WAIMANGU'S GIANT FORCE.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15869, 7 April 1917, Page 3

WAIMANGU'S GIANT FORCE.

GREAT CRATER FORMED.

TEIiltli'YIXG DISTUHBAXCE

WIDE AI'EA DEVASTATED

Not si'icc the eruption of Tarawera in 1383. -whan 'the famous pink and white tcrraces were destroyed, has the thermal region experienced such a disturbance as that which commenced early in Sunday morning, and -which is still raging with only slightly less -violence (saya "Wednesday's Auckland "Herald' 1 ). So tremendous has been tho disturbance that tho configuration and contour of the country in the vicinity of tho old Waimangu. eratciv, is changed to such an extent that it will now be hardly recognisable to many people who visited the region in times past. Old Waimangu itec'f, which was considered a giant geyser, fades into insignificance when compared with the tremendous activity -which is now going on all over tho well-known Frying-pan Flat, and also in an area ihat was outside tho Fh-.t itself. The wholo of the Frying-pan Flat has disappeared. Numerous mounds, cones, and blow-holes have been formed, and to-day, the area of thermal activity is doublo tho size of the former email valley, whoso warm and steaming suriace, though weird and uncajiny, -was regarded as safe to walk on in most Marts. DEPOSIT 100 FT DEEP. To venture nearer tho scene of the actual disturbaueo than 300 or 400 yards, is to invito disaster, for deep fissures and small chasms and ravines, havo opened up, and a further change ill the formation of tho country iu the vicinity is expected to take place. The original entrance to Frying-pan Flat has been built up by deposit cjeeted bu "r, :,y ' <0 "• height of at least l o • va " l \ v leading aw-av from tho flat, in n southerly direction, toeminence on "ivhich the ruins ot the accommodation house now stand, jas been considerably altered in appearance and built up by layers of deposit to a far greater height. 1 o-day a strong south-easterly wind was blowing, driving to some extent the clouds of steam towards Lake Eotomansuia at the back, and an opportunity was taken by Guide Alfred AVarbriok to more closely examine the area; in enipH°!\- "o is of opinion that the activity dLsnlayc! is not merely thermal. It is a volcanic disturbance, except that, there is no flame. Half the ma.torial iteing ejected >s dry, but in other parts liquid matter is being thrown forth, the area t.li iit lormed the original Fry-ing-pan I;la,t now resembles a huge, crater, in. which. there are several smaller craters oi> blow-holes. ■ f r*° I f ar aS . t ;' lo clouds of steam permit- ■ sea tho guide. t 0 observe the. affected OTCjr, there appeared to be five largo blow-holes. Ouo is on the scruth side, a larger one is on the north-west, side, another taces the east, and two face t-.ie north. The latter two were violently active on Sunday, and threw h'ige stones and boulders of moderate size to an estimated height of 3000 ft. f rom each and several of the blow-holes shots are constantly taking plate toqo/u\ Teaching a height of fully 800 ft and 1000 ft. SUBTEPJIANEAX FUP.Y. I he_ spcctaelo is most weird and a weinspiring. j.ho throbbing of the-earth/s surface., the thunderous roar as steam, mud, and stones are sent hurling hundreds of ieet into tho air, the dense o otids of steam arc nerve-wracking to s-ho onlooker. Tho wholo gcono suggests tho unknown forces of Nature m a fury. The long pent-up forces of subterranean .Nature aro at- work in a manner that is truly terrifying, and the escap-j of energy is causing fearful havoc. Gibraltar Pock is still standing, but in a. very exposed position. Tho hill at tho back of tho roek has either been blown or has crumbled away. The western hill, at tlio foot of which stood tho old bathhouse, has also been blown away to a considerable^tent, and tho position of tho hill is now fully 1-30 yards to the westward from its original position. The bathhouse has been entirely demolished, and tlio sito on which it formerly stood is now almost iu tho centre of the huge crater formed over Frying-pan Flat. Tho old Waimangu Geyser, which lies to the south end contiguous to tho prcsfnt scene of activity, is quiescent. Echo crater, in whieli there ha« been a small lako for many years, is also quite normal.

AVild devastation has been inflicted over a large area of countryside, extending from TVainiangu in a fan or funnel shape towards the Rainbow Mountain. Tho blast of superheated air, accompanied by a 'torrent of steam, mud, sand, and _ stones, travelled up tho valley leading from the old Frying-pan Flat. The. accommodation house -was just within the radius of the tempest on tho right-hand side. Had tho house been (situated a chain and a half to the wes's, it would have escaDed the torrent, although, probably, "it would not havo escaped destruction. "WITHERING TEMPEST. Experts are of the opinion that what was actually responsible .for wrecking the. house was .a terrific concentrated blast of very hot air, which was driven up the valley, lt ,nd formed a kind of funnel for its jiassage.' lb was this sudden blast that unroofed th« building, broke windows, flung water-tanks about lite pieces of paper, scorched the vegetation, and spread destruction over everything, that faced its withering forei!. The torrent of debris followed. Tho house tells its own story. All that remains is a skeleton of the building. The. roof was torn off bodily, and sheets of corrugated iron and timbers of all sizes and shspts uwe scaUcrod in every direction. Impelled by a cyclonic air l'orce, somo timbers arc now lying fully one* milo from tho ruiris of the house. In its pa&sage through the air one plank penetrated the front and back walls of an outhouse. The walls of the house sre coated with a sandy formation several inches thick., The roof of ail adjacent shel-ter-shed, standing on the brow of a hill, was torn from its fastenings and deposited several feet away. Six-inch kauri and totara poets, which supported the roof, were snapped into two. Inside the accommodation is desolation.. Furniture is broken into small pieces, partition walls have collapsed. whilst everywhere there is » thick coating of solidified sand and m ud. Vegetation in the immediate vicinity j> covered to a depth of several feet. The huge stones ejected have pierced the covering of debris and sunk out of sight. Many havo burst into thousands of pieces on coming into contact with the earth. At the wide end of the fan ehaip®, which extended across Lake Okaru to a distance of fully three miles and a half, the earth is lightly sprinkled with a line powdery material. THE PLIGHT OF THE McCORMICKS. It is. evjdent that > the . first earth shaking explosion awakened Mr and Mrs McCormick in the accommodation house, but the guide at first took little notice of it, being accustomed to the sound of Mother Earth's convulsions, or thinking perhaps betwixt sleeping and waking that thunder accounted for the noise (says.the Auckland "Star")At the second rumble, however, Mrs McCormick got up and went to the win-dow-and exclaimed. ''01), "Waimangu Vs playing." ami almost immediately there came a terrifying uproar, and they were in semi-darknessj whilo

hcarr stones began to rat tie on tao roof." Seeking eai'ety under tlio beet they decided to dress, b.it liardlv liad beeiin to gropo for their clothes u a blast of cyclonic force struck tlio building, snatching off the roof as though it were paper. At the. same time the window crashcd in. und they were immediately batned in scald ins steam, which beat luriously againstthe side of the bouse. Their dreadful struggle for lite then started amid an inferno of noiso and falling mud. It will probably ever remain a mystery to Mr how nnv of them survived the frighttul ordeal 'long enough to escape irom their house to tho roadway. «v a strange perversity of .fate, while tno human reeidontt; within tho stricken area buffered so terribiy, a horse in a stable j list over the brow of the Jnli was alive and unharmed wheu Jus loose-box was' opened, while a number of fowls and turkeys finding refuge were strutting about to-day amid the wreckage of their old quarters 1 athctic witnesses remained in and about tiio ruinod accommodation-house of the awful suddenness with which disaster overtook tho ill-fated family, and the frantic haste of their flight. On a chair by tlte Ikiv's bed lay a- pair or child's kinckers and a blouse, where they had been laid on the baturday nii T ht. On a peg bung a hat of Mrs McCormick. tlio ribbons and trimV>y a t-t-nuige irony untouched by tho destructive writer of mucl which lay piled in every part of the room, and a few yards from tlio building a pair of childV sucked off bj tli-e hot. ooze and abandoned, incontinently in the panic pi flight..