WAIMUNGU GEYSER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 191, 6 April 1932, Page 6

WAIMUNGU GEYSER

FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF ERUPTION ON FRIDAY TRAGIC EYENT RE CALLED The fifteenth aniversary of the "Waimunga eruption fell on Friday, April 1. Early in the morning of April 1, 1917 the Waimungu geyser situated on Frying Pan Flat,.17 miles from Rotorua burst into violent activity, totally wrecking the Government accommodation house and seriously injuring the custodians, Mr. and Mrs. McCormack, and their four- . year-old son. Unfortunately Mrs. McCormack and the child died of injur■ies they received. The whole of Flying Pan Flat became involved in the activity, and a great volume of steam, rocks and mud swept up the valley without warning, unroofing the accommodation house in its progress, and carrying parts of it to a ridge some 800 yards away. i

Inmates Trapped ' The unfortunate inmates of the house were trapped by the sudden and unexpected eruption, and sought protection from the scalding steam and hot mud underneath their beds. As the upheaval showed no signs of ahating, and fearing that they would be trapped in the doomed building by. the rapidly-accumulating red-hot mud, they decided to evacute the house. An investigation revealed that all the exits from the front of | the house were already blocked, but after much trouble they succeeded in escaping by way of the back door. The whole family were suffering intensely from burns and scalds as a result of contact with the hot mud and steam, but notwithstanding her injuries Mr's. McCormack decided to endeavour to reach the residence of their nearest neighbour, a Mr. Wood. Fortunately Mr. and Mrs Wood had already set out toward the geyser, and Mrs. McCormack and also Mr McCormack and the child, were conveyed to safety. Mr. Wood then set out on horseback for medical assistance and later the McCormack family were conveyed to the Rotorua Hospital.

Huge Crater So great was the eruption that Frying Pan Flat disappeared, leaving in its place a huge crater. Some of the "shots" reached a height of 3000 feet, and for miles around the countryside was covered with a brownish deposit of mud. Waimungu geyser was discovered by Dr. Humphrey Hains and Mr. J. A. Pond, of Auckland, in February, 1900. The geyser was the .scene of a tragedy on August 30, 1903, when four spectators, the Misses K. and R. Nicholls of Canterbury, Mr. David McNaughton, of Ponsonby, and Mr. Joseph Warbrick, a br other of the guide, Mr. Alfred Warbrick, were overwhelmed whilst watching Waimunga "play" from a distance of 45 yards. About three weeks previous to this fatality Guide Warbrick and Mr. H. E. Buckridge had crossed the surface of the geyser in a small boat, it was found to be 48ft at its greatest depth, 80 yards wide, and 134 yards long.