ANOTHER GALE.
A severe gale of wind from west by south prevailed through the southern districts of England on Tuesday. In London some lives were lost and much damage was done. A labourer was blown off a scaffolding into the Surrey Canal and drowned. A huge sign-board torn from the top of a house fell upon a horse and cart. The animal running away overthrew a young man and severely injured him. A man and a child were greatly hurt by the fall of some ironwork from a house. Two children were blown off the pavement under the wheels of a heavy cart. A stack of chimneys fell upon a man at Westminster, a flower-pot broke the jaw of a second, and a slate the head of a third. Two men were blown into the Thames, but were rescued by a boatman. In the Pool the vessels sustained great damage. Three barges were stove in off Blackfriars Bridge ; five sunk off Wandsworth ; twenty small boats were smashed at Chelsea. Two young men were upset and drowned in the river.
The gale inflicted some damage on the shipping at Bristol, Plymouth, and Portsmouth. Ships under orders to sail were kept in port. At Eastbourne large stacks of chimneys were blown down ; one stack being carried fifteen feet by the force of the wind. Trees were torn up. At Newport, in Monmouthshire, a large wooden theatre was totally de- stroyed by the gale.
Under this head we may chronicle an useful measure taken by the Government. Mr. Robert Fitzroy, writing to the Times, says :-
" Some of your correspondents have urged that facts should be collected and compared respecting the late remarkable weather, with the object of deducing useful conclusions. May I inform them by your aid that such a collection is in progress on a scale that includes the North Atlantic and its several coasts, and that contributions will be thankfully used by the Meteo- rological Department of the Board of Trade and Admiralty ? 1 he collection in progress is to comprise a complete year's simultaneous observations of wind and weather in particular at the same hours daily by Greenwich time. Assistance by notes of observations or remarks, however brief, may be of perhaps unexpected value when combined or compared with others. They may be addressed to the Secretary of the Board of Trade,' London, the word Meteorological' being in the corner."
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