptions were either
+being towed or making their way into Falmouth. Rumours of missing
+vessels were being continually received, and the time was one of great
+anxiety. All the help that could be given was needed for those who
+had escaped with their lives, and others who were known to be still
+at sea, probably in situations of peril, and this assistance was very
+willingly afforded. Most efficient and welcome aid was rendered by the
+local Branch of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Aid Society to the distressed
+crews. The captain and crew of the _Crusader_ (six men), the crew of
+the _Agnes and Helen_, the crew of the _Dungella_ (eleven men), and
+the survivors of the crew of the _Bay of Panama_ (sixteen men) were
+provided with free railway passes to their several homes, and each man
+supplied with food for the journey, by the hon. agent of the society at
+that port (Mr. F. H. Earle), who also boarded, lodged, and otherwise
+provided for the crews of the two first-named vessels, the men being
+more or less destitute. The homes of the men were Bangor, Aberystwith,
+and other places in Wales, and London, Liverpool, Hull, and Great
+Yarmouth. At a public meeting held in the public hall on Tuesday
+evening, many promises for subscriptions towards a fund in aid of the
+boatmen were received.
+
+Some dissatisfaction was expressed that during the wrecks at
+Porthoustock and Porthalla, on March 9th, when about thirty lives
+were lost, no life-boat had been launched, and the National Lifeboat
+Institution sent to St. Keverne, about a fortnight after the
+occurrence, Commander Biddors, R.N., who made inquiries into the
+matter. It appeared on investigation that some of the life-boat crew
+did not readily respond to the call signals, their explanation being
+that they did not hear or see them. When they arrived at the life-boat
+station the storm had increased, and it was dangerous to put to sea.
+A proposal for the provision of a smaller life-boat, requiring fewer
+oars, has been submitted to the life-boat committee.
+
+Off Scilly, several accidents occurred, but they were neither so
+numerous nor attended with the same fatal results as those on the
+coast further east. The ketch _Aunt_, Bude, was taken into Plymouth
+in a disabled condition, and with only two of the crew that remained
+severely ill from frostbites. On Saturday morning, 14th March, when
+in latitude 7·20 W., and longitude 48·7 W., about 233 miles S.SW. of
+Scilly, the _Astrea_, Captain Burton, sighted the _Aunt_ some miles off
+with her sails down and flying a signal of distress. She bore down upon
+her, and Captain Burton sent alongside a boat's crew, who found the
+captain, H. Hines, and a sailor named Jewett wrapped in the mainsail
+in a shocking state, and scarcely able to speak. Their hands and legs
+were also so much swollen from frostbites and exposure that they could
+not handle anything or lift themselves up or stand. Brandy and medicine
+were administered to them, and after a time they sufficiently recovered
+to be able to inform their rescuers that the _Aunt_ was ten days out
+from Sandersfoot with coals. Four days before a lad named Stapleton had
+died from exposure, and his body was thrown overboard.
+
+A serious collision, resulting in the loss of twenty-two lives,
+happened during the week of the gale about 140 miles south-west of
+Scilly, at 9 o'clock on the evening of Friday the 13th March. Two
+vessels, the _Roxburg Castle_, of Newcastle, a steamship of 1,222 tons
+register, and the _British Peer_, ship, 1428 tons, came into collision
+just as the gale that had been blowing all the week was moderating, and
+the steamer was struck with considerable force by the _British Peer_
+a little abaft the funnel. She was almost cut in two, and filled so
+rapidly that in about ten minutes she sank, losing twenty-two out of a
+total of twenty-four hands. As a further result of the collision, the
+_British Peer_ had her bows stove in, and carried away her bowsprit,
+jibboom, and head gear. The forward bulkhead held good, and kept the
+vessel afloat. After the collision nothing could be done to save the
+lives of the crew of the _Roxburg Castle_, although their piteous cries
+for help were plainly heard on the _British Peer_. Captain Tyrer, a
+splendid swimmer, whilst in the water combated the waves, took his
+clothes off in the water, and was picked up by the _British Peer_, as
+was also one of the seamen, an A.B. The drowned men are reported to
+be principally from Newport. After the _Roxburg Castle_ had sunk, the
+_British Peer_ was fallen in with, about ninety miles south-west of the
+Wolf Rock, by the steamship _Morglay_, of Southampton, Captain Hughes,
+from Cardiff to Marseilles, and towed to off the Manacles, where she
+was transferred to the tug _Triton_, and taken into Falmouth harbour.
+Captain Tyrer was very much knocked about during his swim to the
+_British Peer_.
+
+The Hamburg American Company's steamship _Suevia_, 2,440 tons, had a
+narrow escape in the Channel on Monday night. The _Suevia_ passed the
+Lizard on Monday morning, and there were then evident indications of
+a coming storm. At 11 A.M. the wind began to blow heavily from the
+north-east, and at 2·30 P.M. it raged with hurricane fury, accompanied
+by a blinding snowstorm. The seas ran very high, and the ship laboured
+heavily. At about three o'clock, when eight miles east of the Start
+Point, the engineer reported that the lower pressure piston rod had
+given out, and that in consequence the machinery was disabled. An
+endeavour was then made to work the other engine, but unsuccessfully,
+and sail was then put on the vessel. By this means she was prevented
+from driving ashore during the terrific squalls that were blowing
+dead on the land. After a night and day of great danger, a schooner
+was sighted on Tuesday afternoon, which the captain of the _Suevia_
+considered went down in one of the squalls. On Wednesday the steamer
+_Acme_ was fallen in with, and on her the chief officer proceeded
+to Falmouth for assistance. During Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday,
+efforts were made to repair the machinery, and these meeting at last
+with some success, by early on Friday the vessel was headed up channel,
+and proceeded at a slow pace until the Eddystone was sighted. The
+passengers of the _Suevia_ were landed at Plymouth, from whence they
+were sent on to Hamburg. The distance the _Suevia_ drifted from the
+scene of the accident until Friday at noon was 125 miles, and it was
+very fortunate that they were able to keep clear of the coast. Steamers
+from Plymouth, London, and Falmouth, the latter with the officer of the
+_Suevia_ who had gone on shore for help, were looking for the vessel,
+but happily their services were not required. But for the excellent
+seamanship and mechanical skill of those on board, another dreadful
+calamity would doubtless have been added to the long list already
+recorded.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+IN TOWN AND COUNTRY.
+
+
+ASHBURTON.--Enormous drifts fell at Ashburton during the blizzard,
+and most of the roads were completely blocked. At Holne Turn, half a
+mile from the town, there was an enormous drift a quarter of a mile in
+extent, and varying in height from eight to twenty feet. Railway and
+postal arrangements were pretty well adjusted by the end of the week,
+and business began to proceed as usual. There were some serious losses
+of stock by farmers in the neighbourhood, and apple-orchards were
+greatly injured. Masses of snow lodged in the branches of the trees,
+and broke them down, many of the younger trees having every branch
+broken off close to the stump. In sheltered valleys the drifts of snow
+were so great that scarcely a tree escaped injury. Bakers who supplied
+country residents were unable to go out to them with their supplies.
+
+BARNSTAPLE.--The chief town of North Devon had a very harsh experience.
+Traffic was for some time suspended, but the inconvenience in this
+respect was not nearly so great as in the south of Devon and in
+Cornwall. In the districts around Barnstaple there were very heavy
+losses of sheep and lambs. Farmers near Morthoe were particularly
+unfortunate, nearly two hundred sheep and lambs belonging to them
+having perished. Through roads and railways being blocked the markets
+were greatly interfered with, and this, besides cutting off from many
+of the country people their weekly supplies, was a great loss to the
+tradespeople of the town.
+
+BIDEFORD, which has already been referred to, did not suffer so
+severely as many other North Devon towns. Railway communication with
+Ilfracombe was entirely suspended throughout Tuesday, the 10th, but
+as the weather moderated the line was cleared without any very great
+amount of inconvenience having been experienced.
+
+BODMIN.--In this important western town there was an almost entire
+cessation of traffic from Monday afternoon until the closing days of
+the week. The telegraphic and train services were suspended, causing
+the usual amount of loss and distress. Business on the Tuesday was
+entirely suspended, snow falling heavily all day, and a large quantity
+of snow in the street stopped all vehicular traffic. The drifts were so
+high that residents who had driven from the town on Monday could not
+return, and great anxiety was naturally felt for their safety. It was
+found on the following day, however, that in all cases, the travellers
+were safe. Not infrequently they had been obliged to take the horses
+out of their vehicles, leave traps or carriages in the roads--often
+under the snow--and seek shelter in the nearest farm-house. There were
+very serious losses of sheep in this district. Among others, losses
+of this description were sustained by Mr. Rowse, of Llancarpe, Mr.
+Glanville, of Pen Bugle, and Mr. G. Spear, of Bodmin. Many sheep were
+rescued, but only after great difficulty. On Thursday night there was
+again a heavy snowstorm, accompanied by a gale of wind, but it was
+neither so severe nor of such long duration as the blizzard of Monday
+and Tuesday.
+
+BRENT.--This moorland town has grown famous through the snowing up at
+its gates of the "Zulu" express, from London, on the memorable Monday
+night. Snow fell there from Monday afternoon to Wednesday morning. A
+snow-plough with three engines arrived from Newton Abbott on Thursday
+morning, but for some time it was not very effective, the snow being
+so high on either side of the line that as soon as the way was fairly
+clear the banks in the rear of the plough toppled over, and the line
+was once more blocked. The depth of the snow in the town was so great
+as to be frequently above the windows and doors of the houses. A road
+cutting scene was photographed at the time by Mr. Rowe, of Devonport,
+to whom we are indebted for the view. The loss of cattle here was very
+great, nearly every farmer having suffered. A large number of cattle,
+sheep and ponies in the possession of residents of the neighbourhood
+grazed upon the adjacent moor, and many of the former, at all events,
+perished. Mr. Linerdon, of Yelland, lost cattle to the value of over
+£100; Mr. Pinney, of Diptfort, dug out 100 sheep from the snow; while
+Mr. Heath, of Brent Mills, Mr. Vooght, of Lutton, and Mr. S. Northmore
+were heavy losers. Mr. Luscombe, of Hall, Harford, had on the moor
+600 Scotch cattle and 1,200 sheep, a large proportion of which he
+has not yet recovered. Mr. J. Smerdon, of Brent, and Mr. Hurrell,
+of Bradridge, lost sheep; and Miss Maunder, Mr. B. Hingston, and Mr.
+J. Hard lost ponies. Until Saturday the residents of Binnicknowle,
+a village about two miles from Brent, and largely dependent upon it
+for supplies of food, were unable to obtain provisions. On that day,
+however, a party of labourers succeeded in cutting a footway and thus
+communication was opened up.
+
+[Illustration: CUTTING A ROAD AT BRENT.]
+
+BRIXHAM.--This historic fishing town, which has before now witnessed
+some dreadful instances of the disaster to life and property that
+furious gales with blinding snowstorms can bring about, was not on the
+occasion of the blizzard of 1891 allowed to pass off very lightly.
+There was no loss of life, but some rather serious injuries happened
+to the trawlers at their moorings. At daylight on Tuesday it was seen
+that many of these had fouled each other, by dragging their anchors.
+In the inner harbour most of the craft had broken adrift, running
+against the quays and other places, and doing themselves all kinds of
+damage. One trawler, named the _Alice_, which broke adrift at high
+tide, was carried up to the head of the harbour with her bowsprit eight
+feet in over the Strand, close alongside the Prince of Orange statue.
+About 200 feet of the breakwater was washed away, and its pedestal was
+lost. Timber in large quantities was washed away from the yards of the
+principal shipbuilders, and in addition to the wreck of the French
+brig, and others before mentioned, a boat was driven on the rocks at
+Fishcombe, and the Seamen's Orphan Home lifeboat went ashore, and was
+badly knocked about. In the town many houses were unroofed, and slates
+flew about, serious damage being also done to a wall and embankment in
+Higher Street. Large quantities of glass-roofing were smashed in, and a
+good deal of glass was destroyed at Newmarket Hall. Many farmers lost
+sheep and lambs in the snow-drifts.
+
+BUDE.--The outside world and Bude were not so thoroughly estranged
+during the days succeeding the storm as was the case in some other
+instances, telegraphic communication remaining unbroken. All the other
+inconveniences of the blizzard--absence of mails, presence of immense
+drifts of snow, and similar discomforts--were freely experienced. There
+was an anxious time among the shipping interest in the port, many of
+the coasting vessels being at sea at the time the hurricane was raging.
+These vessels did not all escape without calamity, but, on the whole,
+the damage wrought to the shipping of Bude was not great.
+
+CALSTOCK.--The mining town of Calstock received some rough treatment
+during the Monday and Tuesday of the storm, and damage was here and
+there done to house property, but as far as the town was concerned it
+may be safely said to have escaped marvellously well. Bearing in mind
+its exposed position on the river bank, and the many tall chimneys
+that rear their heads from the hillside, it is singular that no smash
+of any magnitude has to be recorded. This is all the more remarkable
+when the tremendous destruction that occurred in the district, and even
+close to the town, is considered. On the opposite side of the river,
+the tracks leading through the woods to Buralston Station were rendered
+nearly impassable by the number of trees that fell, and the whole wood
+through which the path runs was a complete wreck. Mr. James, at the
+Passage Inn, from which the ferry leaves to cross to Calstock, was
+very unfortunate, his loss being a severe one. In addition to great
+damage to his rose-trees, for which his house has for many years been
+famous, the well-known blossom-covered wicker bower, standing to the
+left of the house, was blown bodily away into the orchard, and almost
+simultaneously his cherry and apple trees began to fall. Of these he
+lost fifty-six.
+
+One curious incident happened at the grounds of Mr. James, in the
+apparently narrow escape of a couple of geese. The geese were sitting
+behind a barn, with twenty-two eggs under them. During the storm of
+Monday, the barn having been badly knocked about, and the whole
+orchard in a state of wreck, the fate of the geese was not held in
+much doubt, and the depth of the snow in the place making salvage
+operations very difficult, their place of concealment was not reached
+until Thursday after the storm. The snow being cleared from the back
+of the barn, however, the geese were found still sitting in the same
+position as that in which they had last been seen. With the exception
+that they had evidently worked their heads about, keeping the cavities
+large enough to give them breathing room, it was quite clear that they
+had not attempted to move. Warm food and hay were at once given to
+them, and they were made as comfortable as possible, and in due course,
+eleven goslings were hatched from the twenty-two eggs upon which the
+parent geese had sat through such a trying time. The young geese are
+now as sturdy as could be desired, and Mr. James is naturally very
+proud of them for having seen the light in spite of such difficulties.
+The mother geese will also, in all probability, be preserved as
+curiosities for some time to come.
+
+On the other side of the river a shed belonging to Mr. Goss's
+shipbuilding yards was blown down, and cattle-sheds were unroofed and
+carried great distances by the force of the gale. At Danescombe Bottom,
+at the foot of Kelly Rock, an iron schooner, the _Naïad_, 250 tons,
+owned by Captain Samuels of Calstock, was blown over on her beam ends.
+The river banks, against which the masts of the vessel struck, only
+prevented her being turned completely over. After considerable labour
+she was righted, but was found to have sustained some damage. At the
+Rumleigh Brick-works, and at the yards of Mr. Roskelly, builder, of
+Albaston, much injury was occasioned. The mineral and goods line, the
+property of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway Company, running from
+Calstock to Kelly Bray, near Callington was blocked with a drift of
+snow some eight feet deep, and work was stopped for two days. At the
+end of that time it was cleared by a gang of the company's own men
+acting under the direction of Captain W. Sowden. On the same property
+about fifty yards of fencing were completely levelled. Honeycomb House,
+about two miles from Calstock, was damaged to the extent of about £100;
+Mr. Gill, of Tray Hill, lost over 100 apple trees, and Mr. German 250
+fruit trees. The heaviest damage to trees was at Cotehele Woods, the
+property of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, and overlooking Calstock, which
+would appear to have received the full fury of the blast. The terrible
+night passed here, and the extent of the destruction to timber, will be
+found dealt with at length in the chapter on Parks and Forests.
+
+CAMBORNE.--The change at Camborne would appear to have been an
+unusually startling one, since a few days before Monday, butterflies
+were to be seen flying about. Snow commenced to fall in the district
+at two o'clock on Monday afternoon, and this soon developed into the
+blizzard. The storm is described as the greatest and the most severe
+known by the oldest residents in the parish. The telegraph wires were
+blown down, and, lying across the streets, threw several horses down.
+The houses were so covered with snow as to be almost unrecognizable,
+and in many places the drifts were over six feet deep. Ornamental,
+and other trees in the town were completely spoiled, and traffic was
+suspended. Anxiety was at one time felt in the town for the safety of
+four young girls, dressmakers, of Beacon village, who left the town
+on the Monday evening, but it was afterwards learned that they were
+all in safety. In Burse-road and Pendarmes-road the shrubs and trees
+were broken down, and lay overhanging and obstructing the footpaths.
+Passages had to be cut to get to the houses, half as high as the houses
+themselves. A 'bus running between Camborne and Truro was snowed up
+near Pool, and left in the road; and near it was an abandoned organ,
+the peripatetic performer on which had been unable to bear it with him
+to a place of safety.
+
+At a village about a mile and a half from Camborne drifts of snow were
+observed thirty feet deep. In the town the Board schools were closed
+for the week. All communication with surrounding towns was, as a matter
+of course, cut off for several days. At Beacon and Troon, adjoining
+villages, people were taken from their bedroom windows by means of
+ladders; and in one case, at a funeral, the coffin had to be slid down
+over a snowdrift. At Breage a woman was found dead in the snow. Farmers
+were busy in every direction rescuing their cattle and sheep from the
+exposed positions, but the losses in the neighbourhood were very great,
+hundreds of sheep being buried. Among others who suffered in this way
+were Mr. Carter, of Troon, who lost nearly twenty sheep and lambs; Mr.
+Hickens, of Tregear; Mr. Glasson, of Crowan; Mr. Josiah Thomas, of
+Roskear, Tuckingmill; and Mr. P. Thomas, of Camborne. Several donkies
+and ponies in the district perished. The little villages of Penponds,
+Kehelland, and Pengegon, presented a wretched appearance, and at
+Penponds especially it was impossible to distinguish any hedges. Mr. E.
+Rogers, who had undertaken to carry out some funeral arrangements at
+this village, was obliged to take the coffin over hedges and ditches
+in order to get it to the house. At Pengegon, where the water-supply
+is solely obtained from wells and springs, it was found necessary to
+use melted snow for domestic purposes. The old thatched farmhouse of
+Pengegon, on the Wednesday, when the sun shone, presented a strikingly
+beautiful appearance, and was a prominent feature of the landscape.
+
+The village of Treslothan also shared the effect of the storm. Trees
+were damaged and blown down in large numbers, and even as late as
+Good Friday snow nearly a foot deep lay on some of the paths. A large
+amount of damage was also done to trees and shrubs at Reskadirmick,
+the abode of Captain W. C. Vivian, the beautiful carriage drive to
+the house being terribly disfigured. At the factories and mines
+business operations were, for some time, entirely suspended, and it is
+calculated that during the week quite a thousand persons of both sexes
+were enforcedly idle. Work might have gone on at the factories, but
+in many cases the operatives were unable to leave their homes. At the
+mines there was great anxiety, it being feared that the engines would
+stop for want of coals. Passages were, however, in time cut through,
+and not more than two or three engines actually ceased working.
+Cuttings were made from the railway station to South Condurrow and
+Wheal Grenville mines, a distance of more than a mile. So urgent was
+the need for coal at West Seaton mine on Saturday, the 14th, that forty
+miners were sent to help the labourers from Portreath to make a road
+from the railway to the mine. The Wheal Grenville and Newton mines
+were stopped for want of coal for some days. At Dolcoath, however,
+considerable difficulty was experienced on the floors in getting a
+sufficient supply of water to work the stamps, owing to the leats
+being blocked. At the fire stamps, in particular, both engines for a
+time ceased work, and operations were not again renewed until late on
+Tuesday afternoon. The openworks suffered considerably, as it took
+nearly the whole of the week to clear away the snow from the frames
+and huddles. The miners themselves were greatly inconvenienced owing
+to some of their homes being situated at a distance from the mines,
+and their being unable to get to their work; while many who had been
+working underground during the afternoon, found, on coming to the
+surface, that they could not reach their residences. At Crowan, the Rev.
+H. Molesworth St. Aubyn, organized and worked hard with a body of men
+to help in opening up communication with Camborne.
+
+CAMELFORD.--At this place experience, for almost the entire week, was
+very bitter. The residents were absolutely shut in from Monday to
+Friday. The last sign of the outer world was when the North Cornwall
+Coach, notwithstanding the snow already accumulated on the moors,
+passed through on its way from Launceston to Wadebridge. The market
+on Thursday was a dead failure, no live stock being obtainable, and
+carcases very scarce. There were many narrow escapes met with, but no
+actual loss of life occurred. As the week passed away provisions became
+very scarce, and there was a growing alarm. On Friday, however, four
+persons on horseback, unrecognizable from the quantity of snow that
+covered them, entered the town in single file. The party consisted of
+Mr. George Martyn, late of Trewen, Manager of the North Cornwall Coach
+Company, Mr. Hicks, one of the clerks at Wadebridge, and the coachman
+and guard of the coach which had gone through on Monday. The party,
+who brought with them a very welcome copy of the _Western Morning
+News_, held an interview with Mr. Evelyn, the Town Clerk of Camelford,
+and subsequently, under the direction of the road-surveyor, a body of
+men was organized to cut through the three miles of snow-covered road
+between Camelford and Wadebridge, for the purpose of opening up a means
+of obtaining provisions from the latter place. This was ultimately
+accomplished, and by Tuesday, March 17th, the North Cornwall Coach was
+once more able to run to Launceston, and the Mail, from Camelford to
+Boscastle, also ran. Hundreds of sheep were lost, the drifts of snow
+being so high that much time was lost in getting at those that were
+buried beneath, and they were taken out dead in large numbers. Mr.
+Pethick, Mr. Inch, Mr. Lobb, and Mr. Greenwood, in addition to many
+farmers, suffered severely in this respect.
+
+CARGREEN.--At this riverside village, situated on the banks of the
+Tamar, the gale of Monday and Tuesday caused great havoc among the
+fruit-trees. Mr. E. Elliott, of Landulph, lost about three hundred
+apple-trees, many of which had been planted by himself thirty years
+before.
+
+DARTMOUTH.--At Dartmouth the storm was severe, and all telegraphic
+communication was cut off during the week of the gale, but by the
+following Sunday a staff of telegraphic engineers had restored
+communication with Exeter by a single wire, and also with Brixham. On
+one night during the week a wall gave way at the Castle churchyard and
+fell on to the rocks beneath, carrying with it several tombstones, and
+disturbing the coffins in the graves. At the market on Friday morning
+buyers arrived in the town by train, from all parts, for the purpose
+of buying provisions, but their journey was fruitless, as the farmers
+had not been able to get into the town, the roads being impassable for
+vehicles. Railway traffic was only partially suspended, but the first
+through communication to Kingsbridge was not effected until Monday the
+16th, when Mr. Sanders, driver of the Dartmouth coach, managed, with
+the assistance of Mr. Cross, of Strete, Mr. Watson, of Chillington, and
+a number of volunteers, to get a conveyance through from Dartmouth.
+They had to cut their way through about two miles of snowdrifts, which
+in many places, were upwards of six feet deep. When Mr. Sanders and his
+party got to Frogmore they invited the co-operation of the villagers,
+offering money and beer for help. This, however, was declined, but
+the party arrived in Kingsbridge shortly before three o'clock, about
+two hours later than the usual time of the arrival of the Dartmouth
+coach. Messrs. Cross and Watson rendered admirable service. The only
+papers delivered between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge since Monday the
+9th, were the copies of the _Western Morning News_ and _Western Daily
+Mercury_ distributed by Sanders along the line of route on Thursday
+and Saturday. Among other damage enormous destruction was done to the
+plantation at Blackpool, almost the whole of the young trees being
+spoiled.
+
+DAWLISH.--During the progress of the storm at Dawlish on Tuesday,
+the Ladies' Bathing Pavilion, which stood on the beach in front of
+the Marine Parade, was carried away by the sea, and almost entirely
+destroyed. The pavilion was erected by a limited liability company in
+1880, and the annual income accruing from it had reached between £70
+and £80. The fishermen and others of this attractive watering-place
+sustained great losses by the destruction of fishing and pleasure
+boats. At the Coastguard Station the boathouse was partially unroofed,
+and large blocks of granite were hurled a great distance. As on
+Plymouth Hoe, the iron seats on the sea-wall were rolled over and
+broken. Houses in various parts of the town lost chimney-tops and
+slates, and some large trees, standing in the grounds of the Manor
+House, were stripped of their branches. At Dawlish Water, a cow,
+belonging to Mr. Dufty, was killed by a falling tree. Discomfort was
+experienced by the few passengers who travelled from Exeter to Dawlish
+on the night of Tuesday, by the train which should have reached the
+latter town by about eight o'clock. On reaching the boathouse, near
+Powderham Castle, a block in the shape of a snow-drift was encountered,
+and the passengers made for a hut which was found not far off, and
+a fire being got alight, they remained there until five o'clock on
+Wednesday morning, when a relief engine and snow-plough, with a
+carriage, arriving, they were conveyed to their destination.
+
+ERMINGTON.--Roads everywhere here were completely blocked for a week,
+and neither supplies of provisions, letters, nor newspapers were
+received. The farmers were great sufferers, scores of sheep having
+been buried in the snow, which in some places was fifteen feet deep.
+The work of digging out the sheep commenced during the bright weather
+of Wednesday, when many ewes were found to be dead, the lambs, in some
+cases, being found alive by the side of the dead mothers. Instances
+were met with as late as Saturday where sheep got out of the snow fresh
+and vigorous, after having been buried since the Monday. At Kingston,
+near Ermington, nearly thirty sheep belonging to one farm were blown
+into the sea, and from Ringmore, another village in the same district,
+350 sheep were lost.
+
+EXETER.--In addition to the interference with railway traffic, and the
+collapse of telegraphic communication between the capital of the county
+and the other portions of Devon and of Cornwall that has been already
+briefly described, great inconveniences were experienced in the city
+and all the surrounding villages through the violence of the wind and
+the depth of the drifts of snow. Several accidents to house property,
+in the way of falling chimneys and walls, occurred, but nothing of
+a particularly serious nature was heard of. Business was partially
+suspended, and the streets were almost entirely deserted. Great
+interest was felt in connection with the railway blocks further west,
+and various exciting rumours were circulated from time to time, many
+of them being, fortunately, without foundation.
+
+EXMOUTH.--In the outlying districts in the neighbourhood of Exmouth,
+a peculiarity in connection with the late blizzard that also struck
+observers in many other parts of Devon and Cornwall, was very
+noticeable. This singularity was that localities, commonly regarded
+as the most sheltered, suffered most severely. In such situations the
+drifts became impassable, and the cottagers were without fresh supplies
+of provisions until footways were cleared across fields. The narrow
+lanes were filled with snow. Near the Littleham Church the drift was
+so deep, that a tunnel was made sufficiently wide and high for carts
+to pass through. At one part of the road leading from Lympstone to
+Withycombe, a lane had to be cut for a considerable distance, the drift
+being five or six feet deep. By the end of the week the Exmouth streets
+were all clear, and business was going on much as usual.
+
+FALMOUTH.--Some of the disastrous effects of the blizzard at this
+sea-port have already been recounted, but Falmouth was unfortunate
+in other respects, besides being the scene of so many wrecks with
+attendant loss of life. The weather has been described by residents
+as the heaviest experienced in the district since 1853. Scarcely a
+house exposed to the gale escaped injury, and in many cases property
+suffered severely. Were there space to record them, innumerable
+instances could be given of roofs being blown off, chimneys having
+fallen, and marvellous escapes of residents having occurred during
+these accidents. At the well-known "Curiosity Shop" of Mr. Burton, a
+slate from some opposite premises went through a large window, and
+two vases within, valued at £85, narrowly escaped destruction. The
+back premises of Mr. Webber, jeweller, which overlooked the harbour,
+were completely washed away, and all the fowls in the fowl-house were
+drowned. In the rope-walk several fine Cornish elms were uprooted, one
+of them cutting through a neighbouring roof. Telegraph wires also were
+broken by the falling timber, and many huge limbs of trees were blown
+down outside Grove Hill. Between Monday night and noon on Wednesday
+no train arrived at or left Falmouth, and telegraphic communication
+being cut off the inhabitants knew nothing of what was transpiring in
+other parts. It was not until the Saturday evening that telegraphic
+communication was re-established with Truro, and two hours later a wire
+was got through to London. Messrs. Fox & Co., shipping agents, having
+urgent telegrams to send to London, despatched them via France and
+Spain. The London morning papers despatched on Tuesday reached Falmouth
+on Saturday night, by which time postal affairs were commencing to be
+put in order. All along the quays the damage to small craft of every
+kind was immense, and the shore was strewn with wreckage and crowded
+with damaged boats. At one spot on the market-strand, between the
+King's Arms and the establishment of Mr. Grose, a big sail boat was
+driven ashore, followed by a coal hulk belonging to Messrs. Vivian &
+Sons, the latter knocking down a wall. The S.S. _Carbon_, belonging
+to the Falmouth Coal Company, sank at her moorings in the harbour,
+and the Harbour Board's steamer, _Armenack_, had a narrow escape of
+being wrecked. About a dozen well-known residents had trawlers,
+sailing-boats, and punts damaged or totally wrecked, but these form
+only a small proportion of the losses by the gale. Among the fishermen
+distress was great, and, as already stated on another page, a fund for
+their relief was inaugurated without loss of time.
+
+FOWEY.--At this sea-port very severe weather was experienced. The whole
+country round was covered with snow, and communication by telegraph,
+except to Lostwithiel and St. Austell, was impossible. Fowey does not
+appear to have experienced much of the effects of the gale on Monday
+night and Tuesday, but a strong wind with snow showers, visited the
+town on the following Thursday. There were no casualties, and no great
+loss of sheep, as, though many were buried in the snow, nearly all were
+recovered.
+
+GRAMPOUND ROAD.--Here snow commenced falling at about noon on Monday,
+and continued with only a few minutes' cessation for twenty-four hours.
+The blizzard nature of the storm was most severely felt, and among
+other distressing events hundreds of sheep were lost. All telegraphic
+communication was completely stopped. The last up-train from Penzance,
+due at Grampound Road at about twenty minutes past eight in the
+evening, was blocked by the snow a quarter of a mile west of the
+station. The passengers were got out, and, under the guidance of some
+of the villagers, made their way across the fields, and took shelter
+in the hotels. Strenuous efforts were made to extricate the train,
+but it was not until half-past four on the following morning that the
+difficult task was accomplished, and that the passengers were enabled
+to proceed on their journey. The loss of sheep in this district was
+very great.
+
+GUNNISLAKE.--Throughout the whole of Monday night the blizzard raged in
+Gunnislake, and only slightly abated its force on Tuesday. Havoc was
+spread on every hand, and in one case a very serious accident, that
+narrowly escaped fatal consequences, occurred. This was at the house of
+Mr. Bowhay, surgeon, where a neighbouring chimney crashed through the
+roof and fell into the kitchen. Two servants and an infant child were
+in the kitchen at the time, and one of the former was knocked to the
+floor, and on being extricated was found to have had her leg broken.
+The other servant girl and Mr. Bowhay's child received cuts. On the
+opposite side of the road a chimney fell upon a house named East View,
+crushing in the end roof of a house in which, soon after, and in a room
+immediately below that into which the rubbish fell, a child was born.
+Large trees, over fifty years' old, were rooted up and thrown across
+the main thoroughfares. At Drakewell's Mine serious damage was done to
+the roofs, and at Heath Cottage, adjoining the mine, nine tall Scotch
+firs, which stood within fifteen feet of each other, were rooted up,
+and left lying in all directions.
+
+HELSTON.--At Helston, every road leading to other towns was blocked
+up. No newspaper arrived, nor were any mails sent off until Saturday.
+Telegraph wires and poles, and innumerable trees were blown down, the
+plantations in the district suffering severely.
+
+HEMERDON.--No less than six engines were snowed up on Monday night
+in the neighbourhood of Hemerdon, many of them containing parties
+despatched from Plymouth by the Great Western Railway to the relief
+of the train that left Millbay Station at 6·50 on Monday night, and
+was snowed up on a bridge some distance beyond the Ivybridge Viaduct.
+In two cases timely rescues of drivers were effected by Mr. Harold S.
+Williams, of Torridge, the story of which will be found related in a
+subsequent chapter. One very sad fatality occurred to the wife of a
+miner, named Ann Farley. She left Plympton on Monday afternoon to visit
+her father at Hemerdon village, and setting out for her home in the
+evening would appear to have lost her way, as her body was found on
+Thursday evening in a field at Lobb Farm, in about three feet of snow.
+
+HONITON.--In a path field leading from Offwell to Land Wood, in
+the Honiton district, on the Sunday morning following the Monday
+and Tuesday of the blizzard, the body of a man named Bidgood was
+discovered. It transpired at an inquest subsequently held that the man
+was a labourer, who had left work at Gittisham Hill on Tuesday evening
+to proceed to his home at Offwell. After calling at the New Inn,
+Honiton Hill, he was not again seen alive. The body was found, lying
+flat upon its face, by Mr. F. J. Harford, who was looking for some
+sheep. In many places near Honiton the snow drifts reached to a height
+of twenty feet, and it was almost impossible to find the main road.
+Sheep were buried in the snow in many parts of the district, and large
+trees were rooted up and thrown across the road.
+
+ILFRACOMBE.--At Ilfracombe, during Monday night, a strong gale raged,
+and the brigantine _Ethel_, of Salcombe, went ashore at Combemartin
+early on Tuesday morning, and became a total wreck, but the crew
+were all saved. The schooner _Pride of the West_, of Padstow, had
+her bowsprit carried away, under Hillsborough, and was towed into
+Ilfracombe harbour. Considerable damage was done to property, and
+business for a day or two was suspended. Five large trees were blown
+down in the churchyard. The last train from Barnstaple to Ilfracombe on
+Monday night was brought to a standstill in the Burrow cutting, where
+the snow had reached a great height. The passengers were got safely
+out, and proceeded to the Fortescue Hotel at Morthoe.
+
+IVYBRIDGE.--A full share of destruction of every kind was experienced
+at Ivybridge during the storm. Trees fell in all directions, a large
+one breaking in the roof of the newly constructed Navvy Mission
+Room. The Navvy Missioner, Mr. MacLean, was in the room at the time,
+and had a very narrow escape. Over a dozen trees fell between the
+station and the village, most of them being uprooted. For some time
+provisions in the town showed serious signs of running short, but
+by a laudable system of mutual accommodation between the residents
+and tradespeople any actual privation was averted. Several of the
+passengers by the 6·50 P.M. snowed-up train from Plymouth on Monday
+night, and the down night train due at Plymouth about 8 P.M. on Monday
+night, also blocked at Ivybridge Station, were located in the village,
+but some of the passengers, as late as Thursday evening, were still in
+search of lodgings. The railway guards and drivers were also in dire
+straits, and Mr. Bohn (the proprietor of the London Hotel), promptly
+and generously came to the rescue with free dinners to the railway
+servants. Many hundreds of people visited the scene of the principal
+block at Langham Bridge, where the unfortunate train from Plymouth on
+Monday night became embedded in a deep snow-drift.
+
+KINGSBRIDGE.--This neighbourhood underwent some wretched experiences,
+not only during the blizzard of Monday and Tuesday, but for fully a
+fortnight subsequent to the storm. The roads leading to surrounding
+towns were in a terrible condition through the fall of snow that
+appears to have exceeded here the fall in any other part of Devon, and
+the losses of farm-stock were very great. The first episode occurred
+at seven o'clock on Monday evening, when the mail-cart for Totnes was
+snowed up after having proceeded a mile out of Kingsbridge, and the
+driver was compelled to return with his pair of horses, leaving the
+van in the road. The mail-bags were brought back to the town on the
+following morning. In another case, Mr. Waymouth, of Woolston, four
+miles from Kingsbridge, started from the latter place in his carriage
+for home on the same evening, but was stopped by a fallen tree, and
+he and his coachman were compelled to take shelter at Coombe Royal,
+and to remain there until the following Thursday. There were the usual
+instances of damage to house property, and there was also tremendous
+destruction to trees, and to the shrubberies of the various residences
+in the vicinity of the town. All communication was cut off from outside
+by the destruction of telegraph wires and posts. The telegraph wires
+have been described as presenting a very singular appearance, the
+coating of hardened snow in many instances extending to a thickness
+as great as six inches in diameter. No communication with any other
+town was received or sent for four whole days, and the post-office was
+closed for three days, as no mails could be received or despatched.
+Several commercial travellers who got into the town on Monday were
+compelled to remain till Friday, when they escaped from confinement by
+going to Plymouth by steamer. The hardships endured in neighbouring
+villages for a week were severe, some of the villagers having been
+without coals, and, the bakers having run out of flour, bread in
+sufficient quantities could not be obtained. There was considerable
+injury to some of the crops, and almost every farmer lost sheep in the
+snow. Mr. Hooppell, of Bigbury, lost between three and four hundred,
+the greater number of which were probably blown into the sea. Mr. J.
+Langworthy, of East Allington, lost about seventy sheep and lambs,
+computed to be worth £300. Mr. S. Square, of Thurlestone, also lost
+over 100 valuable sheep and lambs. One gentleman had the task imposed
+upon him of endeavouring to keep alive forty young lambs which had lost
+their mothers.
+
+Great havoc was wrought in the grounds of Coombe Royal, the American
+garden being laid almost bare. In the vicarage grounds many of the
+trees and shrubs were blown down. Improvised sledges were used during
+the second week by residents as well as the local carriers, these
+being, indeed, the only vehicles that could be used with any safety.
+
+[Illustration: ST. CLEER ROAD, LISKEARD.]
+
+LAUNCESTON.--Considerable inconvenience was experienced in Launceston
+throughout the week of storm, but scarcely anything more serious. From
+Tuesday to Thursday there was a complete cessation of intercourse
+with other parts of the country, no mails being despatched, or papers
+or news of any kind being received, and no telegraphic service was
+available throughout the week. Some damage was inflicted by the wind
+to both glass and trees, and the roofs of houses were more or less
+damaged, but altogether Launceston was much more fortunate than the
+majority of west-country towns.
+
+[Illustration: COLDSTILE LANE, LISKEARD.]
+
+LISKEARD.--The greatest discomforts experienced at Liskeard were those
+brought about by the impassable condition of the roads, and by the
+blocking of the leat on Bulland Down, which supplies the town with
+water. The reservoirs on St. Cleer Downs were nearly empty on Wednesday
+morning, when Mr. Sampson, the inspector of the water, visited it, and
+found that an immense snow-drift was blocking it on the north side of
+the down. For nearly twelve hours a gang of men dug at the drift, and
+succeeded in freeing the leat and saving the town from a water famine.
+The leat was on a very exposed part of the down, and the height of the
+snow-drifts in the locality may be judged from the view we give of one
+of these. The illustration is from a photograph kindly supplied by Mr.
+A. W. Venning, solicitor, of Liskeard. A horse and cart had been dug
+out from this drift just before the photograph was taken. The town was
+completely isolated for several days, and the distress among the poorer
+inhabitants was very great. Everything possible was done to mitigate
+the temporary distress, relief committees being formed under the active
+superintendence of the Mayor of Liskeard--Mr. T. Lang. On Friday, after
+Thursday's snowfall, the rural postmen could not go their rounds, the
+height of snow in the roads being so great. Our view of Coldstile Lane,
+near Liskeard (also from a photograph contributed by Mr. Venning),
+which was impassable for days, reveals in a forcible manner the state
+of this part of Cornwall. Here, as elsewhere, hundreds of sheep were
+buried in the snow.
+
+LYME REGIS.--One of the heaviest snowstorms that ever visited the
+south of Dorset was experienced at Lyme Regis on Tuesday, March 10th.
+The town lies six miles from the nearest railway station, and the
+only communication is by two well-appointed three-horse 'busses. On
+Tuesday the 'bus, with an extra horse, left the town at nine in the
+morning, carrying the mails. The conveyance, with great difficulty,
+reached the high hill known as Hunter's Lodge, where, notwithstanding
+all efforts, it was found impossible to proceed further. The one lady
+passenger walked to the hotel at Hunter's Lodge, while the driver, Mr.
+Blake, rode back to Lyme Regis and obtained assistance. By the time
+the luggage and mails had been transferred to a light waggonette the
+'bus, except for the roof, was invisible, and the roof was only kept
+clear by the strong wind blowing at the time. Later on the same night,
+the driver of the mail cart from Illminster to Lyme started to do the
+journey on horseback, driving being out of the question. On about the
+same spot as the 'bus had been buried, the driver lost his horse, and
+accomplished the rest of the journey on foot, arriving at Lyme at one
+o'clock on Wednesday morning. Both horse and 'bus were eventually
+recovered, and the mail carts resumed running on March 17th.
+
+MEVAGISSEY.--The gale of Monday and Tuesday raged with great fury at
+Mevagissey, blowing from E.S.E., accompanied by blinding snow. On
+Tuesday morning the parapet of the new breakwater on the southern side
+of the harbour was found to have been washed off for a distance of two
+hundred feet, and the sea was rushing through the gap. By the end of
+the week the breakwater was in three parts, and it was feared that the
+whole structure would have to be taken down. The damage was estimated
+at over £10,000. The fishermen suffered greatly through the loss of
+herring and pilchard nets, which were shot at anchor in the bay, and
+swept away by the gale.
+
+MODBURY.--The blizzard was very destructive in the Modbury district,
+and the town was completely isolated from the Monday to the Saturday.
+On Monday evening several farmers who had attended the market and left
+for their homes, were driven back, and had to remain in Modbury several
+days. The loss of sheep in the neighbourhood was unusually large, it
+being estimated that within the postal district of Modbury nearly one
+thousand sheep were lost, besides several head of cattle. Some of the
+snow-drifts were immense, and one labourer had his house completely
+covered. A boy, who had been sent on Monday to deliver bread at some
+neighbouring villages, was discovered in the evening sitting in the
+trap almost insensible from cold, while the trap was nearly buried in
+the snow. The horse was released, and the boy taken to the nearest
+house, where he soon recovered.
+
+NEWQUAY.--At Newquay there was a great fall of snow, and many sheep
+were buried. Mr. T. Cardell lost over 100, and other farmers as many as
+forty each. A man named Ambrose Matthews, a hawker of wild flowers, was
+found dead under three feet of snow in a field near Tower Lane, where
+he was probably trying to crawl into a shed for shelter. He was last
+seen selling flowers in the town at half-past eight on Monday night.
+
+NEWTON ABBOTT.--The greater part of the railway traffic at Newton
+Abbott was suspended. The last up-train that arrived on Monday was the
+4·30 P.M. express from Plymouth; and the Monday evening's mails from
+Paddington, and Tuesday morning's Bristol and Newton Abbott travelling
+post-office, which arrived several hours late, were unable to proceed
+further than this town, and about one hundred passengers were compelled
+to remain in Newton. There was, in the streets, an average depth of
+three feet of snow, whilst in some places the drifts were from ten to
+twelve feet in height. Considerable damage was done to the trees and
+shrubs in the park, and in the private gardens.
+
+PADSTOW.--This was another town that suffered very severely. Great
+quantities of unexpected snow fell, and the gale was terrific on Monday
+night and all day on Tuesday. People who were out of town on the Monday
+night had great difficulty in returning to their homes, and one woman,
+named Rebecca Chapman, did not succeed, but was found buried in the
+snow on the following Sunday. Miss Chapman, of about sixty-two years
+of age, who resided at Crugmere, about a mile-and-a-half from Padstow,
+had been in the latter town on Monday, and left for home at about seven
+o'clock in the evening. At a place named Trethillick she lost her
+way, and calling at one of the houses in the village was put upon the
+right road. She was never again seen alive. On perceiving on Tuesday
+that the woman was not at home, the neighbours raised an alarm, and
+search parties were instituted, but the body was not recovered until
+the following week. From the position of the body when found, it would
+seem that the unfortunate woman had mistaken the gate of the field in
+which she was lying for that of her own home, and, entering the field,
+had fallen exhausted. Her basket, containing the provisions she had
+bought in the town, was found lying beside her. When the storm was at
+its fiercest, on Monday evening, the dandy _Louisa_, of Exeter, in
+entering Padstow harbour, ran into the schooner _Ballanheigh Castle_,
+and damaged her galley and bulwarks. A praam, weighing nearly a ton,
+which was lying keel upwards on the quay, was caught during one of the
+squalls, and carried completely over the quay. On many farms large
+numbers of sheep were buried, but in most cases these were rescued
+alive.
+
+PAIGNTON.--Great damage was done at Paignton on Monday night and
+Tuesday. The roof of one wing of the house of Sir Thomas Seccombe,
+K.C.S.I., on Coninence, was blown in, and crashed through the building,
+but nobody was hurt. In the Totnes-road the roof of Miss Scale's house
+was blown off, and several trees were blown down. The landing-stage
+of the Promenade Pier was washed away, and the sea-wall front of
+Redcliff Tower undermined. The Artillery Volunteer ammunition shed was
+completely wrecked. A tall elm at Dr. Goodridge's residence fell over
+and nearly crushed the roof. Steam launches were much injured, and
+several fishermen lost their boats.
+
+PENZANCE.--During Monday night's storm, at Penzance, there was such
+a terrific sea running that the north dock gate was unhung, and
+much damage was occasioned to the shipping in the port. Some of the
+most beautiful trees in the vicinity were ruined. On the following
+Tuesday the storm continued, and business almost entirely ceased,
+no shops being opened for the day. There was a good deal of anxious
+looking out for the return of travellers who had left the town before
+the commencement of the storm on Monday, but by degrees they either
+returned or their whereabouts was ascertained. At Wheal Vor, Breage,
+however, a woman, sixty years of age, perished in the snow. Supplies of
+food were almost daily fetched by boat from Penzance for little fishing
+villages in the district, and a small coasting steamer was chartered to
+take in a stock of provisions and land it on the sands at Porthcurno,
+just within sight of Logan Rock.
+
+PLYMPTON.--At Plympton, matters were very serious. Hundreds of trees
+were destroyed, and large numbers of sheep died from exposure and
+starvation.
+
+[Illustration: CHURCH, AND CHAPLAIN'S HOUSE, PRINCETOWN, DARTMOOR.]
+
+PRINCETOWN.--This moorland town passed through some trying experiences
+during the storm week. The roofs of several cattle and sheep-sheds were
+blown away, and every house in the neighbourhood suffered considerable
+damage. A part of the church roof was unslated, and the church
+itself, and the chaplain's house, were almost buried in the snow.
+An illustration shows the condition of these two buildings, for the
+photographic views of which, as well as for the picture of the convicts
+cutting a road, we have to thank Mr. J. Richards, clerk of works at the
+convict establishment, who took a great number of interesting views of
+extraordinary scenes to be met with after the blizzard. At the Prison
+Officers' School, some four or five of the moor children had to be
+detained all night, fires being lighted and hot provisions provided.
+The block on the Princetown railway line, where the evening train had
+been snowed up on Monday evening, was a very serious one, and it took
+a gang of fifty men and a snow-plough several days to work through
+the accumulated mass. The inhabitants were without letter, paper, or
+telegram from Monday morning until Saturday, when the postmaster, Mr.
+W. Tooker, with the rural letter-carrier, and a prison officer, Mr.
+Rodway, who accompanied the party as a volunteer, risked a walk to
+Yelverton. There they found twenty-five bags of mails awaiting them.
+They succeeded in walking back to Princetown, taking with them fourteen
+bags of mails and a small quantity of newspapers, and were received
+with much enthusiasm. No fear was felt that provisions would fail at
+the prison, as there was a large stock on hand, but it was deemed
+advisable to kill a number of sheep and pigs belonging to the farm.
+The roads were cleared after immense labour, some of this work being
+carried out by convicts from the prison.
+
+[Illustration: CONVICTS CUTTING A ROAD AT PRINCETOWN, DARTMOOR.]
+
+REDRUTH.--On the Monday and Tuesday at Redruth there was such a storm
+as had not been known for thirty-five years in West Cornwall. It
+snowed almost incessantly for twenty-four hours, and left drifts, in
+some parts, from ten to twelve feet deep. The trains could not get
+into Redruth either from east or west for two days, and even Camborne
+could not be reached. Trees in various parts were much injured. There
+was little business done, and the quantity of provisions brought into
+the town being so small, the prices were of the most extravagant
+description. Milk could hardly be obtained, and what butter was in the
+market was sold at the price of 2s. per lb., a heavy price for Redruth.
+There was a scarcity of coals in the neighbourhood, and the stock
+(of coals) at the brewery was exhausted before the end of the week.
+Most of the roads in the district were impassable, and it was found
+impossible as late as Friday to dig out the vehicles that Monday's
+storm embedded in the Redruth highway. Mining operations were greatly
+impeded, tunnels in the snow having in some instances to be cut to
+enable the miners to get to their work. There were many rumours of
+persons missing since the memorable Monday, and fears for their safety
+were entertained which in one unhappy case proved to be only too well
+grounded. A boy named Wallace left his work at the Wheal Basset mine
+on the afternoon of the storm to walk to his home. He did not reach it
+at the usual time, nor at all on that day, and great anxiety resulted,
+search parties scouring the country in all directions. At length, ten
+days afterwards, his body was found in a snow-drift between thirty
+and forty yards from his home. Another lad had a very narrow escape.
+He was missed for some hours, and was found almost unconscious in an
+outhouse, where he had taken refuge under some straw. Not the least
+serious inconvenience attending this week of disaster at Redruth was
+the unavoidable postponement of a number of funerals, to make way to
+the parish church and cemetery being found impracticable.
+
+ST. COLUMB.--The advent of the blizzard at St. Columb was sudden and
+unexpected, and the force of the wind drifted most of the snow into
+the roads and hedges in such a way as to completely stop all vehicular
+traffic. In some spots the drifts were fifteen feet high. No letters
+or papers arrived in the town from Monday until Wednesday evening,
+and among other inconveniences was the unavoidable postponement of a
+wedding which was to have taken place. As this event was not fixed for
+any earlier date than the last day of the week, and could not take
+place then, some idea of the condition of the country may be formed.
+The farmers were apparently taken by surprise, as most of their sheep
+were out, and hundreds were buried beneath the snow. Many lambs and
+sheep were found at a depth of seven or eight feet, and instances
+occurred of lambs, who had been born under circumstances such as these,
+being found alive and healthy. Buried houses were by no means an
+uncommon occurrence. At Winnard's Perch, about two miles from Redruth,
+a woman was snowed in from Monday until Wednesday at noon, when she was
+dug out. Great damage was also done to trees, and for a time business
+was suspended.
+
+ST. IVES.--A tempestuous sea was the chief cause of suffering at St.
+Ives. The blizzard blew mainly from the E.N.E., and caused sad havoc
+along the coast on Monday night and Tuesday. Ships in positions of
+peril were occasionally observed, and the lifeboat crew, with rocket
+apparatus, held themselves in readiness, and in some cases, endeavoured
+to get near the endangered vessels, but the tracks to the shore were
+impassable. The window of a cottage on the Warren, overlooking the sea,
+was blown in, and the sea rushed in and partly filled one of the rooms.
+Slates and chimneypots were blown about to the imminent danger of the
+inhabitants. A man named Metters left St. Ives for St. Just, with a
+donkey cart, on Monday, to sell herrings, and after nearly a week's
+absence his friends gave him up for lost, but he returned to his home
+on the following Monday, having been snowed up at St. Just for the
+entire week.
+
+SENNEN.--The Land's End district was altogether cut off from other
+parts of the country from Monday to Friday, and even after that time
+communication was only effected with great difficulty. The snow-drifts
+were immense, and many sheep and lambs were buried. Supplies having
+begun to fail by the end of the week, a shopkeeper inaugurated a novel
+expedition which, grotesque as it was in its make-up and appearance,
+succeeded in the object the organizer had in view. He obtained a
+number of donkeys, and having placed baskets upon their backs, formed
+them into procession, he leading the way with a shovel, with which
+he cleared a path to St. Just. There provisions were obtained, and
+the adventurous tradesman, followed by his donkeys,--now laden with
+well-filled baskets,--returned triumphant to St. Sennen. Two cottages
+near the Land's End were buried in the snow, and the cottagers had
+to be dug out. The Rev. J. Isabell, of St. Sennen, by way of getting
+the roads clear, set an admirable example. He headed a party of some
+seventy men, all being armed with shovels, and effected good work in
+making the parish roads fit for traffic.
+
+TAUNTON.--The train due at Taunton at seven minutes past nine and the
+"Flying Dutchman" reached Taunton at about the same time on Monday
+night, and were unable to proceed further. Among the passengers was the
+Duke of Edinburgh, on his way to Devonport, who was detained for some
+few days, after which he was enabled to reach Exeter, and from thence
+to proceed without further mishap to his destination.
+
+TAVISTOCK.--Some account of the devastation caused in this district
+by the storm has already been given. The destruction to timber was
+especially heavy, but perhaps the most serious feature of all is the
+loss of sheep and cattle. Mr. H. Dingle, of Taviton, had over two
+hundred sheep embedded in the snow, and a number of these were taken
+out dead. Mr. Perkins, of King-street, Tavistock, and Mr. Walkem, of
+Hartshole, also suffered heavily in this respect. On the estate of the
+Rev. J. Hall-Parby there was also a great loss of sheep. Out of sixteen
+sheep buried in a drift, nine, belonging to Mr. Warne, were dug out
+dead, while in the neighbouring parish of Walkhampton the loss was
+still greater. Mr. Giles, of this parish, dug out 40 dead sheep. Mr. J.
+Squire, of the Bedford Hotel, had a flock of sheep and lambs buried in
+the snow, on his moorland farm on Whitchurch Down, but he succeeded in
+rescuing most of them.
+
+TEIGNMOUTH.--The destruction wrought on the sea-front of this
+well-known watering-place and sea-port, which has been briefly alluded
+to in earlier pages, appears to have had the effect of waking up the
+residents to a sense of the innumerable natural beauties that belong
+to their town, and the advisability of preserving, and, if possible,
+improving them. Not many months before the blizzard of 1891, a gale
+from the south-east was near demolishing that portion of the bank above
+the beach, that has since fallen before the action of the waves, and
+from time to time the dangerous position of the houses abutting upon
+it, and standing within a stone's-throw of the sea, has been pointed
+out by a large number of the residents themselves. Nature has now taken
+the matter in hand, and the probabilities are that a sea-wall will be
+built that will extend from the "Point," or lighthouse, to the Hole
+Head tunnel, a distance of over a mile and a half, and thus the finest
+sea promenade in the country will be secured.
+
+TORQUAY.--The snowstorm was more severe at Torquay than at any of the
+surrounding districts, the fall having been heavier than at either
+Teignmouth or Dawlish. Few mishaps occurred, however, and there was not
+any really serious damage. Railway communication with Exeter, London,
+and the north, was never interrupted. Some injuries to trees occurred,
+and a few telegraph posts were blown down, but, on the whole, Torquay
+sustained its reputation as a desirable winter abode.
+
+TOTNES.--Some novel incidents occurred at Totnes during the week of
+the storm. The town was for days completely isolated, the only journey
+possible in search of news appearing to have been a perilous one, on
+foot, to Brent, where ignorance of the doings of the outside world
+was as great, if not greater, than at Totnes itself. A number of
+travellers, among them Mr. H. S. Jenkins, of the _Western Morning News_
+(who had gone to the town on duty on the Monday night), were detained
+until the end of the week, and all the inconveniences resulting from an
+enforced imprisonment of such an unusual description were experienced.
+The first indication of an actual block on the railway was at about
+nine o'clock on Monday night, when the down-train, due at Plymouth at
+ten o'clock, arrived at Totnes station, and was not allowed to proceed,
+as no communication could be exchanged with stations further down
+the line. After hours of waiting, some of the passengers sheltering
+themselves in the carriages and others in the waiting-room (where
+they were made as comfortable as circumstances would allow, Miss
+Inskip keeping the refreshment-room open until four o'clock on Tuesday
+morning), all were compelled to take up their quarters in the town
+for what was to them, at that time, a very indefinite period. There
+were, in the neighbourhood of Totnes, great losses among the farming
+community, hundreds of sheep being buried in the snow. One farmer, of
+Ashprington, dug out a flock of fifty, of which fifteen were dead.
+Orchards were completely wrecked, and many fine forest trees were
+destroyed. In the town the damage done to property was not very great,
+but the glass roofs of several conservatories were broken in by the
+weight of snow. The snow in the streets was three feet deep, and in the
+adjacent country roads a depth of from six to eight feet was recorded.
+
+TRURO.--At the cathedral city of Cornwall trade was at a complete
+standstill for days, owing to the heavy fall of snow. Snow lay three
+feet deep in all the roads outside the town, and, going farther into
+the country, the drifts were from ten to twelve feet deep. Great damage
+was done to property, and some accidents, none of them, however, having
+a fatal termination, occurred. To make matters worse for those having
+business matters to look after, the train service was altogether
+disorganised. The "Dutchman" arrived on Monday night forty minutes
+late, and then had to wait the arrival of the train from Falmouth.
+This, due at Truro at 7·25, did not arrive until ten minutes to nine.
+Its course was blocked by fallen telegraph poles and wires, which
+had to be cut away before the train could proceed, the most serious
+obstacle being between Penryn and Perranwell. The "Dutchman" had to
+pass by Grampound Road at full speed, or it would probably have been
+in danger of being embedded in the snow. It was only when the end
+of this memorable week had been reached that telegraphic and other
+communication with neighbouring towns was restored, and that the city
+once more returned to its usual condition of comfort and tranquillity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN PARK AND FOREST.
+
+
+There is no stronger testimony to the overwhelmingly destructive
+character of the blizzard of March, 1891, than that afforded by
+the spectacle of thousands of forest trees, that had, in numerous
+instances, withstood the storms of centuries, lying, some with their
+roots above ground, others snapped short off or twisted asunder, but
+all mercilessly and hopelessly wrecked. Many of these fallen monarchs
+had experienced heavier gales undoubtedly, but they had not been so
+rapidly laden with the heavy burden of clinging snow that caused them
+to sway and stagger, and rendered them helpless victims to the fury
+of the blast. The effects of this blizzard-like nature of the storm
+are apparent in the peculiar form the havoc in the parks and forests
+has assumed--some trees appearing as if the tops had been wrenched
+off, and in other instances a trunk being left standing--a mere bare
+pole--denuded of all its branches. Many trees that were old and feeble
+weathered the storm best, the apparent cause being that their stronger
+brethren sheltered them from the fatal garment of snow as much as from
+the gale, and that when the protector at last fell the fury of the
+blast was spent.
+
+The manner in which the snow clung to, rather than fell upon, all
+objects that it encountered, is strikingly shown in the accompanying
+illustration of Membland after the storm. The illustration is from a
+photograph of a water-colour drawing. The photograph, and the following
+narrative, have been courteously supplied to us by one who was a deeply
+interested spectator of the scene:--
+
+"At Membland, Lord Revelstoke's place ten miles from Plymouth at the
+mouth of the Yealm, the devastation and havoc caused by the storm of
+the 9th of March are indescribable.
+
+"The appearance of the house on the Wednesday following, the 11th, will
+not easily be forgotten by its inmates. That Wednesday was a glorious
+day of sunshine. The house was entirely, to all appearance, snowed up
+to the top storey; the wind in its fierceness having flung the snow
+against the house, where it froze on the windows, giving a weird look;
+a pane of glass here and there coming out in relief, and prismatic
+colours darting across, in and out of the snow where the sun shone in
+full power.
+
+"Where the ivy covers the north side, the effect was very beautiful:
+each leaf covered as it were with a bell of crystal, and festoons of
+crystal hanging down in every direction. Outside the front door the
+snow was fourteen feet deep. From eight to ten on that memorable Monday
+evening when the storm was at its height, the gardener, Mr. Baker,
+stood out and saw the trees right and left, here rooted up, there
+felled down with the rapidity and report of a volley of musketry. Over
+a thousand trees are down, among them the finest trees surrounding the
+house, and which can ill be spared, such as the Insignis, the Ilex, &c.
+Every orchard is laid low.
+
+[Illustration: MEMBLAND, RESIDENCE OF LORD REVELSTOKE, AFTER THE
+STORM.]
+
+"The two plantations near the house present the appearance of hundreds
+of trees felled down for the advance of an invading and cruel enemy. On
+the carriage-drive you come across a huge tree torn up by the roots,
+leaving the whole road cracked as from an earthquake! By the side of
+this devastation, at every turn, you see the most curious sight of
+all,--a tree frail from age or extreme youth left untouched! The drift
+at the lodge was from fifteen to twenty feet deep. The lodge-keeper
+took one hour and three-quarters getting from the lodge to the house,
+on Tuesday, the 10th; a distance under three-quarters of a mile. Mr.
+Methyrell, a tenant of Lord Revelstoke's, residing one mile from
+Membland, lost fifty of his sheep. Lord Revelstoke was fortunate in
+not losing more than seventeen sheep and one black lamb. The village
+of Noss Mayo, situated in the estuary of the Yealm, in the parish of
+Revelstoke, has sadly lost in beauty and picturesqueness from the
+destruction of trees, these falling headlong in some instances on the
+boats of the inhabitants, and causing distress and ruin.
+
+"Lord Revelstoke was in London--Lady Revelstoke was alone in the house
+with her niece, Miss Bulteel: the experience of being cut off from
+all communication with the neighbouring villages, the impossibility
+of procuring the services of Dr. Adkins were it a matter of life or
+death, the cessation of all postal or telegraphic communications, being
+told the last portion of flour was exhausted--this lasting from Monday
+until Saturday--all the different incidents arising from this "_Great
+Unforeseen_" are recollections which will never be effaced from the
+memories of the inhabitants of the parish of Revelstoke. The postman
+from Plymouth to Yealmpton and Newton Ferrers, including the parish of
+Revelstoke, deserves praise. His return was looked for anxiously by the
+inhabitants of Noss Mayo and Newton, morning after morning. He got to
+Yealmpton, and sallied forth like the dove after the flood to try and
+find his way to Newton, but was forced to turn back. He succeeded on
+the Saturday, and was hailed with delight.
+
+"At Flete, Mr. Mildmay's place, three-and-a-half miles from Ivybridge,
+the damage is great, but the loss of trees not as irreparable as in
+other places. The family were away. But the snug little corner between
+Flete and Membland, at the mouth of the Erme, inhabited by Mr. Bulteel,
+was a haven chosen by this merciless blast upon which to vent its worst
+fury. The peaceful valley strewn with trees, and the beautiful laurels
+shattered.
+
+"A little incident is worth recording to illustrate the friendliness
+and kind-heartedness of the neighbours. The town of Modbury is six
+miles from Pamflete. Mr. Bulteel has for years dealt with Mr. Coyte,
+the butcher. On Thursday, the 12th, Mr. Coyte feared Mr. Bulteel might
+run short of butcher's-meat; he accordingly started three men at 8 A.M.
+from Modbury, one man carrying a basket of meat, and the other two with
+shovels, for places found too impassable to ensure a footway.
+
+"These men reached Pamflete (Mr. Bulteel's) at 6 P.M., after a struggle
+of ten hours to get there. It is needless to say they were welcomed
+by Mr. Bulteel, who was thoroughly grateful to Mr. Coyte for his kind
+thought."
+
+Another account says:--"At Mount Edgcumbe Park, the principal seat
+of the Rt. Hon. Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, the wreck to the timber is
+enormous. So large are the gaps made in the groups and avenues of
+trees, that the unaccustomed open spaces are distinctly visible from
+Plymouth Hoe, and from even greater distances. Altogether, the Earl
+estimates his loss at two thousand trees (at Mount Edgcumbe alone), and
+calculates that it will take two years to sufficiently clear his park
+of fallen timber to enable him to again throw it open to visitors."
+
+The reproduction of a photograph by Mr. Heath, of George-street,
+Plymouth, shows the entrance to Mount Edgcumbe Park. Here there are
+down three fine elms, each four hundred years old. One fell right
+across the path, the other two fell towards the lodge, which they only
+escaped by a few inches, the branches even sweeping off some of the
+slates from the roof of the building. Had the trees fallen but a little
+more to the north, the lodge must have been crushed like cardboard. All
+the way up the avenue leading to the house the trees are lying in every
+direction. In the private garden behind the house (the favourite resort
+of the Earl and his family), the beautiful cedars, known only to those
+who have had the privilege of visiting this retired spot, are all down
+or shivered where they stand. Particularly and painfully noticeable are
+a fine old lime, a chestnut tree, and a beautiful Turkey oak, not only
+rooted up but split to pieces. These the Earl describes as having been
+his favourite trees.
+
+[Illustration: THE ENTRANCE, MT. EDGCUMBE PARK.]
+
+"On the hill overlooking the ruins of the old castle, all but one of
+the umbrella pines, so well known to all visitors to the park, are
+rooted up, and scattered. In the laurel walk, dozens of fine trees
+are down, quite obstructing the pathway, but the saddest scene of all
+in this portion of the park is the fall of a fine silver beech, which
+stood just at the end of the walk. Strange to say, this tree has fallen
+in the opposite direction to every tree in the park, as if its sole
+purpose had been to crush a beautiful camellia tree that stood exactly
+opposite, and that has yearly yielded a thousand blooms. Close by is
+still standing a fir, the tallest tree in all the park, looking as
+though, through all the stormy night and day, it had reared its proud
+head in defiance of the tempest.
+
+"The greatest havoc of all is in that part of the park known as
+Beechwood, situated on a slope facing almost due east. This slope was
+exposed to the full fury of the gale, and quite four hundred trees were
+blown down. Our illustration, from a photo by Mr. Heath, pourtrays some
+of this fallen grandeur. A gardener, who lives in Beechwood Cottage,
+far more familiarly known as Lady Emma's Cottage, relates, that on
+Monday night, when the storm was at its height, which was between
+half-past seven and eight o'clock, he with his wife and young family
+were in the house in an awful state of suspense and apprehension.
+Momentarily they were dreading that a fallen tree would crush in their
+cottage, and yet they dared not venture out among the crashing timber,
+nor face the blast that would in all probability have blown them over
+the cliff into the sea. Their terror can be well understood when it is
+stated that from time to time the branches of falling trees actually
+brushed the walls of the cottage. As if by a merciful dispensation
+of Providence, a huge beech, standing almost due east to the house,
+remained standing, while other trees, less exposed, were blown down.
+If the beech had fallen, the fate of the cottage with its inmates must
+have been quickly determined.
+
+[Illustration: BEECHWOOD, MT. EDGCUMBE PARK.]
+
+"In the English and Italian gardens more disastrous wreckage meets the
+view. On the lawn, in the English garden, a splendid cork tree, and
+also a famous holly, were uprooted. The orangery in the Italian garden
+narrowly escaped damage by a falling elm."
+
+Many of the large trees, lying prostrate, and others completely
+wrecked, are depicted in the accompanying view, also from a photo by
+Mr. Heath.
+
+Seriously as the noble owner of Mount Edgcumbe suffered at his
+principal seat, that was not, however, the extent of the calamity. The
+condition of the woods was described by one who visited the locality
+after the storm in the following terms:--
+
+"At Cotehele, the devastation in the woods is beyond all description.
+Few, indeed, except the very oldest persons, have ever been able to see
+Cotehele House from the town of Calstock. This historic mansion is now,
+however, in full view, and the monarchs of the wood have fallen low
+to the extent of thousands. It is only as one goes through the woods
+that the vastness of the destruction can be comprehended. In the glade
+that fronts the house towards the Tamar, below the ornamental pond, the
+crash and fall has been so great as to make a tangled mass of roots,
+branches, and limbs. Most of the trees that are down are elms, though
+beeches, ashes, and sycamores have also given way to the gale. Oaks
+have held on at the roots, but the limbs have suffered, and firs have
+gone by the board. Most of this species of tree have broken short off,
+rather than have been uprooted. The beautiful walk from Cotehele Quay
+to the house is a wreck that fifty years will not set in the same form
+as it existed before the 9th of March. Trees three feet through have
+been blown out of the ground as though they had been saplings, and in
+some cases the weight of the earth and stones around the roots must
+have been several tons." Not less than two thousand trees were blown
+down in Cotehele Woods, representing over 100,000 feet of timber. One
+tree alone contained over two hundred cubic feet.
+
+[Illustration: FALLEN MONARCHS, MT. EDGCUMBE PARK.]
+
+Mr. W. Coulter, the highly respected house-steward of the Earl of Mount
+Edgcumbe, at Cotehele, and who resides in Cotehele House, has favoured
+us with the following graphic account of what took place during the
+early part of this eventful week:--
+
+"The wind, having blown a gale the whole day, continued to increase
+in violence as evening approached, and from 7 till 9 o'clock P.M.,
+accomplished, if not all, the greater part of the devastation to house
+and woods. The noise of the storm resembled the frantic yells and
+fiendish laughter of millions of liberated maniacs, broken, at frequent
+intervals, by what sounded like deafening and rapid volleys of heavy
+artillery, and, as these died away, louder and louder again rose the
+appalling screams of the storm, with slight intervals of lull and
+perfect calm, only to return with tenfold violence, which made the
+whole house tremble and vibrate. At 7 P.M. two heavy skylights were
+blown from their position on the roof of the kitchen, and from the
+chimney of the same building a huge metal plate was hurled into the
+court below, carrying the masonry through the roof and into the room
+underneath.
+
+"Several of the windows facing the east were swept in as easily as a
+spider's web; lead and glass, scattered all over the room, leaving only
+the shattered frames, through which rushed the resistless wind and
+blinding snow. One window, being almost new, the hinges and fastenings
+were snapped asunder like joints of thread, the snow lying in heavy
+wreaths over beds, furniture, and floor. Most of the windows on the
+weather-side were more or less broken evidently, in the first instance,
+by the scattered branches of fallen trees just in front of the house.
+Through the joints of doors and windows the cracks and crevices, before
+unknown to the eye, the drifting snow penetrated and piled up in
+ridges, so that rooms and passages had to be cleared like the pavement
+in the streets.
+
+"It is absolutely impossible to picture the scene of desolation
+revealed at daybreak on the morning of the 10th all round the house.
+The ground was strewn and literally covered with fallen slates and
+branches of trees. The appearance of the courtyard, or quadrangle,
+presented that of a grave-yard, the slates in all shapes, sizes, and
+forms, standing on end, like grave-stones projecting above the snow.
+
+"Notwithstanding the great number of huge trees levelled all round
+the house, neither the inmates of Cotehele, nor a single individual
+outside, once heard the crash of falling timber above the fierce
+howling of the blast.
+
+"We inside the house, at much risk, and after much labour, managed
+to find and secure the displaced skylights, and from that time, 7
+P.M. till 4 A.M., we were hard at work clearing rooms of the snow
+and barricading broken windows with whatever material came first to
+hand, such as packing-cases, door-mats, old books and cardboard,
+battened firmly into the granite mullions. Many times during the fierce
+cannonade we feared the whole building would collapse, but beyond
+shattered windows and roof, the granite walls remain intact, and during
+the storm fires had to be extinguished, smoke and flames being driven
+into the room and the occupants driven out.
+
+"A somewhat remarkable incident in reference to this may here be
+recorded. Perched on the extreme point of an abrupt and precipitous
+rock, overhanging the river Tamar, stands the venerable old fane,
+better known as Sir Richard Edgcumbe's Chapel. Right and left of the
+building, nearly the whole of the timber was levelled, but the Chapel
+itself and a small clump of sturdy oaks surrounding the spot are, with
+the building, left intact, save one small insignificant tree whose
+roots and fangs were clinging to an almost barren piece of rock.
+
+[Illustration: A FALLEN MONARCH, COTEHELE, CALSTOCK.]
+
+"On an examination of the Cotehele Woods, the scene presented gives one
+the idea of an earthquake rather than that of a storm. The majority of
+the hundreds of trees vary from two to three hundred years and even
+older, torn up by the roots, and tearing up like so much turf yards
+of macadamized road and huge blocks of strong stone walls, leaving
+their ponderous roots standing erect, to which may be seen clinging
+several tons of huge rock firmly clasped by root and soil, and in
+many instances, these giants of the forest are found lying athwart
+each other, shewing the storm to have practised all the antics of
+a whirlwind." A huge fallen tree, lying prone across a pathway in
+the woods, may be seen in the above illustration, which is from a
+photograph taken by Mr. Rowe, public librarian, Devonport.
+
+A description of another scene of melancholy devastation, written in
+April, some weeks after the storm, said:--
+
+"At Maristowe, the seat of the Right Hon. Sir Massey Lopes, Bart.,
+the storm did irreparable damage on Monday. The grounds presented on
+Tuesday a scene of terrible desolation, and even now it can be seen
+that the beauties of Maristowe are all destroyed. Mr. Merson, steward
+to Sir Massey, states that fifty thousand trees are down, and that
+the respected owner is much affected by his loss. Nearly all the lime
+trees in the avenue leading from the croquet and tennis lawns to the
+garden, and which formed the chief attraction to visitors, are lying in
+hopeless confusion, and the avenue, considered the most beautiful walk
+in all Devonshire, is now utterly impassable and destroyed for ever. In
+the main coach road, from the gamekeeper's lodge to the mansion, fifty
+beautiful beeches have fallen.
+
+"The greatest portion of the damage within the park itself, occurred in
+the immediate vicinity of Mr. Merson's house, the occupants of which
+expected every moment that it would be crushed by falling trees.
+
+"A strange incident occurred in connection with the sycamore trees. It
+appears that on the Saturday previous to the storm Sir Massey decided
+that two old and decayed trees of this kind, which were somewhat in the
+way of contemplated improvements to the steward's residence, should
+be cut down, and gave Mr. Merson instructions accordingly. The gale
+came on, and hundreds of stately trees, one a monarch elm of unusual
+size, and another a stately macrocarphus fir, sixty feet high, and
+of exceptional beauty, succumbed within a short distance of the spot
+where the two old and despised sycamores still reared their heads. The
+storm could not destroy them, but they have since been sawn down. Near
+this same spot some very choice laurels and rhododendrons were torn
+up by the roots and hurled fifty yards away, being discovered days
+afterwards buried under from twelve to twenty feet of snow. In the
+fir wood, facing the mansion, on the opposite side of the Tavy, quite
+half the trees are blown down, while the plantation close to the main
+entrance on Roborough Down is almost entirely destroyed. The plantation
+adjoins the residence of Dr. Clay, of Plymouth, and contained about
+three thousand very fine firs and pines of which only about one hundred
+remain.
+
+"Looking towards the woods opposite Maristowe House, the owner must
+witness such a wreck as never was before seen since the house has stood
+there. From the entrance of the road from Beer Ferris to Lopwell, trees
+of every description lie twisted and thrown in every direction, and
+the road itself must, for some time, be only available for traffic
+with care. The great trees in falling have crashed through others, and
+thousands of broken limbs are visible on every hand. On the other side
+of the Tavy towards Denham Bridge, the damage is great, and in the
+hollows, here and there, more than three weeks after the storm, were
+considerable quantities of snow. At Denham Bridge several very fine
+firs have gone, broken off short some five to eight feet above the
+ground in most cases, and in the Tavy here and there are other trees.
+On the road from Beer Alston to Tavistock one plantation of black firs,
+consisting of several hundred trees, has lost to the extent of nine
+trees out of every ten, and the cutoff ends of the trees jutting on
+the highway present a remarkable appearance. A little further away, on
+the road to Milton Abbot, another fir plantation has nearly every tree
+down."
+
+At Buckland Abbey, famous as the ancestral home of Sir Francis Drake,
+the ruin is singularly disastrous. Messrs. Ward & Chowen, of Burnville,
+Bridestowe, have kindly forwarded an interesting communication which
+sets forth vividly some startling results of the blizzard. They write:--
+
+"As agents to the Buckland Abbey property, our Mr. Chowen visited the
+Abbey on the Saturday after the storm, that being the first day it was
+possible to arrive at the nearest station, namely, Horrabridge, and
+in getting to the Abbey he had to walk over fifteen feet of snow in
+some parts, the average depth being about five feet. On reaching the
+North Lodge, he was astounded at the devastation which met his view.
+The whole of the Rookery between the North and South Lodges at the
+back of the farm-house, commonly known as Place Barton, was literally
+levelled--scarcely a tree remained standing, and the few that were
+left were completely shattered, partly by the storm, and partly by the
+falling of the other trees in their sudden descent.
+
+"The fine old timber around the Abbey, which doubtless gave character
+to the place in the renowned Sir Francis Drake's time, has been more or
+less ruthlessly torn up by the roots by the effects of the disastrous
+storm, and a noble avenue of beech to the north of the Abbey grounds
+has suffered terribly, almost every alternate tree having succumbed. In
+the Abbey grounds, an interesting sycamore, centuries old, on the stock
+of which, at the point where the branches diverged, accommodation was
+afforded by seats and a centre table for a quiet tea-party, shared the
+fate of the others, and in its terrific descent crushed down another
+fine ornamental specimen as if it were a sapling. Many of the fine old
+cedars have been sadly mutilated, whilst some of the tulip trees have
+been destroyed, but the Abbey buildings have, most fortunately, escaped
+injury.
+
+"Our Mr. Stevenson, at the North Lodge, has recounted a marvellous
+incident which took place on the Monday evening of the storm. It
+appears a neighbouring farmer and his wife paid a visit to their
+friends at the Barton, and discovering that the storm was increasing
+in violence, decided to leave early. In passing through the Rookery
+towards the North Lodge, the way by the South Lodge being already
+inaccessible, they had arrived just where the Rookery terminated at
+this point, when down came the last tree over them without warning,
+and, marvellous to relate, the horse, conveyance, and occupants were
+imprisoned between the large branches diverging from the stock without
+the slightest damage whatever being done. After great difficulty in
+clearing the branches, the party were rescued, but could get no further
+than the lodge, the horse having to be put up in the kitchen or living
+room, whilst the owners were accommodated in the sitting room, where
+they remained until the following Wednesday at midday. Immediately
+after this occurrence, the whole Rookery was swept down, completely
+covering the road which had been so recently passed over, and one of
+the trees was blown on the back roof of the farm-house, crushing in one
+of the bedrooms to within six inches of where a child was sleeping.
+
+"In tracing the ravages of the storm it is most interesting to notice
+the vagaries of the current, as it affected everything with which
+it came in contact. In some cases the force would appear to descend
+vertically in gusts, seizing the top or tops of trees lying together
+and wrenching off the same as if turnip-tops, leaving the stock intact;
+whilst other trees within a few feet escaped untouched. Undoubtedly the
+force of the gale assumed a variety of forms. In some cases it could
+be seen that the extreme violence of the wind reached a breadth of an
+eighth of a mile, more or less, when in other places it was only a few
+yards wide, clearing everything before it. In other parts it assumed a
+circular or vortex form, and in its tortuous route decimated everything
+in its way, tearing up huge trees, as if telegraph poles, and even
+stripping off the thick bark of the Scotch fir, leaving it as clean as
+a rinded pole.
+
+"So far as we know the buildings have pretty well escaped, only partial
+damage being done, and in some instances trees which might have smashed
+down dwelling-houses have been spared, whilst those immediately around
+the building have been stranded."
+
+The Rev. Frederic T. W. Wintle, rector of Beerferris, who, in addition
+to severe damage to his residence suffered considerably from loss of
+trees, contributes the following information which was written on the
+Wednesday after the blizzard:--
+
+"The barometer on Monday morning at 9 A.M. had risen from 29·60 on
+Sunday to 29·70. About 12 noon slight snow began and continued, but
+did not lie much until towards evening; the gale freshened towards
+sunset, and at 7·30 was furious. One of my chimney-stacks fell at that
+time, wrecking the roof and three rooms, and it blew a hurricane for
+some hours, with blinding drifts of fine snow. I dreaded daylight,
+but was quite unprepared for the horrible desolation around me. I had
+some fine fir trees, and others, almost everyone was blown down; and
+oak trees either uprooted or boughs twisted and broken in a remarkable
+way. I have nineteen good trees all down, and twenty apple trees in
+an adjacent orchard. Indeed, my garden, of which I was justly proud,
+is completely wrecked and ruined. The barometer had fallen to 29·20
+yesterday (Tuesday) morning, and there was a high wind and fine snow
+partly falling, partly drifting, till after dark. The average depth
+is from five to seven inches, but deep drifts all about, five feet at
+least. This morning (Wednesday) we have a cloudless sky, calm, and
+barometer 29·60. Great destruction is everywhere. In one orchard
+over 100 trees are down, in another cherry orchard they are described
+as lying as if they were mown with a scythe. The roads are mostly
+impassable with huge drifts, so that we can get no communication at
+all. No post, no papers. The trains are all blocked beyond Tavistock,
+and the telegraph won't work. No doubt the accounts of the storm will
+reveal some curious details. Although the whole of my place suffered so
+extensively, in a field just outside there are several fine oaks which
+are untouched. I imagine the storm to have swept down from Dartmoor
+pretty well north-easterly, over a high hill and down upon us, and
+we must have been right in its vortex: the trees all show signs of
+twisting, as if there had been a circular force. I am curious to see
+how wide an area it grasped."
+
+At Saltram House, a country seat of Lord Morley, four hundred trees
+were blown down, and damage was done to the farm buildings. The
+kitchen chimney at the mansion was also blown down, and crashed through
+the roof into that apartment.
+
+The very fine beech avenue, leading from the entrance lodge to the
+mansion at Bickham, the residence of Reginald Gill, Esq., banker, of
+Tavistock, is totally destroyed.
+
+At Warleigh, the residence of Walter Radcliffe, Esq., two thousand
+trees were blown down, and at Derriford, P. C. C. Radcliffe, Esq., lost
+sixty.
+
+In the plantations at St. German's, between two and three hundred trees
+were uprooted or broken off. The park covers four hundred acres, and
+much of the damage is in the home plantations.
+
+On the Kitley estate, near Yealmpton, over 1,500 trees were blown down,
+amongst them being some of the small leaf elm for which the property is
+noted, while on the Blatchford estate four hundred trees fell.
+
+At Woodtown, near Tavistock, the residence of W. F. Collier, Esq.,
+hundreds of large trees were blown down, amongst them being several
+exceptionally fine American conifers. At Foxhams, in the same district,
+M. Collier, Esq., lost some magnificent Scotch and silver firs and
+other trees, many of which had attained a great age. A large number
+of conifers and rhododendrons, planted by Mr. Collier himself some
+eighteen years ago, also perished.
+
+Pentillie Castle suffered very severely; the house and the gardens
+both escaped with but little damage, but trees of all sizes and ages
+were blown down in all directions, from the majestic oaks of two
+centuries' growth to the more recently planted Pinus and other rare and
+ornamental trees and shrubs. So far all the strength of the woodman's
+establishment has been directed to the clearing of the roads and walks,
+which of itself is a herculean undertaking. The wreck may be cleared
+away in time, but restoration to its former state is impossible.
+
+At Efford Manor, Plymouth, the blizzard struck with great force the
+edge of the lane on the eastern side of the house, and then recoiling,
+and turning right and left, uprooted about twenty trees on the northern
+side, and the same number on the southern side, leaving the house and
+grounds untouched.
+
+At Greenbank, Plymouth, several very fine trees were lost, and others
+old and withered were left standing.
+
+On Pitt Farm, near Ottery St. Mary, a magnificent Scotch fir, standing
+alone, and measuring fifty-six feet to the lowest branch, was blown
+down. This had for many years been a familiar landmark, and will be
+greatly missed in the neighbourhood.
+
+What transpired at the Elms, Stoke, the residence of Dr. Metham, our
+illustration, next page, from a photograph by Mr. Rowe, Devonport,
+plainly shows.
+
+To enumerate here the instances of lamentable destruction to woods,
+parks, and forests, all similar in character to the cases recorded
+above, would be an impossible task. It will be long before the extent
+of the damage is fully known, and where nearly every acre of ground on
+which trees stood, more particularly in Devon and West Cornwall, has
+been more or less rifled, anything like a comprehensive account is out
+of the question. The same remark applies to the loss of fruit-trees. We
+have hundreds of instances of farmers and fruit-growers who have to
+lament the destruction, in some cases, of whole orchards; others, not
+quite so unfortunate, having lost fruit-trees upon which for various
+reasons they placed an especial value. The few facts given are but
+typical of many scores of others, special reference to which the time
+at our disposal does not permit.
+
+[Illustration: THE ELMS, STOKE, DEVONPORT.]
+
+Generally speaking, the nurserymen have not met with any very great
+loss. Some glass has been broken, but in the winter season nearly all
+the valuable stock, with the exception of choice trees and shrubs,
+is protected. Among shrubs, many of the half-hardy specimens are
+destroyed, their strength permitting them to stand an ordinary western
+winter, but not one of the severity of that of the memorable blizzard
+year of 1891.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AFTER THE STORM. THE WATER FAMINE IN PLYMOUTH.
+
+
+As soon as the gale of Monday night and Tuesday had spent its force,
+and it became possible for the work of clearing up to be proceeded
+with, movements in this direction were rapidly organized in the Three
+Towns, as well as in all other parts of the west where men were
+obtainable, or traffic was at all possible. In Plymouth, Stonehouse
+and Devonport, the earliest opportunities had been seized of clearing
+the snow away from the door-ways; to free the pavements as a whole was
+the next important step; and finally, in the temporarily fine weather
+of Wednesday, the congealed masses in the roadways were attacked,
+and that to such good purpose, that by the following Sunday, while
+traces of the recent fall were frequent enough, in the majority of
+the streets pedestrians could walk about with comfort, and vehicular
+traffic was fully resumed. George Street, Plymouth, assumed before
+long a very different appearance from that which it bore on Tuesday
+morning, when Mr. Heath took the photograph from which our illustration
+is reproduced, and the marvellous wintry mantles that enwrapped the
+other portions of the town were removed with equal despatch. Hundreds
+of men were employed shovelling the snow into carts, from which it
+was subsequently tipped into the sea at Sutton Harbour and the Great
+Western Docks.
+
+[Illustration: CLOCK TOWER AND THEATRE ROYAL, PLYMOUTH.]
+
+The railways by the end of the week had commenced to run with something
+like regularity, although there were one or two temporary hitches at
+first; and the postal telegraph services had already been partially
+restored. To effect the latter object, large numbers of engineers had
+been at work, and in the course of their labours, as may be supposed,
+they met with a great deal of discomfort, and some very startling
+adventures. Bricklayers, plumbers and plasterers plied a busy trade
+for weeks after the storm, their services being required to some extent
+in every house.
+
+[Illustration: DEVONPORT PARK.]
+
+At Stonehouse, the main streets were soon freed from snow, and the
+usual busy throngs of people began once more to pass along this highway
+between Plymouth and Devonport.
+
+At Devonport, by Friday, in many parts of the town the snow had quite
+disappeared, though in several of the streets heaps of slush remained,
+and at the railway station business went on much as usual. In Devonport
+Park great quantities of snow remained for a considerable time, though
+the paths were cleared, and traffic for foot-passengers was made easy.
+Mr. Rowe, of Devonport, has supplied a photograph of a very familiar
+scene in the Park, which is here presented. The view of the Water
+Steps, Milehouse Road, is also from a photograph by the same gentleman.
+
+All over the storm-swept district, farmers were busy looking for cattle
+and sheep, and some marvellous instances have been told of sheep being
+recovered alive after being entombed for various lengthy periods, one
+term of snow imprisonment lasting as long as sixteen days.
+
+As early as the Tuesday morning following the storm of Monday night,
+Mr. Bellamy, the Plymouth Borough Surveyor, notified to the inhabitants
+of that town the imminent danger of a cessation of the water supply, in
+consequence of the blocking by snow of the leat through which the water
+is brought into the town. That these warnings were needed was evident
+from the fact that since the Monday night the only water obtainable
+had been from the Hartley reservoir, which, when full, contains only
+two million gallons, or two days' supply. On Wednesday the whole of
+the available staff of the Corporation, including the men whose usual
+task is the repairing of the leat, were set to work, under the personal
+supervision of Mr. Bellamy, to clear away the frozen snow which
+completely filled the leat at the Head Weir, and prevented the passage
+through it of any water from the river. The whole leat from the Head
+Weir to Roborough was found to be one mass of frozen snow. On the same
+day, the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr. J. T. Bond, accompanied by Mr. R. Monk
+and Mr. G. R. Barrett, set out to walk up to Roborough, to ascertain
+if possible how the work was progressing. The Mayor and his companions
+arrived safely at Roborough, and were enabled to have communication
+by telephone with the borough surveyor who was at the weir head. They
+ascertained from him the condition of the leat, and received an urgent
+appeal for at least two hundred more workmen to be sent up immediately.
+The party then set out on their return journey, and again on foot.
+
+[Illustration: WATER STEPS, MILEHOUSE ROAD, DEVONPORT.]
+
+Arrived in Plymouth, a meeting of the Water Committee was hastily
+convened, and it was ascertained that four Plymouth contractors would
+be able to supply about one hundred men to proceed to Roborough.
+This force was inadequate, and consequently the Mayor proceeded to
+Devonport, and having stated the case to General Sir Richard Harrison,
+K.C.B., commanding the district, at once received a promise of the
+services of a military force of two hundred--one hundred of the Welsh
+Regiment from the North Raglan Barracks, and another hundred of the
+Royal Marines, the latter by permission of Colonel Colwell, second
+colonel commandant.
+
+On Wednesday the efforts of Mr. Bellamy, ably supplemented by those of
+Mr. Duke and Mr. Shadwell, to make rapid progress with clearing the
+leat near the well-known Rock Hotel at Head Weir, had been somewhat
+retarded. Many of the labourers employed were ill-clad, and showed
+signs of weakness, and when it was found that no sufficient provision
+had been made to supply them with food, they threw down their shovels
+and returned to Plymouth. Others, however, worked gallantly on through
+the night. On Thursday morning, things looked more promising. At an
+early hour the new contingent of workmen engaged on the previous day,
+and the two detachments of the military--the men of the Welsh Regiment
+under Lieutenants de la Chapelle and Ready, and the Marines commanded
+by Captain Kelly and Lieutenants Mullins and Drake-Brockman--were on
+the spot, and these, being divided into gangs, set vigorously to work
+on the leat at various points. During the morning large commissariat
+supplies were received from Plymouth, and the men, besides having a
+plentiful supply of food, were served at intervals with hot coffee.
+
+Some serious difficulties were encountered, and heavy labour on the
+part of the civilian labourers and the soldiers was entailed. There
+were nearly ten miles of leat to be cleared, and much of the snow was
+frozen into hard solid masses, against which but slow headway could be
+made. In some places the leat was completely buried under frozen snow
+of great depth, and for hundreds of yards snow rose in drifts from
+ten to twelve feet in height, burying the rails guarding the leat,
+and rendering it difficult to trace its course accurately. The young
+Welsh soldiers worked well, and the services of the Marines were found
+invaluable.
+
+By nightfall, when work ceased, it was found that the leat had been
+cleared for a mile and a half from the Head Weir towards Yennadon.
+On Yennadon Down Lieutenant de la Chapelle's men had cleared the way
+nearly as far as Dousland, and near the Roborough Reservoir a clearance
+of three miles had been made. At about six o'clock the troops and
+civilian labourers, numbering about 450, returned to Yelverton Station,
+and ultimately, after a vexatious, but, fortunately, not serious
+mishap, reached Plymouth.
+
+Fears were expressed during Thursday night that there would be another
+snowstorm on Dartmoor, and this proved to be the case. A violent gale
+raged on the moor, and three feet of snow fell, undoing much of what
+the heavy toil of the previous day had accomplished. Much of the snow
+that had been removed from the leat had drifted back, and part of the
+work had to be done over again.
+
+On Friday morning, a special train left Millbay with 200 general
+labourers. There were also 100 Marines under Lieutenants Sousbie and
+Garrett; 150 men of the Dorset Regiment, under Captain Lushington and
+Lieutenants Mangles and Household; and 50 men of the Welsh Regiment,
+under Lieutenant Woodville. The civilians were under the direction
+of Mr. S. Roberts, and the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr. G. R. Barrett
+(deputy-chairman of the Water Committee), Mr. W. H. Mayne, Mr. R. Monk,
+and Mr. G. Bellamy, junior, accompanied the party. The train had a
+rough time, on account of the heavy gale that was blowing, and just
+before Bickleigh Station was reached it was brought to a standstill by
+a snow-drift. About fifty of the labourers had to cut a way through the
+snow, enabling the party, after nearly an hour's delay, to proceed on
+their journey.
+
+On arriving at Yelverton the weather was found to be so bad that, after
+some consultation, it was considered advisable to send the military
+back to Plymouth, and, after clearing the rails for the return of their
+own train, they, with about fifty civilian labourers, started on the
+return journey. Mr. Roberts, however, with his men proceeded along the
+leat to a point near Clearbrook, but so fierce was the storm that work
+could not be commenced, and an adjacent barn was used as a temporary
+refuge. In less than two hours work was begun, and by four o'clock in
+the afternoon a clear way of four feet in width was made from Yelverton
+Bridge to Roborough Reservoir, a distance of six miles. A contingent
+under the direction of Messrs. T. and W. Shaddock, and another directed
+by Mr. Duke had been progressing most satisfactorily, and, when night
+approached and success was within view, all the men expressed their
+readiness to work all night if needful, so that the leat might be all
+clear before the morning. This, however, was not necessary, and before
+seven o'clock a clear passage for the water had been made along the
+whole ten miles of leat. The water had still to be brought on, and a
+hundred men volunteered to remain, under Mr. Bellamy, and work on until
+a good stream was running. Their services were accepted, and the other
+two hundred men, with the Mayor and Messrs. Roberts and Duke returned
+to Plymouth by a special train at nine o'clock. The great piece of
+work thus happily accomplished had been ably assisted by the Mayor
+of Plymouth, Councillors G. R. Barrett, and R. A. Monk, and Messrs.
+A. R. Debnam, S. Roberts, Duke and Shaddock, contractors under the
+Corporation. Mr. Bellamy, with his staff, Messrs. Prigg, A. G. Davey,
+S. Chapman, and G. A. Picken, worked without intermission, and had an
+arduous and an anxious time. Messrs. Barrett, Monk, and Mayne, managed
+the commissariat department, which was no light task, with admirable
+efficiency. Before the party of workers broke up the Mayor thanked, in
+the name of the town of Plymouth, all those who had assisted in the
+labour of averting a great calamity. Thanks were also offered to the
+railway officials for the efficiency of the train service. It was not
+until Sunday morning that a full supply of water began to flow into the
+cisterns, but after Saturday night all apprehension had ceased, and
+within a few hours the discomforts of the previous few days, as far as
+want of water was concerned, were removed.
+
+Although great and growing inconvenience was caused towards the latter
+end of the week to all the inhabitants of Plymouth by the partial
+deprivation of water, things never reached the same pass as they did
+in the famine of 1881. Stonehouse had plenty of water, and was able to
+assist in supplying the western end of Plymouth. By order of the Local
+Board standpipes were on the Saturday erected at the Malt House, and in
+Millbay Road, Union Place and Eldad Hill, and all day long residents of
+Plymouth were supplied from these. In some parts of Plymouth families
+were in great difficulty, and water borrowing, where practicable, went
+forward on a large scale. Messrs. Polkinghorne, at their brewery in
+Bedford Street, Messrs. Denniford & Son, mineral water manufacturers of
+Russel Street, and Mr. Lewis, aërated water manufacturer of Athenæum
+Street, supplied hundreds of the inhabitants, free of charge, from
+their artesian wells.
+
+At a meeting of the Plymouth Borough Council subsequently held, formal
+votes of thanks were passed to a number of citizens, as well as the
+military authorities, for the services they had rendered, and a rate of
+remuneration to the soldiers for their valuable service was fixed upon.
+
+As soon as the Plymouth water difficulty was satisfactorily overcome,
+it was discovered that the Devonport leat, also on Dartmoor, was
+blocked. Mr. Francis, C. E., manager to the Devonport Waterworks
+Company, set out for Princetown to inspect the place, and as speedily
+as possible gangs of men were put on to work on the different parts
+of the leat. Some serious difficulties were encountered, most of the
+snow being frozen quite hard, and forming barriers fifteen feet deep,
+while in one spot, near Lowery Lane, a tree, fourteen feet in girth,
+had, fallen right across the leat. This tree was removed by means
+of lifting jacks, after having been cut in two. After many trials of
+patience, extending over several days, the toilers were rewarded with
+well-deserved success, and the water once more flowed freely. This
+was a fortunate result, for, besides the inhabitants of Devonport and
+Stonehouse, the regiments in garrison, the Naval Barracks, the Engineer
+Students, and the Royal Marine Barracks, are dependent on the Devonport
+Water Company for their supply of water.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+SOME STRANGE EXPERIENCES.
+
+
+For many years to come residents of the western counties will have
+tales to relate of marvellous incidents, involving both great and small
+consequences, that occurred in connection with this memorable blizzard.
+The remarkable tenacity of life exhibited by birds and animals had been
+probably wholly unsuspected, until this recent sudden storm supplied
+the opportunity for its discovery. We have already heard of lambs born
+under the snow; of geese hatching their young within a day or two of
+release from days under a heavy snow coverlid, which not only covered
+but enwrapped them; and of horses being dug out alive and well after a
+night's chilly burial.
+
+An experience of this kind, as curious as any, was that of Mr. J.
+Trant, of Redlap, Stoke Fleming, who dug a lamb out of a snow-drift,
+where it had lain buried for sixteen days. To quote the words of our
+informant, "the little creature seemed none the worse for its long
+imprisonment, but began to graze as soon as it was released. I have
+just seen it, and it was busy making up for lost time." Mr. Trevethan,
+of Beer Barton Farm, Beerferris, also met with some instances of this
+kind. After he had succeeded in releasing his lambs, of which he had
+missed a large number, he found them generally weak, and rather
+drowsy, but they at once bleated for their mothers, and their call
+being answered, they trotted off in the direction from which the call
+came. A bottle of gin was kept on hand for the resuscitation of the
+recovered creatures, and its efficacy in imparting the needed warmth is
+highly spoken of.
+
+Mr. Trevethan's shepherd was making for his cottage on Monday evening,
+carrying with him a basket of provisions which he had been into the
+village to purchase. In attempting to get over a gate, within a short
+distance of some outhouses that stood between him and his cottage,
+he was separated from his basket by a violent gust of wind. Picking
+himself up, he reached his home in safety, and his basket was found,
+after a few days, empty. In the course of the following week, while
+clearing up his garden, he discovered, under some feet of snow,
+a package of tea, which had formed part of the Monday's stock of
+provisions, lost from the basket. The package, which was unbroken, and
+in good condition, had evidently preceded him to his home more than a
+week before.
+
+"Mrs. Hatherley, living near Bickleigh, missed a hen, which she
+naturally gave up as lost. After a lapse of ten days, a cackling was
+heard to proceed from under a heap of snow. On going to the place, Mrs.
+Hatherley was surprised to find the long-lost hen force an exit through
+the snow, and, flapping its wings, make its way home to the house with
+all speed. Mrs. Hatherley then examined the spot, and found on the
+ground two eggs which the bird had laid whilst held prisoner by the
+snow."
+
+Mr. George Sara, of Plymouth, traveller for Messrs. Cadbury Bros.,
+was enabled during the Monday night of the storm to administer comfort
+to his fellow-travellers. The train by which he was travelling on the
+Great Western line from Penzance to Plymouth became snowed up at St.
+German's. Mr. Sara, happening to have his samples with him, and hot
+water being available, was able to dispense cups of chocolate to his
+companions. Some Easter eggs, made of chocolate, are described by the
+narrator of the story as forming an excellent ingredient for a beverage
+of this kind. Approval of the samples of Messrs. Cadbury Bros.' wares
+was expressed by all the belated travellers who had the good fortune to
+taste them.
+
+[Illustration: A ROOM AT WALREDDON MANOR, TAVISTOCK.]
+
+Snow effects resulting from this storm were remarkable in many places,
+but perhaps none could be found more striking than the illustration we
+give of the result of leaving open, a few inches, a lattice window,
+facing north, at Walreddon Manor, near Tavistock, on the night of
+Monday, March 9th. The illustration is from a photograph kindly
+supplied by Henry D. Nicholson, Esq.
+
+At the Land's End the gale was very severe, and the snowed-up
+passengers on the omnibus from Penzance to St. Just on Monday night
+had a dreadful time. They left Penzance about six o'clock, and should
+have reached St. Just by half-past seven, but it was nine o'clock
+before the 'bus reached the point where it had to remain, some three
+miles from St. Just. The horses failed to proceed, and the driver, a
+young man about 20, was also very much exhausted. He unhitched the
+horses, and proceeded to a farmhouse near and asked for shelter. This
+was refused him, the people of the house saying that there was no room
+for the horses, as all their cattle were in the house. He begged for
+admittance, and offered to stand by the horses all night, but he was
+again refused. Not knowing what else to do, he took the harness off the
+horses, turned their heads towards St. Just, and told them to go home.
+The horses went off in the darkness, and he saw them no more. They did
+not reach home, but were recovered alive next day. The driver returned
+to his passengers in the omnibus, and remained with them until midday
+on Tuesday.
+
+Mr. William Penrose, of Bojewan, St. Just, had also a terrible
+experience on Monday night. He arrived at Penzance by the half-past
+six down-train, intending to catch the omnibus, but, finding it gone,
+he walked after it. Not catching it, he struggled on through the storm
+for several hours. Some time in the night he found himself near a
+farmhouse. The people of the house had gone to bed, and there was no
+light, but he knocked vigorously at the door, succeeded in awaking the
+inmates, and asked to be admitted, as he was well nigh exhausted. The
+farmer, however, refused to admit him, and, after a long rest under the
+shelter of the house, he battled again with the storm, determined to
+make another effort for life. He finally reached the snowed-up omnibus
+at six in the morning more dead than alive, having been exposed to the
+storm for twelve hours. Instances of inhospitality such as these were
+rare during the blizzard, and they are worth recording on that account.
+
+Mr. Theo H. Willcocks relates as follows:--
+
+"On the memorable Monday night, the storm raging furiously and showing
+no signs of abating, I left the Molesworth Arms, Wadebridge, at about
+eight o'clock, after being persuaded to do otherwise by the worthy
+proprietor, Mr. S. Pollard, and numerous other friends, and made tracks
+for Tregorden, some two miles distant. The town itself was desolate in
+the extreme, the streets being absolutely deserted except by a passing
+chimney-pot or tile.
+
+"The wind howled and whistled as I wended my way over the bridge,
+hurling the flakes in my face with almost blinding force, but at the
+far end I found myself greatly sheltered, and made fairly good progress
+over the hill until I reached Ball, where I encountered the full
+force of the gale. It must have taken me at least ten minutes making
+100 yards, at the end of which I was thoroughly exhausted, but managed
+to reach the cottage occupied by Eliza Burton, which I entered; after
+furiously rapping the door to wake the inmates, who had retired for the
+night. Here I received the kindest attention, also severe ridicule from
+'Dick,' a person of no mean size, and the man of the house, for being
+obliged to seek help. He immediately volunteered to accompany me, so
+after lighting a lantern, and getting tied up securely, as we thought,
+from the tempest we closed the door behind us.
+
+"By this time the snow in the highway was several inches in depth, and
+the storm raged with greater fury than ever. On turning down Tregorden
+Lane, this road, though running nearly at right angles to the wind,
+was being rapidly filled, for the blizzard came rushing across a
+twelve-acre field, with nothing to impede its course, and, gathering
+the snow up in clouds, whirled it along until it reached this sheltered
+lane, where it came over the hedge and through the bushes in streams
+of sleet, and it was as though we were inhaling icicles, for when we
+turned our backs it was just the same. It pierced our clothes, freezing
+as it did so, and our hair and necks became saturated with the driving
+snow which formed into a mass of ice. The lane was rapidly becoming
+impassable, the snow being now even up to our waists. In this state we
+plodded along for a short distance, I being determined that this time
+'Dick' should be the first to be beaten, and I had not long to wait,
+for he gasped out 'Let's turn back, I am done;' so round we turned and
+struggled back to the cottage more dead than alive, having been out for
+some twenty-five minutes. Eliza, prophesying our return, had by this
+time got up a roaring fire, and at once forced some hot brandy down our
+throats, after which we changed our stiff clothes and made ourselves
+comfortable for the night before the fire, and I enjoyed a cup of tea
+as I did not know how to before." On the following day the narrator was
+able to proceed to Tregorden.
+
+Among other peculiar and beautiful forms taken by the blizzard snow,
+and seen with great effect during the sunshine of the Wednesday after
+the storm, were the huge, shell-shaped hollows scooped out by the wind
+from the snow-drifts. An examination of many of our illustrations will
+reveal examples of this very unusual feature. In the accompanying
+scene, which is a view of a drift in the Liskeard cricket field, the
+peculiarity is very marked, the hollow being apparently sufficiently
+deep to cause the surface of the drift to overhang for some two or
+three feet.
+
+Brief reference has already been made in another chapter to the gallant
+exploits of Mr. Harold S. Williams, of Torridge, near Plympton.
+On Tuesday afternoon, at about five o'clock, he left his home and
+proceeded in the direction of the Great Western Railway line. Making
+his way in the storm, he found No. 160 engine standing in a deep drift
+which had formed on the bridge crossing the lane leading from the
+George Hotel. Alone on the engine was the driver, Coleman, in imminent
+danger of being frozen to death. Getting back as fast as possible to
+Torridge, Mr. Williams procured stimulants. Returning to the driver,
+he found him almost in a state of collapse. All he could say was, "I'm
+dying, I'm dying." Mr. Williams, who showed great pluck and presence
+of mind, got him off the engine, and conducted him towards Torridge,
+nearing which a portion of a relief party was met, and they carried
+the driver into the house. By that time he had become unconscious, but
+restoratives having been administered, and Coleman's limbs vigorously
+rubbed, he in about an hour was restored to partial consciousness.
+He remained the guest of Mr. Williams all night, and next day had
+sufficiently recovered to be removed to his home.
+
+[Illustration: DRIFT, CRICKET FIELD, LISKEARD.]
+
+Not long after Coleman had been received into Torridge, news was
+brought that another driver, rather further up the line, was dying. Mr.
+Williams, who is only nineteen years of age, again started on an errand
+of mercy and rescue. This time he was accompanied by Mr. Thornton, his
+tutor, and some of the relief party, who had helped to carry Coleman
+into his hospitable home. About 150 yards beyond Coleman's engine the
+party came across another engine completely buried in the snow, even to
+the funnel. Lying near to it was its driver, who had evidently crawled
+off the footplate in the hope of reaching shelter from the bitter
+snowstorm. At once he was carried to Torridge, apparently dead, and was
+laid on a mattress before a large fire.
+
+An attempt to administer restoratives failed, so tightly was the man's
+teeth clenched. All that could be done was to promote circulation
+by the warmth of fire and friction. Rubbing the limbs and body was
+persevered in, and at length the man gave a groan. That, however,
+was the only sign of life he gave for three hours, during which
+time the rubbing was persevered in by relays of helpers. Two hours
+afterwards--that is five hours after he had been brought in--he was
+sufficiently recovered to speak, but it was some time after that before
+it could be said that he was out of danger. When he first recovered
+speech he was found to be delirious, and he continued in a state of
+delirium, more or less, the whole of the night.
+
+When Mr. C. C. Compton, the divisional superintendent, called at
+Torridge early next morning, to ascertain how the driver was, it was
+reported that he was making favourable recovery, but that it would not
+be possible to remove him for some days. The man suffered much in his
+legs and feet, which are believed to be considerably frostbitten. His
+hands appeared to be all right. He remained some time at Torridge, and
+was most carefully tended. Eventually he and the driver first rescued
+recovered.
+
+A plucky journey was undertaken on the Wednesday after the storm by
+Captain Cowie, R.E., with a view to ascertaining the damage done
+between Totnes and Plympton to the postal telegraph wires, and being
+unable to proceed on the journey by rail in consequence of the blocks
+_en route_, he set out from the former place with a determination to
+cover the distance on foot. He was the first to attempt the venturesome
+task, and the consciousness of the difficulties that would have to
+be encountered did not appear to trouble him. Proceeding as fast as
+circumstances would permit, he eventually accomplished the journey of
+nineteen miles, meeting with hardly a solitary individual the whole of
+the way.
+
+It is almost needless to say that his experiences were of a most trying
+and perilous character. The road being impassable at many points he
+mounted the hedges, and occasionally losing his footing he fell into
+snowdrifts many feet high, being completely buried. He succeeded in
+releasing himself from his dangerous predicament, but on each of
+the occasions he met with this misfortune there was absolutely no
+assistance at hand even should it have been required. He ultimately
+reached Kingsbridge Road, and notwithstanding the adventures which he
+had already experienced, he decided to continue the journey to Plympton.
+
+Having regaled himself with a little milk and some light refreshment,
+he started off again, and the remainder of the journey was no less
+perilous than the portion already accomplished had been. He had to
+wade through accumulations of snow almost as high as himself, and
+was frequently compelled to crawl along on his hands and knees. He
+eventually reached Plympton, saturated with water and sore from the
+difficult and dangerous ordeal he had passed through, and here left
+instructions for some men to follow him, finding, however, that the
+wires _en route_ had suffered very little damage.
+
+
+    THE END.
+
+
+    A. H. SWISS, "BREMNER" PRINTING WORKS,
+    FORE STREET, DEVONPORT.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes
+
+In the first chapter, much of the meterological data does not make
+sense but there was no way to correct it.
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Hyphen removed: bed[-]rooms (p. 141), break[-]down (pp. 23, 44, 47).
+
+Hyphen added: down[-]train (pp. 46, 51, 120, 162), sea[-]port (pp. 98,
+100).
+
+The following words appear both with and without hyphens and have not
+been changed: farm[-]house, life[-]boat(s), mid[-]day.
+
+"a.m." and "p.m." changed to small capitals (pp. 33, 103, 110).
+
+P. 57: "on on" changed to "on" (Whilst the heavy squalls were on
+Tuesday).
+
+P. 143: "thermometer" changed to "barometer" (calm, and barometer
+29·60).
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blizzard in the West, by Unknown
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43758 ***