Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 865, 8 January 1930, Page 8

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

TRAM PASSENGERS' RIGHTS Sir, — How often do we take up the paper and read of accidents caused through motorists passing stationary tram-cars. I wonder how much longer the public is going to tolerate this sort of thing. Has the council no power to stop this? Why permit it? The motormen on trams should have the right to stop motorists when trams are stationary. If motorists do not stop a heavy fine should he inflicted. This is the only way of bringing motorists to their senses, thus making the road safe for people stepping on and out of tramcars. I hope the council will look into this dangerous practice immediately. CITIZEN. AMATEUR ATHLETICS Sir, I observe that a new executive committee has been appointed to govern athletics in Auckland. So far as the promotion of meetings and interest in athletics is concerned, the new committee appears to have done nothing. It is time it made its policy known. There should be no doubt about the value of athletics to the community. The sports of running, jumping, hurdling and throwing have really given rise to all other games, such as Rugby football, tennis, cricket, etc. The old Greeks knew to the full the value of a trained body, and perfected themselves as no other race has done, it is of vital interest to the State that the bodies of its youths should be developed along with their brains. A man who is fit physically and mentally will go a long way in the world. From the ranks of these, indeed, the Rhodes Scholars are drawn. Why is the Auckland athletic world so dead? We have here some of the most brilliant athletes in New Zealand —some of the most brilliant New Zealand has produced. These men get but little help and consideration from the centre, the centre that was going to do such big tilings for athletics a short time ago. The season is half over, and so far the Auckland Centre, whicli should lead all the clubs, has not put on a single meeting, and it does not appear as if it intends

to do so. Auckland athletes have raced won, and the club still owes them their trophies. They have not complained at this, although it is bad enough, but the champions cannot get fit and keep Auckland's prestige high unless they get races. We have had no voice in the appointment of this executive. For three years no meeting of the members of the Auckland .Club has been called. Js there any enthusiasm left in Auckland for this king of ail sports? Why are we so far behind other provinces? Is there no leader who will come to light and help us out? ATHLETp. WHEN ROTOMAHANA WRECKS ITS DAM Sir,— It will not be long before Rotomahana Lake overflows, and when it does some five miles by four miles of water, witji a depth of 150 feet, will rush into Tarawera Lake in a mighty torrent in the course of a few hours, until the surface of Rotomahana reaches the same level as Tarawera. Before the Tarawera eruption Rotomahana Lake and the Pink and White Terraces were reached in canoes, which paddled up the narrow stream between Tarawera and Rotomahana Lakes in a very short time, and there can be little doubt that the Terraces were buried beneath the mud and pumice which was thrown out of the old Rotomahana Lake and piled up between the two lakes, leaving a great dry crater instead of the lake. But soon, water began to accumulate in the crater until today a lake has been formed some five miles long and four wide, and it must be about 500 feet deep, 350 of which are below the surface level of Tarawera Lake. The greatest recorded rise in the lake since the eruption of 1886 was 15 feet in six weeks, and when I was at Tarawera on December 19 last, Rotomahana rose 2J inches in 24 hours. The rise of Tarawera Lake can easily be estimated when the dam between the two lakes bursts, but an approximate estimate might put it at 20 to 24 feet higher than the present level of Tarawera Lake. This would cause a great flood down the Tarawera River (Continued in next column.)

or, say, three times greater than the flood that took place when Tarawera Lake broke through the eight-foot embankment thrown up by the Tarawera eruption. If the great dam of Rotomahana made of pumice and mud breaks (through the lake beginning to overflow), during the night, when no one is prepared, there would be an enormous loss of property and probably human lives, but on the other hand, if a channel ivere deliberately made (at a very small cost) through the narrow ridge between the two lakes, and opened on a given date early in the morning, everyone would be prepared, and cattle, sheep, horses, etc., would be taken to pastures well above the low-lying areas in the Bay of Plenty. To the west of Rotomahana Lake is another large lake, Ririwhakito. I have not been to this lake, but on the map it looks larger than Rotomahana. It is on a higher level than Rotomahana, and I am told it will not be long before it begins to overflow into it. The public of Auckland knows what the Waikato River did the first few hours after it topped the spillway at Arapuni, and how it moved and carried down the Waikato River millions of tons of pumice, etc. The country between Rotomahana and Ririwhakito is built up of pumice and sand (also bttween Tarawera and Rotomahana), which would be quickly washed away and a great river formed until both lakes reached the level of Tarawera. If the Rotomahana dam had burst its barrier or had not been let go by the Government before Ririwhakito overflowed, Rotomahana would be over its small barrier very quickly, and then the waters of both Rotomahana and Ririwhakito would rush into Tarawera, and it is impossible to forecast the devastation and loss of life that would follow. There is nothing more sure than the fact that these two lakes must overflow sooner or later, and I strongly urge the authorities to cut a drain through the Rotomahana dam before it is too late and before Ririwhakito overflows. Anyone who cares to take a walk, say, two miles down the Tarawera River, will see for themselves the great jamb of boulders (some 30 to 15 feet in diameter) in the gorge or valley down which the river flows. The jamb must be fully one and ahalf to two miles long, ending in a precipitous fall over a hundred feet high. At the present time the river disappears in these great boulders one and a-half to two miles above the fall. Nothing but a mighty flood such as the bursting or Rotomahana Lake could have caused a flood to roll these great rocks into the jamb. The eruption of 1886 was not the first time Tarawera threw up a barrier between the lakes and Rotomahana in process of time would fill and burst and cause the mighty . flood that moved those great boulders. Lowering Lake Rotomahana will in all probability uncover the terraces by washing the mud and pumice off them. What a wonderful asset this would be to the Dominion, and especially to Rotorua. Even if they were not found people would flock from all parts of the world to see the site of what could be called one of the seven wonders of the world. When the dam was thrown across tho Tarawera River near the outlet of the lake, it rose the lake some eight feet, and this rise in the lake started Waimaunga Geyser playing, and it continued to play until Tarawera burst its barrier. In years gone by. when Rotomahana burst its dam and filled Tarawera Lake with its water, it started the great Echo Geyser playing. Judging from its size (when "Waimaunga was active), it must have been the greatest geyser in the world, and a safety valve for the district. Some evolution of nature stopped the pipe leading into the Echo crater and Waimaunga burst through the pipe, some 20 feet belov and to the west of the Echo crater. For a day or two after the dam at Rotomahana is opened all geyser* will probably be active, and until Tarawera gets back to its normal level. C. A. WHITNEY* 7/1/30.