The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1913. THE PROFESSOR’S PREDICTIONS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8, 14 May 1913, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED T HE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1913. THE PROFESSOR’S PREDICTIONS.

While admitting that the German Prok«s°r who predicts a big volcanic upheaval at an early date in New Zea land may he an authority on the mysterious subject of volcanoes and their little ways, the “Lyttelton Times” considers that there is some comfort in the reflection that in the attempts to foretell earthquakes and eruptions have been almost uniformly unsuccessful in the past. The student if handicappd by the fact that he cannot possibly learn the extent or direction of the forces which find their surface expression in various forms of thermal action. The professor says that there has been a great increase in the activity of the geysers, mud volcanoes and fumaroles at Rotorua during the last sixteen years and lays unpleasant emphasis on the fact that the crater of Tarawcra, “the safety valve of the area,” has become filled with solidified lava and debris, but his observations do not seem to coincide with those oi people who have watched Rotorua year by year. There is an impression among the residents that the amount of activity i« actually decreasing. In any case, the “Times” says, it would he foolish to attach much importance to the suggestions of an alarming character. The line of volcanic action crosses the North Island contains possibilities of disaster, of course, but the subterranean forces are finding outlets for an.enormous amount of energy, and the recent movements of Ngaruhoe suggest that a safety valve is available if it is required. Everybody would be very sorry if that beautiful peak buried a section of the North Island Main Trunk line and restored Auckland the isolation of the past, hut the thought of such a catastrophe need not worry the casual traveller.