A DELICATE TASK

Hokitika Guardian, 19 July 1929, Page 2

A DELICATE TASK

RELEASING A LAKE. ; FLOOD WATERS BEHIND }' SEDDONVILLE. jHeld up by "fT huge landslip, a lake eight iniles in length and from 40 t<> 50 fat deep, stretches’ across the Mokihmui Valley above the earthquak'esfricken township of Seddonville, once ujith a population of 200, but now egacuated by all except a handful of nwn, who ays. remaining behind to cSar away the debris. j,An effort will be made by Public engin'eers in the course of a few days to blast away a portion of tfe slip and let the water escape gradually. It will be a delicate piece of wjjbrk, and care - must be exercised to prevent a deliige going over Seddonville. It is considered wiser to take the-course of regulating the .flow from the lake rather than wait, for the waters to seep away themselves, as there is a risk in the meantime of ajiother' flood, which would probably hurst the dam and allow a devastating tprrent to sweep over Seddonville. r ' | TERRIFYING TIME p UNDERGROUND. y,-These are the observations of Mr G. ' Mulholland, who assisted in a survey 6f the flooded area and who arrived in Christchurch on Tuesday. ■•When the first shock occurred on June 17 last Mr Mulholland, who is a miner, and four companions had a terrifying time. They wefe working twenty-five chains from the surface in g ' hillside at the Westport Stateville. Mine at Seddonville. A violent motion Off the earth lifted them off their feet and threw them on to the floor of the funnel. Coal was shaken down from one end of the mine to the other. The darth was heaving and tossing as the men made their way along the shaft to reach the open. The mine lias since been closed, although the itanager has been through it. Its rewill depend on how soon timcan be obtained to rebuild the damfgc. fl flumes. Four thousand feet of tfiVdier will be required for this purpose. f illing can be done until the bridge, ich was washed away by the flood, * replaced 6r ‘sbme other means provided of crossing the river in order that timber may be transported to the mine. PERILOUS JOURNEY. \ “ They are going to try to. blast the slip away i.liis week,” said Mr Mulholland. “Last Monday week there was sixteen miles of water in the valley.” He described the conditions under which he and Messrs A. Wilkinson (Public ( Works J. Matheson (his unS'sist/tofc) A resident of, Seddonville, made a journey of investigation over the flooded area. •After reaching the slip which caused the formation of the lake, the party

, fyas forced to climb. as high as 3000 ifeet on the hillsides to make headway. pK.false step would? Have"'; meant that j;they would have , tumbled ' down into mie -lake. The ground was broken and Jjjjoqse, and great care had to be exercised each yard they, progressed. At 1 Sanies they were waist ■deep;.’ in mud, Mndtduring darknesW.were/in^-;'perilous flight. Tho earth was- Trembling- fill iithej' time and there iuv perpetual -noise and tremble like the booming of |i|eavy cannon. j?:'« “ The last three miles of our journey the worst,” said Mr- Mulholland. We would not have got through only '‘'that we were spurred on by the knowledge that there was a hut at the end pjf the journey and possibly we might rffnd a sheep, which we could kill for Ppod. We viere doomed to disappointment, for the hut was under water (:When we reached the end of the lake. rWe were thirsty and tried to quench rtjur thirst by squeezing water out of ht|ie mountain moss. Altogether we i tbok two and a-half days to get to F||ie end of the flood in the valley. It p,|?as a nightmare of a time, and coming kfchck we ran out of tucker for two days. if m MOUNTAINS BROKEN UP.

ST- ( |'£v rt ; Mount Glasgow, which stands 4850 P| : et high, we found had been broken for all the world like an eggshell. there is another hill above the r’b'pn bridge, a mile broad and about pfcjX) feet high, without a solid piece £jMt on it. . It is just like a huge pile tm stones.” «’ The land where the party had hoped find the sheep was the property of Mjfr E. Tate. It was sixty feet under Iwhter, and all stock had been drowned. jHßiid though the effects of the earthquakes were at Murchison, it is declared that the damage in the Seddon-

■ville area is far worse. The town was 'Established about thirty-five years ago. jfe.Mr Mulholland stated that conditions are much better at Seddonville iv-tp-day than they were two or three £j?f(iys after the first big shocks. A I'bjnudful of men are remaining in the wash ip clearing away the debris, and |t.he Public "Works Department and fiipeal bodies are lending a hand. g-'.V Mr Mulholland intends to return to is Seddonville on Tuesday next. h