ERUPTION OF TARAWERA

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1277, 1 July 1886, Page 2

ERUPTION OF TARAWERA

Auckland, June 30. Colonel McDonnell, writing to a fnonl in Aackland, states ho visited Ksrlos station, at the foot of ituapehu mountain, on Sunday week. At Owhitoko, though over eighty miles in a straight line from Tarawera, he could see smoke and steam rising, Tongariro mountain appears to be altered In shape. It formerly was perfectly cone shaped. It now looks rongh ; part of the top and one side have gone. He thinks the top must have caved in, and the mountain lost one fourth or one fifth of its height. Ruapehn ; always believed to bo extinct, shows signs of life, emitting steam, smoke, and jets of fire on the south-western slope (Wanganui si le.) Lawrence Gassen, District Surveyor, who was in the vicinity of Ruapehu at the time of the Tarawera eruption, confirms the statement that steam has since ascended from Ruapehu. He made an ascent to the summit, and states there is a hot lake In the old crater, the water being about 400 feet below the top. From this steam rises some,hundreds of feet above the mountain, melting and displacing the snow and ice above, which thus contributes to the volume of water in the crater.

The Mayor of Ohristsharoh has received the following letter from the Mayor of Tanranga:—

Taueanoa, June 23 To his Worship the Mayor, Christchurch. Dear Sir, —I beg to acknowledge the receipt of yoar telegrams. The persons who are left absolutely homeless and penniless are— Mr Mcßae and family Mr H. F. Way and family Mr Humphries and family Mrs Hazard and two children (w dowed) Mr Bird,-single man, lost waggon and effects. There are about ten women here who left Ohinemutu in the night, and are dependant on charity, but these are well provided for kcally. The above are the bare facts umxaggerated, In addition to the loss of homes and portable property, there (a great loss

amongst a thrifty class of settlers, whose farms are covered with the deposit of ash, and whose existence depends on the weekly sale of small goods, such as butter, &c. Un’eis I hay get some ass stance to p ovide hay for a few months they must abandon their homes. In haste Yours faithfully, R. 0. Jordan. Mayor, Tauranga.

Dr Hector’s Opinion. The Wellington correspondent of the 1 Press telegraphed the following last night 1 This evening at a meeting of the New 1 Zealand Inslituen Dr. Hector, in his i address, referred to ihe recent eruptions in the Hot Lakes district. Numerous ; sketches taken by Dr. Hector, ani subse qu ntly enlarged by air H. M. Gore, diagrams showing the extent of the country affected, and seme interesting sketches taken by Mr A. Koch at the time of Dr. Hochatetter’s visit nearly thirty years ago were displayed. Dr Hector gave a brief account of the geological formation of thj North Island, and then proceeded to give a graphic and lucid de cription of the eruption .and itn effects. The matter ejected fell partly as mud on a narrow line extending from Wairoa to Topuke, in consequence of the condensationof the steam and dust-bearing cloud by a cold S.W. wind,! which saved Rotorua. Thera was lurcher a light grey dust known as the Tauraoga dust, different from the dust deposited at Hick-.’ Bay and the dust at Poverty Bey, besides the deposit covering the c mntry in the immediate viciuily of cha focus. The cmclu ion to be drawn from the eruption was that although on a gigantic scale, it was yet of a simple nature and purely local. No unusual activity beyon.t that caused by a sudden change of weather from a long dry period to cold and rain was observed at Rotorua, Whakarewarewa, Taupo, Tokauo, and other places. Ruapehu, Tougariro, and Ngaruhoe were unaffected, and the eruption completely disproved the existence of any underground connection between the different souro-s of volcanic energy. There was ou the whole no ground for anticipating a renewal of the volcanic energy, but what was the circumstance that had broken in upon the long period of rest had s ill to be suggested. It was pointed out that there were no traces of molten lava, and therefore the eruption was merely the much more than usual development of great hydro-thermal forces, the conversion of heat and dispersal of the same through the atmosphere by the action of water. These occurrences had completely explained tha foundation of the deep terraces of the Waikato and other similar features, which wore hitherto puzzling to the geologists

Auckland, July 1

1 A Rotorua telegram states that several : smart shocks of eartl qrnkes were felt last night between ll.and 12. There was a (og at the time. A Taapo telegram says shocks were felt there at the same time and immediately afterwards several pesona saw fire laming from the hills in the direction of Rotomahana,