The White Island Tragedy

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 99, 22 September 1914, Page 4

The White Island Tragedy

SEARCH PARTIES VISIT TUB ISLAND. A QLLFF SLIPS. DISAPPEAKANOH OF A LAJB By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Yesteriay. In connection with, the White Jslaa.i eruption it is practically certain that damage amounting bo 'jalbout f£Q,<MX) has been done to the works aad .plant of the New Zealand Sulphur Company. Search parties which visited the island yesterday gtato that from appearances it would seem that a large cliff on tihe northerly side of the island slipped forward towards the (sulphur lake, as the debris covered a large (sulphur Wow-liole vent which formerly existed at the 'base of the cliff. This evidently caused a. terrific eruption. Another large blowhole, about 40 yards across, has appeared, four chains iicavor the lake, and it emitting Serc4 sulphurous flames. The late no longer csists.

Appearances suggest Mat the eruption took iplace in the evening. It stems not improha/blo that the eruptien blew -the employees and. their quarters over Troup Hill, ISO feet high, and into the sea on the soutoh-eastern aide of the island, as the aide of that eliff is whitened by erupted material. A portion of the manager's house and the employees' whare, and also part of the manager's wire stretcher, were found by a search party floating in tihe ne# A pair of heavy truck wheels and a largo 'boulder, several tens in weight, were found four chains away lrom where they were previously. It is ctft'mated that quite forty acres have been affected by thu upheaval. The .police party ami other willing helpers cleared away several tons of debris from the site where the men's quarters 6tood, but the material was so hot and steaming that work bad to be stopped. The police will continue the search for Ibodies if the «oa permits them to venture, out. At present, however, there ia a tig roll on. The names of the men whom it is feared have been killed are a# follow: A. J. O. McKim, manager; ft. Walker, Stephen H. Young, J. Byrne, W. J. Donovan, R. Lamb, H. Williams, A. Anderson, 11. Waring, Kelly. All of th<s first seven named were from Auckland, and it is believed that all tnrt Bjmit were unmarried. With regard to Anderson, Waring and Kelly, ther« is some doubt as to whether they were «n the island, hut it is thought probably iliev were. The eleventh man, who liad been engaged by the manager in the capacity of cook, ia known, not to bavo kept his engagement. All the employees other than the manage* were quarrymen or laborers, CAUSE OF THE DISAOTBR. VIEWS OF COLONEL WARD. Tauranga, La«t Night, A reporter of the Bay ol Plon ty Times interviewed Colonel G. Arnold Ward, a civil engineer, who has Always taken _ the keenest interest in seismi* -lolcanic phenomena. In reply to a question as to the possible cause of the disaster, Colonel Ward said in the absence of details, it was only possible to give a conjecture. White Island, he said, was the most consistently net ire of New Zealand volcanoes, thoagh it was quite away on an island summit. The volcano was submerged for more than half its height, and may be tom>pared with the hollow of tht to#th, being merely a swell of cliffs, from 200 to SSX/ feet surrounding an oblong oraler. The floor of the crater stands a fajr height above sea level, and waß generally accessible through two breaka in the crater wall. The south-east cod of the crater was roughly half a mile long by a quaTter of a mile wide with a small lake and several fumaroles. The water of the lake was very strongly impregnated with hydrochloric acid, of a very high temperature. It (had' been considerably drained away toy the company working the sulphur .deposits. Many places from top to bottom of the water were dotted with steam jets strongly impregnated with acid gases. It therefore follows that tin roaka and debris composing the walls would be in 'an unstable condition, jwing to the decomposition 'by acid and vapour, and falls or landslides are liable to occur from time to time. The actual time of any «uoh fall would probably often be determined by the occurrence of one Of the minor tremors to which the island was frequently subject. Considerable eruptions, of steam occur at intervals generally about this time of the year. He had measured aeveral with instruments in regard to the height of the steam column, and found the sarnie frequently f om six to nine thousand feet. The highest recorded yet wag in May 26th of th« current year.

From evidence available, Oolonel Ward attributed the present, disaster to a fall of clifT debris due to the natural causes mentioned above. The bocalled black smoke recorded m having teen seen from the mainland wag simply an immense volume of fins dust which naturally follows a big fall, carried to a great height by eteaan and hot tcir always rising rom the crater. Certainly there had been no eruption of Magnitude on - the earth tremiors would have been felt throughout the Bay of Plenty. At least he had not seen any evidence of abnormal activity for somie weeks past, nor felt any tremor. "Whether the sulphur mining operations or the partial draining of the lake had anything to do with the disaster i 6 vu impossible to say wiUioit further information, but as all hands a.ppe*r to have been buried it seems likely that the disaster occurred without any premonitory signs. At the time th« »ea would probably be at a meal or gatih>red together in their quarters for eome eimilar purpose, and the eruption would not have occurred in working hours. In regard to the reported outbreak of & hot spring on the mainland, v<hile not impossible, he was inclined at present to regard it as simply a coincidence If true. They mußt remember that nil sorts of wild rumors always crop up ] about a disaster such as the present. A FORTUNATE EbiaAPJS. AN IOTERiRSTJNG STORY. Auckland, Last Nigiht. A fortunate escape is that which ban been experienced Iby Dr. Milson, 01 Auckland, Mr. W. If. Willoughby (maneging director of the Sulphur Company) and Mr. J. L. Strevins (oomjviny's clicmisft). These gentlemen, were du« to have left Auckland for White Island on September Bth, and presumably would have been 011 Uie island when the eruption took pla<ce had their original plans been carried out. The indisposition of a member of the party wag the eole reason of the fortunate jostponemeat of the trip. An interesting Btory was told tii* 1 monu»g In the course' of an interview }>y Mr, fitteriis. "Thcte -has certainly

f I'tcn a great deal of volcanio activit* |.c« (.ho island lately," said Mr. Strevin£ *"l2ven so, it w,*w Hot considered to ..frq iy any an unsafe place on whidt i t© reside. Maori tradition has credited the place with a similar degree of ao tivioy for a thousand years, and it wag presumed to bo safe for another thoil« Kind geologically. However, years liiaj Iks counted in moments, and apparent!* the unexpected lias happened. Thermal activity at White Island luie for A loug time past been quite six times aa great as that at Whakarewarewa, and thosa residing on the island have received liequent shocks and other evidences of volcanic activity. i * or . instanee, two months ago, Air., f'trevins, in company with the manager < (Mr. McKim) and an expert (Mr.. Mievel) sent out by English and Canadian investors, had a sensational ex» perienee. The area of White Island i* *nly about 1000 acres, but it* crate* rises to a height of 1000 ft, and i* took tihe exploring party eight houm to negotiate its circumference. Starts ing at eight o'clock in the morning the* noticed that there was a oontimisvl laze over one part of the country. They intended traversing this which, they thought they could pierce, tut when well into it they found that the air w,i* thick with dust and ash, S 0 dense did it become, m fact, that at times fchey could scarcely see each other, and tha country they were negotiating was <4 the roughest possible description. Foi • hours they were in a fairly perilous position, and seriously considered th« expediency of attempting to retraen ' their step?. Fortunate for .the® that 1 they did.imt attempt to do go for i shortly after discussing this suseeeted -■ ohaiigo of plan there were three ioud explosions like the firing of cannon, and the country immediately behind thwM i was the ficcne of a considerable up. hejival. Ultimately the party returned to camp smothered in dust and ash which was an inch thick aihout pairts oi their clothing. At timet, Mr. Btrevins elated, great volumes of smoke, dust 1 and ash belched forth from the crater to a height of 0000 ft or 7000 ft, Th» •rater itself is a thousand feet afcov* sea level and the smoke is often blown up five times as high as the crater, Oc« ' •asionally dust nnd ash descend thickly upon the area known as "the flat," where the quarrymcn had their quarters, and it wa3 not an infrequent thing for it to come down four inches thick. Despite these little experiences, Mr. Strevius says White Island wa« not at all an unhealthy place .to ]iv# * mpon. Men always felt well nnd possessed good appetites, and tihe plac« . where their huts were located was considered to 'be the safest on the island* :