FINE WORK BY NAVY

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 30, 5 February 1931, Page 14

FINE WORK BY NAVY

SUCCOUR TO THE DISTRESSED

CHILDREN'S LUCKY ESCAPE

Wellington peo.ple are beginning, to have full realisation of the magnitude of the appalling disaster that has overtaken Hawkes Bay, through tho harrowing tales told by refugees and survivors who have reached Wellington. The incidents of the days and nights of horror following the suddenness of the disaster beggar description. Suffice it to say that those who have been fortunate enough to escape death or injury have a deep sense of" humility for the Providence that allowed them to survive the holocaust, even bereft of home and possessions, as most of them are.

Extraordinary incidents are narrated of miraculous escapes, and it is pleasing to record in connection with the work of rescue and succour the comfort residents secured from tho presence of patrolling bluejackets from tho naval boats. A, Wellington lady who was at Port Ahuriri at tne time of the earthquake, and who, with her married son and his wife and family spent the night on the lawn of a badly damaged residence in a tent improvised from tarpaulins and clothes lines, mentions with gratitude the comforting presence of naval patrols. Jmed with torches that stabbed the terrifying darkness, and with a cheery word for all, the sailors warded off many of the mental tortures attendant upon such an experience.

The Port presents a scene of desolation. No praise, it is said, is too high for the courageous work performed by the men from the ships in the harbour; at the risk of danger, they shared the hazards of rescue work with Napier residents who were able to lend a willing hand. The shakes are described as being violent enough to throw people to the ground. ■,' '

Tuesday, night must have been a night of terror for hundreds of-homo-less people; incidents are. told of the wonderful generosity and kindness of people who, despit their own troubles and losses, had a helping hand and an optimistic word for other sufferers.

At the school in the Port the children had been allowed an extra five minutes for play, and it was during this extended play hour that the earthquake happened, otherwise a different story Nwould have been told; At the National Tobacco Company's,factory at Port Ahuriri, where some liundreds of girls are employed, there were no serious casualties. One girl received leg injuries.

All along the route of return from Hawkcs Bay to Wellington sights were noticed bearing silent to the tragedy. , . '..•■.•