DISEASE FEARED IN 'QUAKE AREA

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 696, 22 June 1929, Page 1

DISEASE FEARED IN 'QUAKE AREA

NO WATER SANITATION Karamea Welcomes Airman OUTBREAK OF DIPHTHERIA DISEASE is the latest menace in the earthquake stricken area. There is no water supply and the sanitary service is dislocated. Health authorities are taking precautions and residents are being warned against using unboiled water. Diphtheria has already appeared at Karamea, but it is hoped that the outbreak will be isolated. Captain Burrell, in his airplane, has re-established communication with Karamea, whose inhabitants welcomed him with delight. (THE SUN'S Special Correspondent)

WESTPORT, Today. By airplane is the only method of communication with Karamea. Yesterday Captain H. B. Burrell took a plane up and landed on the beach. He received a tumultous reception, being the first visitor to Karamea since Monday. When Captain Burrell returned he said the people simply went mad with delight. He brought back with him over 400 telegrams for relatives in all parts of New Zealand. While in Karamea he made an inspection of the river. The blockage was in the gorge and the water had banked up for some distance. However, it was breaking away in two streams from the side and there is no fear of Karamea being flooded.

Captain Burrell is making another visit to Karamea today in order to take up medical supplies. Four cases of diphtheria are re-

ported and it is feared that others

are developing. Since its arrival the airplane has been a great comfort to the district, and there is a general move throughout the town to have a proper landing ground established. Westport is still without water and supplies are being obtained from a number of wells. Mr. T. F. Telford is health officer here at present and he has ordered a number ot these wells to be closed. No water is to be used without being boiled. The lack of sanitary service is the most serious aspect of the situation.

A number of -wooden business premises in the town have been repaired sufficiently to be opened for business today, but practically every brick and stone building in the town has been evacuated. Huge cracks are visible in all directions. Not only have the outside walls suffered, but the inside partitions also. The earthquake has had a peculiar effect on the golf club course. Practically every green has been lifted and the water hole has also been raised, with the result that the lake has become twice the width it used to be. The brick grandstand at the racecourse was used as a club house, and this has been badly damaged. Gaping cracks appear throughout the entire length and the asphalt floor is broken and buckled. Fissures have opened on many of the fairways. Endeavours are being made to open school in the Drill Hall and other safe halls in the town, but it will be several days yet before a start Is made. The school itself is badly cracked and cannot be used in its present state. Already several of the business houses have started earthquake sales, but poor business is being done, people being too upset to go bargain hunting. However, only two or three minor shakes were felt last night, which was the best experienced since Monday, and a good night’s sleep was obtained by everyone. VAST LANDSLIDES

WHOLE FACE OF COUNTRY CHANGED MURCHISON AREA INSPECTED Press Association NELSON, Today. whole face of the countryside has been changed and the damage south of Murchison has been terrific,” said Mr. F. W. Furkert, Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Department, who has just made an inspection of the earthquake area. Slips had come down from the mountains 1,500 ft. to 2,000 ft. in height, and half a mile long. All that could be done at present was to make a track to get the people out. No work could be done in this locality until the shocks stopped and enough rain had fallen to bring down all that was likely to fall very easily. Mr. Furkert and Mr. L. May, resident engineer at Nelson, returned to Nelson this evening after an inspection of the damage in the Murchison district. On Wednesday oight Mr. Furkert reached Nelson from Picton, and left, after a few hours’ rest, for Murchison, where Mr. May awaiting him. The engineers made an inspection of the damaged area, and slept last evening in an abandoned house in the Buller Gorge. Mr. Furkert said the damage to the road from Glenhope to Murchison was nothing to worry about, but the damage south of Murchison was terrific. Reverting to the shaking off of the spurs of hills, as against slips which usually occured on the sides of a valtey, Mr. Furkert referred to the quick movement of the end ball when a num-

ber of billiard balls in a row were flicked. It was evident there would be no road to the coast for many, many months. At the present time 200 men on railway works had been transferred to the Glenhope-Murchison Road. There only minor damage, comparatively speaking, had occurred, and they were only holding the road open. Even this part of the highway would prove a costly undertaking, for most of the soft filling on the sides had crashed, and would fall off with heavy rain. The present needs, said Mr. Furkert, showed the wisdom of the Highways Board in having a good credit balance at its disposal. PROMPT ACTION Continuing, he paid a tribute to the good work done in the Glenhope-Mur-chison Road, and to the initiative of Mr. Ensoll, engineer in charge of the railway works, who made his way to Murchison on the afternoon of the first great shake and quickly organised work on the road. It was initiative like that which was worth a lot. The “bangs” were due to the ends of layers, say, 2,000 ft to 3,000 ft thick, sliding up against one another, said Mr. Furkert. The shakes came from the concussion of the earth movement ment underneath. There was nothing volcanic about it. It was evident several of the rich plains in the district had been formed by similar actidn countless ages ago, only on a much larger scale. There was no doubt that at some future time generations to come would find the lakes now forming in the Matakitaki and Maruia Rivers would have silted up and rich flats be left. He was of opinion also that Lakes Rotoroa and Rotoiti had been formed in a similar manner ages ago. The earthquake had not affected the level lands in the Murchison district to any great extent, and if he were a young man he would take advantage of the panic and buy up the best of the land at any sale. That was his opinion of the prospects of the flats. QUIETENING DOWN

SHAKES AND DETONATIONS KEEPING ROADS OPEN Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. The Ac ting-Secretary-General of the Post Office has received the following information from the postmaster at Murchison: “10 a.m., all streams still maintaining flow. The Matakitaki is flowing over the dam and has fallen one foot. We have had a fairly easynight with a snarp shock near midnight, and minor ones. The detonations are now easier and less frequent than on the previous night. The roads are still slipping, but are being kept open by the Public Works Department." A relief party has left for marooned families in Lower Maruia (Paenga). It is not expected to return for two or three days. A large gang of men is engaged on opening the road to Upper Matakitaki. Settlers in Tutaki district are safe. Telegraph traffic conditions with Westport are now normal. As there is always a possibility of the landlines being interrupted by blasting operations, radio communication is being maintained. The chief postmaster at Greymouth reports: "Mails are running through the gorge daily with one porterage at the slip near Tiroroa. The weather is fine. Lyell can be reached on foot but communication between there and Newton Flat is almost impossible. Reports, however, indicate that the residents and others there are safe. GRANT OF £SOO HELP FOR MURCHISON REFUGEES COMMITTEE SET UP Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. The Mayor of Nelson, Mr. W. J. Moffat, advised the Prime Minister that an earthquake relief committee had been set up under the direction of the Nelson City Council for the purpose of giving assistance to the Murchison refugees. It was asking the Government for a grant of £SOO. The request was complied with immediately.