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.
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.
