STRICKEN TOWN

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 456, 14 June 1937, Page 6

STRICKEN TOWN

RABAUL ERUPTIONS Courage And Tragedy Press Association —Copyright. Sydney, June 4. Stories of courage and tragedy have been wirelessed from Rabaul, where the eruption of three volcanoes* has necessitated the almost complete evacuation of the icapital and caused huge losses. Officials, who include the Administrator (Brigadier-Generial McNicoll), wireless operaltors, who are keeping Rabaul in touch with the world, and police, native and European, are sticking .to their posts in the stricken town under terrifying conditions. Only one woman remains .there. She is Mrs. C. R. Bignell, manageress of the Rabaul Hotel. She refused point blank to desert her post wften all the other women were taken to Kokopo. Mrs. Bignell did not remain in the danger zone out of any false sense of heroism; she knew that if the men of Rabaul were to cart stores land do their other duties efficiently they would require good food and she spends the days coo-king meals.

The First Rumblings.. Riabaul was celebrating the Coronation. Hundreds of gaily clothed paraded in the streets and flags flew from buildings and houses. The lawns were green and the palm trees reared their green heads to the sky. The picture theatres were full, there were gay receptions at th,e clubs and hotels, and everyone was happy. Then began those ominous rumblings thait preceded the eruptions. At first no one took much notice of them, but they grew stronger. The residents who had motor cars wenlt out of the small city to see what was happening. They saw ash and stones falling from Vulcan Island. The wind changed and ash setf.led over Rabaul.. Soon. Government House and either, residences were coated in ash. People were covered in ash; it got into their eyes and into their hair. The white villas that glittered among the green foliage could not now be seen. Ash and mud had seeped into every corner of Rabaul.

To-day, Rabaul presents a scene of extraordinary desolation. One correspondent sent the following message: “The film of pumice and volcianiic ash whch is settling ov.er the city makes it seem like a buried city just revealed’ by excavation.”

Loss of Two Ships. A graphic description was given of the loss of the steamer Durour, which was' on the slipway when the eruptions began, and had been shaken by several earthquakes. “The scene in the harbour was amazing,” said an eye-witness. “The side of Vulcan Island had been rising artl the officers of the Durour left the ship in a launch in the hope that they would be able to secure some remarkable photographs. Suddenly there was a loud report till sea, a,nd the men thought it wiser to return. The men jumped ashore and raced for the Durour in the hope -that they would be able to save some of their belongings, but they were too late, for the Durour had sunk. Some of the officers and crew.i seeking to escape from the shower of mud and pumice, raced a mile on foot over hot pumice. Their plight was noticed by Fred. Hay, manager of the slip, and he gallantly went to their assisltance with his car.”

Another small steamer, the Duris, dragged her moorings and disappeared’.

A vivid pen picture of the destruction and desolation has been given by Brigadier-General McNicoll. He says’ that the present bad situation will be intensified when rain comes, as the roofs of all houses are thickly covered with volcanic dust which will become thick mud’ directly it becomes wet. The roads are covered with pumice as, are the branches of trees. . The general manager of Amalgamated Wireless in New Guinea, Mr. L. A. Hooke, has revealed the conditions under which his assistants have Worked during the past few d’ays. The operators have carried bn the traditions of their calling by remain»ng at their posts in the face of danger and difficulties,” he said. ‘‘Showers of pumice stone and mud drove them temporarily from the station at Rabaul, cut oft the electricity supply upon which they depended, and rendered' their typewriters useless New circuits have been arranged so that, whatever happens, the service cannot break down completely.” Discussing the cause of the eruptions, Professor Cotton, who is Professor of Geology at Sydney Univtr. si'ty, said i|t was fortunate for Rabaul that they took place over a period of days. “If it had happened suddenly—if the violence had been confined to a few hours—Rabaul would probably have been completely blotted ouit,” he said. "If the sea bed al

Rabaul had risen there would have been a violent earthquake.” It is difficult at the moment to assess losses’, hut since the territory was taken over the Commonwealth has spent nearly £500,000 in the erection of administrative buildings in Rabaul alone.