A MINER'S LOT

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1929, Page 3

A MINER'S LOT

earthquake terrors. ; 5 ,, S • ;V ex Per tencfis of seddon-* YILLE MAN.

The terrors attendant upon such a disastrous earthquake ah that of June 17t!i are real enough to those who spend their Jives complacently on the usually firm surface of Mother Earth, hut tlie lot of the miners, toiling hundreds of feet • below ground level, is. in such, circumstances, one that would strike cold terror into the hearts of the bravest.

Picture : a^,Jialf-dozcn grimy men, huddling in semi-darkness in the narrowest part of a mine working, while the very, walls, bulge in and out, mi' 1 the floor heaves beneath the feet in a succession of terrible undulations: while the air Vibratos with the sound of awful rumblings—sounds not more awful, however, than the omiimu* cracking of the timber shoring, which proves all too frail to withstand the enormous stresses and strains of tlie subterranean upheaval.

Such a vision was conjured up by a talk with one of the refugees from Seddonvilie. He was working in the Mokihinni mine at the time of the big shake, and his experiences were such that he sincerely hopes they will never be repeated. When the earthquake shook the district, lie was working in one of the furthest drives, cutting into the face of the tunnel about seven feet above the floor level. The first intimation that lie had of anything unusual was a terrible roaring noise which seemed to come from tho depths of the earth. Then, with a sickening jar, the earthquake expended its full force oil the mine. The unfortunate miner was flung from his position oil to the floor of the gallery. ' With the ground heaving like a living thing, not only under his feet, but .all around and above him, he half ran, half crawled into the next working, where some halfdozen men were crouching in a narrow tunnel. This, he explained, was safer than the wide galleries because of the decreased danger of the roof and walls caving in. And then came tile warning sounds of splitting timber and falling earth, and realising the danger of their exit being blocked by a fall of rock the miners stumbled through the passages until at long last came the welcome sight of daylight at the tunnel mouth. In that horrible dash for safety, a quarter of a mile of the workings had to he traversed and every yard was a terrible effort.

Tt was just that sensation which those who have suffered from nightmares know so well, explained the refugee to the interviewer. Hie ground seemed to baulk tins attempts of th.o men to run, and it was with frequent falls and' stumbles that tho dreadful quarter-mile was marked. Looking down the galleries it seemed that the door was rippling in rapid waves. The.terrorising part, however, was seeing the timber which supported tho walls and coiling bulging and cracking under the strain, and the showers of coal md rock from the roof.