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.