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.