LATER NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1733, 14 June 1886, Page 2

LATER NEWS.

Auckland, Saturday. Mr Mcßae, hotelkeeper, states:— About 12.30 it began to shake, and shook continuously, for an hoar before. thi eruption broke oat When this was firat seen it was just like a small cloud on the mountain, with flashes of ■ lightning of great brilliancy. All were got out of v bed, and we went up to the old Missioa Station to ascertain the/ canse of the oc-fr cur rence, when we saw a sight that no personSyho saw it can ever forget. Apparently the Mount bad three craters, and Barnes were shooting up > folly s> thousand feet high. /There seemed to be a continuous shower of bslls of fire for miles around. As a ttorm appeared to be coming on, .we returned to the hotel, and shortly afterwards what seemed to be heavy hail stones cam* pouring on the roof ; which continued fdr about a quarter of. an hour. This was succeeded by a fell of heavy stones, fire] balls, and mud lava falling after the manner of rain.: The weight of these stitistancefupo6 the roaf soon began to tell. The first' portion that gave r waj under tHe strainjwas the detached kitchen and pantry, and then, we all collected m the smokmjf-rboni.: Those present' wire —Mr and Mrs Humphries, Minnet of the Terrace Hotel, Stubbed agentleinehstayj insj at the ! Terrace Botel, Bambridgi : (English tourist), ■ Fallan (storekeeper)* : George Baker :(cook)i Mary Keen, Mary Bridan, John and William Bird (my 'brother,B-iri-iaw)'»: one pt, whom; had ;*>•? rived the preyi&ns night f rom Rotorui- ; with a waggon load of goods .for. ;'tlii store. There were- also eotne Maoris m the houses The roof of the hotelgayo way about half-past four a.m. with a loud crash. .The whole upper story collansed, the debris falling into the rooms below. We left the smoking-room and i went into the drawing-room, which, as it was the newest part of the house, wa thought would stand longest, bat it ttasr with the 'greatest difficulty that we got there, owing to the felling stones arid mud, wiich impeded us when w went outside. Everybody, without exception WW cppl and self possessed. The back, part of the house, m which was.the din*: lrig-rooin,' gaVe way nextj . andtiall of a sudden we heard a fearful crash and roar, as if thousands of toas of stuff were falling. We ..heard the . balcony come down. . The danger of our position was now fearfully apparent. Bambridge remarked on the fact, and suggested we shonid engage, m religious service. He remarked, with awful calmness,' he eri pected to be before bis Maker m an hour or so. We acquiesced, and Bambridge read a portion of Scripture and Said a prayer m whioh all fervently joined* As some agreed, we should teake m -effort to Ba ve ourselves,- .with this object we determined: to .leave fhe Hotel and makt for the first Maori whare we saw stand* ing.- At this time a terrific gale was blowing, and hot stones and mud still descended incessantly.^ .We agreed "to Btick together; J Mrs and Mr Humphries and Bambridge went out first, and land the two girls followed with the rest. It .was so dark we could not see a yard be. fpre us, anddfrected. our way by instinct, calling to one another frequently to ascertain outfre'latiVe One of the men, myself, and the two girls atriyed at whare, when ,wi found that Md ,and Mrs Humphries, Minnett, Stupps, Bambridge, .and I Baker were missing. , In a shower . .of stones and mad I went but [to try and find where they were, I found Baker stuck against a tree and took him to the whare, and went back to the hotel to find the others. - Found Stubbs and ; MinneMA who, • haying groped about for soine\ timey - had , returned to t be drawing roym, I directed them to the whare r and A then went towards the wharepurii. My delight was great when I heard-the voice of Humphries answering my shout. \ H* »nd his wife were making for lHa carved house, arid they reached there and remained all nighty i|tre4 to the Wttare looking for Bambfiqge, but coulcft get no Answer, and have not seen him since. My belief is that he'wVsistunned by falliug stones, and' buried udder< mud which' now lies fiv-s^^ffitot,;. deep, all.\ over the settlement, covering everything up. At hfclf-pasl six I got a candle, m a bottle, and went up to the residence, ot the Hazzard family. -It was scill pouring mud and st«nes, ! and I wns. knocked down three or four times, I had previonsly been. struck down, many -^iivea when looking for others. .. When I reached the school residence I found the two eldest naughters, a Maori girl, Blythe (Government Surveyor), and AsJ sistant .Lnndopv .Some. w,«re. sheltered m a fowl house, arid others under the lee part of the house, the wall ef which was still standing. The house wai m ruins and flames, and could see no signs of Mr' or Mrs Hazzard and the other children. I sent the party down to Sophia's whare, and thence, soon as a- glimpse v of daylight came, wluoh- was about 8 o'clock, all the party with the exception of .John Bird and myself started for Botorna. We looked again for Barabrid go and made a search for Mr «nd Mrs Has/zard, but wei^ .urisuccessfulj ., and then "coHected 1 .th^ horses^ -an3 *'B&rt^ ; for Ohinemutu; ; When we got a couple of mil«s on the;road we. met HdmphrieS| Minnett r and BlythjreturDibg with Douglas and Constable Mojdney, who had rid* den from Rotorua. V^ all returned to Te Wairoa,, : ahd coin^e'nced tp^die for the bodies' of tl»e" jß^saripls, fend: tb«ur great astonishment; discoyered Mrs 1 Hnz» zard alive. Two childrtn- .were found dead besidefher, but she.was npt greatly injured. We, continued. operations until quite exhausted^ but found no bodies. Carried Mrs lilazzard to Spplna's #hare, and applied as 'resbratiVesbrandyi and port wine, which were : lhe only things _ we' could get;' . ; , ■ •■ --y ■ : -^ • ■' \ '-''■■'' The relief party, [ headed by Dunbar Johnston (Government agent), and E. Uobertson (coach: proprietor) have : arrived; ' Z \{ ';'■' ■'-;.■ -'J ■■ . '■'• "• '-'' ; Mr Bart, • surveyor, , has been found safe, having got tWrbugo to Galatea. The bodies of Hnzzard and children have been recovered — inquest proceeding. An old Maori du*g his way out of his whar» after being- buried for^ houw^/Numbiirs. of cattle Land horses^^ : ha^e\:«lready .died froirii w^nt bfvfejwiS "iSjbpjiia^Jiel w^lU knoj^n Maori gui^e r on being-interviewed laid shetfcad j distributed the clothing iir the store to the natives who escaped al> most ; nskedi ' She' lost ' two wooden . hoones aud a s,tor,e at_ Wairqa. , Th« whare -Wterfe jshV v ttveld ,fe- the puly dwelling lisft standing m the once prosperous ; settlement, >nd it is half bun«d iv mud. She Wept copiously , and said that " Wairoa was gone." {She could tell nothing definite about thb fate of To] Ariki »n,d ■Morea Settlements, hut said •■ there was little hope they were* saved.- ; ' "