QUAKE EXPERIENCES

Hokitika Guardian, 28 June 1929, Page 6

QUAKE EXPERIENCES

another sharp shock. There was another smart earthquake shock last night about 8.40 o’clock, lasting several seconds. It caused some alarm locally while it lasted. The shock was Celt at Greymouth and also at Eeefton. AIARLROROUGH’.S ESCAPE. NO DAMAGE AT ALL. [By Telegraph, Per Press Association., BLENHEIM, June 26. Apparently an entirely wrong impression that the province of Marlborough was more or less ravaged by the recent earthquake has not been overtaken by the facts. Referring at Westport this week to the allocation of relief funds, Mr H. E. Holland. M.P., said the principal sufferers are in the northern and western portions of the South island, covering three clearly-defined geographical areas, namely: (1) Nelson. Murchison am. Marlborough; (2) Duller; (3) the Ore;. Valley. The whole of Marlborough, as tiie “Express” pointed out in its pro test against the grouping of the pro vinee with Murchison and Nelson oi tliei map issued by the Government seismologist, is practically unscathed and there will be no demand from thj quarter on relief funds, it is regret table that the truth is taking such : long time to ’ penetrate the outside world. For national, as well as loca reasons, it is desirable that the mis understanding should be corrected fai and wide. The Government, since it is concerned to let the world know tliatne destructive nature of the earth • quake 'had distinctly - limited "inci deuce, might very well take note o the persistence of this wyong impression.

SUNDAY PICTURE BENEFIT.

TURNED DOWN AT CHRISTCHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH, June 27. Offer was made to the Alayor In the Christchurch Cinemas Ltd. to giv; exhibitions at four theatres under tlu Company’s control on Sunday evenin' 1 in aid of the Alayor’s earthquake relie fund. It was proposed that the whoh of the gross proceeds should go to th fund. It was also suggested that tin Council’s action in this matter should not he taken as a precedent. 'Die offer was considered at a sped a meeting of the By-Laws Committee to day, and it Nvas declared, on genera’ grounds, that the Committee is no' favourable to the screening of picture* on Sundays. WESTPORT RELIEF AND INSURANCE. AVESTPORT. June 27. The quakes have been fairly quiet here since early this morning, but n< 8.375 p.m. there was a heavy and pro longed shake, which will”help" to mnkr another uncanny night for the people The quakes are much easier to face ir the’ daylight than in the dark. An electrical storm, with interludeof hail lias been taking place most of the day and night. The Duller river is in flood. It h now carrying with it to sea an lin usually large quantity of timber, thnr adding colour to reports coming from up-country of the hills having beer cleared by big landslides down to tlir, rivers. Three slips. Nvhieli may take a woe 1 - or more to clear, have come down or tne Buller-Roefbon raid. The passengers and mails got through to-day by a detour through AValker’s Swamp land.

The work of demolition of.the big Post Office building is proceeding. Contributions to the relief fund received bv the Alayor. Mr Harkness, include £IOOO by an anonymous donor. KARAAIEA’S ISOLATION. A PROTEST‘MADE. AVESTPORT. June 27. As the Alotli nlano. which has beer standing by in Westport to assist Kara niea, is under instructions not to leave for there to-day. Air McLean the Chairman of the Duller County Conned (who resides in that district, and came bv plane on Saturday Inst with Capt. Burrell) and Afr G. C. R’ack, Afember for the Motiioka District, have decided to walk to Karamea via Corbvvale. which they hope to reach to-mor-row night.

HOW THE LINEMEN WORKED - A ROUGH EXPERIENCE ■ / AMONG THE SHOCKS AND SLIDES —o —

They ha we handed ;the following statement to the press: Murchison and Karamea are the two districts that were most afiycted by the recent disastrous earthquake. Thanks to the splendid New Zealand manhood that stepped in and organised matters there, the Murchison centre has been practically evacuated. Karamea, with its eight hundred men,' women and children, is in a differeiVf plight. The planes- arrived in AVestport on Tueeday alteration' of last week, and the Moth did not conk* to Karamea until tne following Friday when Air McLean came out. Tt returned on Saturday with serum for diphtheria. Since then there has been no communication with tne settlers, and on Sunday there wore two big shakes that decided the Murchison Committee to got their people to Nelson. We desire to protest most emphatically at the Tack of organisation which has led .to this sorry state of affairs, and we appeal to all New Zealand to 'remember the Karamea settlement in the matter of urgent relief. The Prime Minister's message to the people there, and the two hundred pounds which he has provided for immediate relief, is the only bright spot in Karamea’s history of the past eleven days.

PERILS BRAVED. BY THE LINESMEN. HEROIC STRUGGLE. !’() MAINTAIN COMMUNICATIONS. NELSON, June 27. ■ What difficulties would have been encountered iii getting the refugees away from .Murchison if the telegraph lines of communication had not been kept open cannot be imagined. Life depended on the wires remaining intact. The task, however, was a very severe and perilous one, and tlie telegraph linesmen, with many, workers in <ther directions, have, made history ‘or New Zealand during the past ten days.

The quake cut off all communication with Alurchison, and it was not until Mr R. F. Spiers, somehow or other, made the perilous journey to Glenliope •n the actual day of the occurrence and reported, that the outside world knew what bad happened. Inunediitely a party of telegraph linesmen was organised to restore communication. The party consisted of T. H. ’enkins (the foreman of Nelson), and -lie following linesmen: Messrs O. J. Kerr. E. Constable. C. Nicoll. and P. Holland. While they recognised the importance of their own work, and vluit might depend on it in the way •f life and death at the other eud. he thing that kept them going most •f all was that they wanted to pay • tribute especially to the heroic work ■f the rescue parties in the Valley.

Before describing bis own experiences, Air Jenkins said that it was amazingly remarkable how well matters had been arranged at Alurchison. and how splendidly those who had entered into the work oi one kind or mother had acted. Early on the Tuesday morning, Air Jenkins and oarty'were well along the Duller Road to the Owen, when they found the iggest break in the wires. 'The Owen liver Hotel was a wreck, and no iood >r accommodation was available, and they had to make their headquarters it Rae’s house. After hard work on the lines nearly all day they repaired to this shattered house to sleep, but sleep was impossible with the continuum quakes and the rolling hillsides al round. They were out at five o’clock text morning, working on the lines to the accompaniment of falling hillsides and trees above them. It seem'd useless to keep a weather eye open to get away from falling slips. The best course was to push the work through quickly, and get a way to, a safer place, but no sooner had they got

me section clear than another was broken by falling trees, earth and rocks By ten o’clock, however, communication was restored, but by four in the afternoon it had gone again. Following the line along they found that trees had smashed three spans completely. 'There was no 1 sleep again that night with wet clothes and no fires.

On the AVcdnesday morning it was found that the slips bad broken the lines again. This was two miles from the Owen, and a considerable amount of rock and slush came down with the trees, causing much damage to tlm line. The poles had to he tied hack on to trees, and strutted in various ways. Communication with Alurehison was restored by 3.30.

Air Jenkins proceeded: “AVe then went hack’ towards Glenliope, and lound that a big slip had occurred on

Erown’s cutting, causing I° ur po^ s j ' to be completely pushed i«i" lll( * “ j .. •; : . , .iwav irom, i tor digging tons oi caitli the poles, we were able to straighten ; them up to allow the " lies 0 joined again. At one tunc wt " < - on top of a pole when a particibu , big shake came along, which nca. In i shook us olf. but communication was again restored by 5 o’clock m the zoning (Wednesday). That night we were again at Rue’s, ostensibly lor sleeping purposes, hut not one of i« bad J sleep, dne to the continuous (lelonn- ,. , . v ith the muse ot tious and shakes, " “- 11 falling hillsides all around. On the Thursday rain was still falling, and slips were coming down on the line which-caused a considerable number o contacts all along. The contacts and earths wore too numerous to count. The clearing of these occupied pretty well the whole of the day and it was „«t until ’lling after dark that we reached Rae’s for the night. - uOn the Friday, we had numerous contacts to attend to, but this was an easv dnv. as things were going at that time. ()nlv light rain fell on the Saturday and the lines generally were OK and we left for Nelson in that’afternoon; but on Sunday wo were sent hack to Murchison as all communications had been cut oft. Me arrived at Glenliopc at 1.40. and piocoeded to Alurchison, restoring the line as we- went. A welcome meal was served us at the refugees’ camp and wo slept on the floor of Air Manns, house, which - was a complete, wreck., On Afonday last, the communion-, lions had again, been cut off, and wo. set out for Glenliopc.. AVhen we got to Doctors Creek we found we could not cross the river, owing to Hie bridge being tipped, so, leaving our lon-v we clambered, on the tipped, up bridge and sild down to the other side, pushing along on foot for two miles with .heavy rain falling all the time, and with slips sliding in front ol us, till we got to the Staircase, where we found a whole gully had been blocked, this having been caused by the top of the big bill at the head of the gully com in" down somehow or other. The flood waters broke, and huge trees were brought down, blocking the road. j t was just like the Duller River itself in Hood, hut with big masses of timber being hurled about in all diiections. We waded across up to our thighs in mud and slush, and we managed to give communication on the Morse wire only. It was not possible to stay any longer, owing to the danger of* the whole hillside slipping. As n matter of fact, we could see slides near the rushing waters, sliding all the time. We returned to Afaiigaratn, and warned Murchison of the danger, and later we went hack to Af.urchison. Ev., evening, however, all communications had gone again. ( On Tuesday morning our unwelcome news was that all the lines had gone. We left Murchison at 6.30, and we clambered 'over the tipped-up bridge at Doctor’s,Creek, and “ perbooted ” it to the the scene oi the recent washout. W o louiul that huge trees, which were there the previous night blocking the road, had been shifted like matchwood right on to the lied of the Duller River, also leaving four times as much newly-fallen timber or mud on the road. AVe clambered through the mud and slush up to our waists, and we were able, with the aid of insulated wire, to give communication: The wires which had been there previ usly had been completely ■ washed 1 uway. I left Lineloieman G. Arnold (Station Foreman at .Murchison) at the scene of the wreck with a telephone, so as to be in communication with both sides in the event <f anything occurring again until the last or the refugees had got safely over the slip. All the lines have since been held up.” Yesterday (Wednesday) the lines ■ were all “ 0.K.” and after their trying experience, men were returned to Nelson. Afr Jenkins then joined the Chief Engineer’s party, which consisted of Messrs A. Gibbs (Chief Telegraph Engineer, AVellington), and A. D. li- ggs -hm)., and had come ■ 1 iv.agli tl o scene of the earthquake t- ascertnhi re mirements. The engineer'. d : d ii t return to Nelson until If) i ■-'< ” h’st night.

The journey out was a very trying one, with great flashes ol lightning •iiul loud thunder claps overhead, and detonations.- rumblings, and earth shakes underneath.

On 'Tuesday morning, from a Refugee Camp organised by Messrs AleConnooliie and Frank AlcAVha, they went to Doctor’s Creek to erect a temporary bridge. - They Soiled trees tlierciv making two stringers, and place- 1 sufficient decking on it to allow carto cross. At the Staircase they split a tree in half and placed it across the gullv and dug a track round a siding. By this means they got the refugees mer salelv. a"d then went on to (lev Bank, where the bridge had been washed away. 'They dug a track down the gully, and made another temporary bridge with one tree, which was squared. They then put on a little handrail for safety. Then they made a track up the hill to the road again, where cars met them on the other side, and thus the final lot of refugees reached Nelson safely.

One of the very remarkable features of the earthquake disaster at Alurchison lias boon the way the situation has been handled by tlu* people themselves. The -Minister of Education. Hon. Air Atmore, and Hon. J. G. Coates, who spent some time in the township, and all the other visitors, had been greatly impressed with the way this small community rose to organise itself to collect all its people and to evacuate all over a long journey fraught with considerable danger. In the township almost before sufficient time had elapsed to enable the people to collect their wits after their awful experience of the hidden forces of nature, a Com-

mittee of Public, Safety came into existence, and from the very commencement there was evidence of wise guidance, a ready response to calls 'fur as-' sistance, and a strong, determined effort. A community which lias so excellently extricated itself from its difficult position will not fail before subsequent prohelms. Questions of the acceptance of relief are already coming to the fore, but it may be taken that the right thing will be done. AIR FRASER’S AIESSAGE.

Air Hugh Fraser, Alurchison County Clerk, writes in the “ Mail ” as 'follows :—“ Now that there are so many of us ill Nelson—over 600 all told—it seems to me that we should begin to take stock of ourselves and our attitude in regard to the question of relief. Probably because of the really terrifying experiences we have gone through, we have, to some extent, lost our proper sense of proportion; but we should lose no time in recovering our balance, particularly with regard to the acceptance of money or other assistance. Funds for the relief of distress have been most generously subscribed, hut that is no reason why some of us who have not been reduced to the condition of distress should too readily avail ourselves of the opportunity of accepting assistance, whether it ho in money or kind. No doubt, it is because we have not properly understood the position, that there have i been abuses. AVe do not realise the fact that only those who have no ready I money of their own should line up at ■the Town Clerk’s office and accept re-

lief money, and only those who are unable to buy their own should go to the Y.Af.C.A. rooms for clothes! It is admitted that there are many of us who, unfortunately, have been hit so hard by the quake as to be entitled to accept both money and clothes, and it cannot be denied that there are a fe\v. who have accepted .. clothes or money, particularly money, who should not have done so. The anomaly of it is that some of us who have accepted money are infinitely better off than some of those, warm-hearted people who, in their sympathy for us, have given when they could ill afford to do so. Lot us, therefore, all try to get a correct view of the whole business, so that by our actions and our attitude we may preserve our own self-respect, and the confidence, not only of the people of Nelson, but of tlie Dominion as a whole, from whence the relief funds are being received.” | . RELIEF FUNDS. • CHRISTCHURCH, June 27. I The Alavor’s Relief Fund now totals £3,900; the Press Fund to £1780; and . tho Lyttelton Fund £IOO.

! AVHANGAREI, June 27. { At the annual conterenee of tlelegu.es to the National Dairy Associa- . tion the President (All Arthur Alortoii) j reported that the New Zealand Dairy Company had decided to contribute £IOO and the “Exporter” £lO to the j earthquake fund. | DUNEDIN, June 27. 'The Executive of the Dunedin Cluini- ! Dim of Commerce, at a meeting today, decided to recommend to the Prune .Minister that donations to the earthquake fund he free of income tax. A FORGOTTEN FUND. CHRISTCHURCH, June 27 During the Mayoralty of Afr H. Hol- ' land, now AI.P. for Christchurch Nor li on September 12th. 1914, a disaster [ occurred at the Huntly Aline, whereI by forty-three lives wlme lost. To ' assist the families of the dead miners ! a fund was raised in Christchurch, and reached £llOO. For some reason, the money was not needed for the purpose for which it was raised and the money passed into the control of the | Public Trustee. Air Holland told a re--1 porter that lie had mentioned the j existence of this fund to the Afavor j (Afr J. K. Archer), and suggested that it might lie found that it could he .used for the relief of the sufferers by the AA’ost Coast earthquake, ! Air Archer intends to have tlu* mntj ter inquired into, in the hope that tlm money will he available.

RELIEF FUND. GISBORNE, June 27. The “Herald” fund for earthquake relief is approaching £2o'.), including a subscription of £SO made by cable from T. G. AVillinmson, a New Zealand sheep farmer, resident in England. ENGLISH APPREHENSION. ANXIETY NOT ALLAYED. AVELLINGTON. June 26. The apprehension 'felt in England as to whether the damage done in the recent earthquake will vitally affect New Zealand as a whole lias been to a cm

siderable extent minimised by the action of the High Commissioner (Sir James Parr), who did much to correct the impression that the Dominion was affected to such an extent that her productive assets were interfered With. In a cablegram received by the Prim- Alinistor 'SY Joseph Ward) today Sir James says: The earthquake lias received much Press attention here through messages from a New Zealand correspondent. AA ithout doubt these reports have created some anxiety, which 1 have endeavoured to allay by short interviews with newspapers indicating that the catastrophe, though severe, is only local, and that the general economic assets and resources of the Dominion are totally unaffected. Your communication lias done good by crpsttimi a proper perspective of the actual position.

ORIGIN OF DISTURBANCE. SAN'ISS GEOLOGIST'S VIEWS. . The origin of Llic recent earthquakes Inis boon explained as follows, by Dr. L. |{ossard, a Swiss geologist, who has been conducting geological surveys in Mew Zealand lor several yeais. “As a scientist with personal knowledge of the geology of the .Murchison area J ascribe the cause of the earthquake to the shear thrust, which is evident in the immediate neighbourhood of .Murchison. This being a more or less inclined upthrust 'from the West along a dislocation-line, constituting a shearing-zone. This shear-thrust stiikes south and north, -.parallel to the Matakitaki and Maruia rivers, towards Karamea, and reaches the sea north ol lvarainea. Heing aware of this it can be well understood that the countiy in the vicinity of this line is the most affected area. Reports of eye-witnesses of the happenings in this zone, personal observations as well as records of the shocks felt further away from the centre of the disturbance, suggest that the movements were caused by the releasing of comp'‘essional 'forces, such as are involved in a spear-thrust, and evidently not by torsional forces such as slipping movements along normal faults. Earthquakes caused by eompressional forces tend t > release undulatory movements such as have everywhere been stressed as typical of last week’s earthquake. Slipping movements along normal faults as well as after-shocks are generally experienced in the nature of sudden jerks. “ It is significant that the Murchison reports record an upward movement, characteristic of the upward thrust at the places o'f greatest disturbance. The occurrence of big slips in the neighbourhood of Murchison, which were able to dam whole valleys, are also typical in this respect. Through the upward thrust a slipping off of the outmost strata or strataheads has been caused, which culminated in big slips, as well

as released showers of falling locks. 1 would not be surprised it a detailed geodaetical survey would indicate an uplift of the area to the west of the Matiri and Matakitaki rivers. “Most of the rumbling noises which

have been heard simultaneously with the earthquake shocks can be accounted for as connected with the releasing o'f the eompressional forces, while explanations regarding the explosive-like detonations have to be postponed until more data from various localities within and without the affeetpd area are available.”

NELSON’S APPRECIATION OF SERVICES RENDERED. NELSON, June 28. The 'following resolution was passed by Nelson City Council, which witli a few additions, including Murchison representatives, comprises Nelson Relief Committee That this Council desires to express to Sir Joseph Ward its grateful thanks . for his Government’s very prompt response to all requests made for the purpose ol alleviating distress and disorganisation resulting from the recent earthquake.

The Council also desires to convey its great appreciation of the very fine services so willingly rendered by various Government Departments concerned, notably the-railway service, telegraph and telephone service and public works service, in keeping transport possible. In connection with the problem of devastation relief, the future will entail considerable work and expenditure and we trust the local committee will •ontinue to receive the same sympathetic, practical assitance.”