THE VOLGA NIC ERUPTIONS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1519, 15 June 1886, Page 2

THE VOLGA NIC ERUPTIONS.

The following information relative to the terrible disaster in the North Island is condensed from the telegraph reports received from various sources.

It is supposed that at least 100 natives have perished. The country all round is desolate, being covered with mud and debris, and cattle can find no feed. Application has been made to Government to send a supply of hay. The eldest Miss Hazard was saved by Mr Lundon, assistant surveyor, and the second Miss Hazard by a Maori woman. The scene is discribed as most appalling. A nativenamed Mekaki and his wife, who arrived from Moren, brought a daughter who was burned to be treated by a doctor at Rotorua. The native says their selt'omeut must be completely destroyed with twenty Maoris and their chief. He thinks the settlement of Teriki with 40 men and (he head chief, Rengi Heua, nr* destroyed, with an Englishman named Brown, a baker from the Waikato.

The apathy shown by the Government in not sending relief parties out if very much commented on.

Mr Hurl, a surveyor, has arrived, and brings news that the terraces are dft stroyed, and Rotomahana mountain half blown a way, while lakes Botokokahok i and Kakaramea are one seething mass. Land is still trembling with earthquakes. The damaged country is much greater than was previously reported. Tnitore, opposite Lake Rotorua, has broken into

eruption, it being a mud hole notable for Violent intermittent spouting and smell. Mcßae, the hotelkeeper, stales that about 12.30 the ground began to shake and ehook continually for an hour before the eruption* broke out. All the people were got out of bed, and went to the old mission station to ascertain the cause of the occurrence. We then saw a sight that no; one who saw it can ever forget. Apparently the mountain had three cratera,'ind flames were ahooting up fnlly a thousand-feet high. There seemed to be continuous shoWers of balls of fire for ) miles round; As a storm appeared to bo coming'Oß-we'returned to the hotel, snd ihortly ;C afterwardß what seemed to be heavy hailstones came pouring on the roof, which corilihbed for about a quarter of an hour. - This was succeeded by a fall of heary stonea, fire balls, and mud lava, felling after the manner of rain. The weight of these substances soon began to tell upon the roof. The first portion that gave way was the detached kitchen, a pantry, am 1 ' then all collected in the smoking io> m. Those prosent were Mr and Mrs Humphries, Mr Minnat (of the Terrace Hotel), fir Stubbs (a gentleman staying at the Terrace Hotel), Mr Bainbridge (tourist), Mr Fallan (storekeeper) George Bainer (cook), Mary Kean, Mary Bridan,John and William Bird, and my brother-indaw, who had arrived the previous night from Rotorna with e waggon load of goods for stores. There was also some Maoris in the house. The roof of the hotel gave way about half-p«et four, end with a loud smash the whole of the upper story collapsed, the debris falling into the, rooms, below. We left the •moking-room and. vent into the drawingroom which, as it was the newest part of the bouse, we thought would last the longest, but it was with the greatest difficulty. tbatvWe got there, going through falling stonea/md. mud which impeded ns. When we went outside everybody without exception w.as, cool, and self-possessed. The back part of the house, in which was the dining-room, gave way next and all of a suddeq we-heard a fearful crash and roar as if thousands of tons of stuff were falling, and «e heard the balcony come down. The danger of our position was now fearfully, apparent. Mr Bninbridge remarked—in fact suggested—that we should engage in religious service, and with calmness said that he expected to be befpre fas Maker in an hour or so. We acquiesced. &nd* Mr Bainbridge read x portion . of. the Scriptures and said a prayer, in which we all fervently joined. At the Bame : time it was agreed that we should make.an attempt to save ourselves, and, with.this object, we determined t« leave the hotel and make for the first Maori where we saw standing by. At this time.«.terrific gale was blowing, and hot .stones and mud descended incessantly, ; We agreed to remain together as far as. possible. Mr .and Mrs Humphries and Bainbridge want but first, and I and the two girls followed with thereat. r !t«waa- so dark that we could not see ouc hands, and we directed onr way by chance, calling to one onothor frequently in tie endeavor to ascertain our relative positions. One of the men, the two, {girls < and myself arrived at Sophia's where, where we found that Mr and Mrs-Humphries, Minnett, Stubbs, Bainbridge,,i|pd Baker -were missing. In • abowerpf stones and mud I went out to try andf-irad ’ where they were, and found Baker against a tree. I took him to the where, and went back to the hotel to find the othprs. I found 'Stubbs and Minnett, who had groped about for some time and bad returned to the drawingroom. £ directed them to the whare, and then went towards Wharnarieri, and my delight , was great when I heard the voice of Humphries answering my shout. He and hie wife were making for a carved bouse, and they reached there and remained all night. I went back to the whare, looking fer Bainbridge, but could get no answer, and have not seen him since. My belief is that he was stunned by falling stones, and buried under mud, which now lies five, feet deep all over the settlement; covering everything up. At half-past l got a candle in a bottle, and went;- up 4o the residence of Mr Hazard. It was still pouring mud and stones. £, was knocked down three or four limes, . and had. previously been struck dovni-msry times when looking after the others. When 1 reached the schoolhousO I found the two eldest Miss Hazards, a . Maori girl, Mr Blythe, Government Surveyor, and bis assistant (London), some of whom were sheltering in the fowl-house, the others tinder the lee of part .of-tbe house wall, which was still atandipg.:;; The house was in ruins and flame;, bnt I could see no signs of Mr and Mrs Hazard and. the other child. I sent the party down to Sophia’s w hare, sad as topn as- a glimpse of daylight came, which was about eight o’clock, all the party, with the exception of John Bird and myself, started for Rotorua. We looked -again. for Bainbridge, and made search for Mr and Mrs Hazard, but were unsuccessful. We then collected horses and .'started for Ohinemntu. When we got a couple of miles on the road we met Humphries, Minnett, and Blytbe returning with Douglas and Constable Mor. n«y, who had ridden from Rotorua. We all returned to Wairoa, and commenced to dig ‘ for the bodies of the Hazards, and to our great astonishment discovered ' ‘ Mrs Hazard alive. Two children were found dead beside her, but she was not' greatly injured. We continued operations until quite exhausted, but found no-other bodies. Wo carried Mrs Hazard to Sophia’s whare and applied restoratives of brandy and port wine, which were the only things we could get. THE ENGLISH TOURIST.

After having .described the desolation of the country from Tauianga to th seette of the :.er.uption, the Press says I met a large party of volunteers digging around Mcßae’s hotel for the .missing tourist Baipbridge. Just as they gave up the search one .party while stooping for a specimen tops of. a man’s fingers n der the pppf Mdßat’s Verandah, and on the and , timber being removed the remains ot . juror Boinbridge appeared. He bad been crushed by the falling of the verandah and covered with mud. Hie band* were above hia head bolding a shawl, and tire falling weight had crushed him into a sitting position. His battered head and broken' limbs showed an rnatantaneons and paifiless death, without a moment’s warning; in the midst of such an awful scene that even those alongside him were unaware of hia fate. He had evidently been running out Of the front door when the verandah collapsed, and yet those running with him heard it not. It would almost seem as if hej were

possessed of a presentiment of his fate, that he shonld pray that that night should be a turning point in the lives of th.iKf- s ived, and bo only of the people assembled there, as it turned out, was doomed to die, and that one minute afterwards.

An inquest wssheld on Saturday on C. A. Hazard (aged forty-seven), Adolphus (eight), Edna (six), Mona (four), and the nephew Charles (four), and Mr Bainbridge (about twenty-one). A verdict was returned of—“ Accidentally, casually, and by misfortune, killed by the falling in of a house on which had accumulated a quantity of earth thrown up by * volcanic eruption.” No inquest will be held on the natives. rtJRTHKR PARTICULARS. The handsome residence of Eepa, the chief, was partly destroyed, and two Native women who were from it are still missing. Mcßae’s hotel and store were completely wrecked, unfortunately for him, by mud, and I hear the insurance companies will not pay him. Considering the bravery shown by him, and his having several times put out the fires caused by red hot stones falling on the hotel, this seems too bad to be true. Although believing himself ruined, Mcßae was as cheerful as ever, superintending the excavation of his brother-in-law’s waggon, buried up to what was once the cover. Starving horses, cattle, pigs, and dogs were wandering in alt directions, as all the best feed in the country is covered. There is little feed even at Rotorua.

'Wairoa is about eight miles from the Dearest point of eruption. 1 examined the deposit in an excavation. The lower half is dust and cinders mixed. The dust does not seem to be pumice, but mixed clay and grated as fine as powder. The cinders are ordinary scoria cinders, varying from a lump the size of a man’s head to the size of a pea. I send you samples of each. The sulphur fumes, wind, lightning, noise, and falling cinders and dust must have made a combination impossible to describe. The balls of fire which were seen were probably red-hot atones. The upper half of the deposit is dust only, but being very absorbent it has been turned into mud by the heavy frosts caused by the intensely cold nights we have experienced during the last few nights. When compressed it is nearly as heavy as lead. The ruin to the Natives and Europeans in tire afflicted districts is complete unless the deposit has some fertilising property. The following is the extent of country affected as far as known, but the Information, of course, rests to a large extent upon conjectureAn area of 2000 square miles is covered with three inches and more of dust. About twenty miles square is covered mostly to the depth of 3ft and more, for 400 square miles, therefore, the country is probably totally destroyed, and 1600 square miles is much damaged. I think the eruption is confined to a volcano a mile or two in dianu-ter on tiie east side of Tarawera Mount, and a huge boiling lake six or eight miles in diameter, from near Tarawera to Okoro Lake, taking in Rotomabana and the terraces.

The inhabitants, even the ruined ones, are not the least cast down, but seem rather proud that the district is ahead of the rest of the colonies in this speciality. Mary Kean and Mary Braden—-Mr Mcßae’s two servants—declare themselves willing to return to Wairoa if Me Mcßae build* again. Mr Humphries is getting saved part of the Terrace Hotel at Wairoa, in order to build again. I climbed the Ngongotaha hill, n*arly 2000tt high, near Ohinemutu to-day, and could see Tarawera mountain ve r y quiet. Only small puffs of white steam are now rising from the Tarawera and Ruawahia pinnacles. The lake at Rotomahana is very active, and shooting up immense cloude of steam. Kakaramea appeared in its usual stale, and there are no sign* of its ever having been on fire. The balance.of Mr Stewart’s pi.rty that went by Kotokakahi have come in. They report getting w ithin a quarter of a mile of Rotomahana, but uould see nothing but steam and boiling springs. They also report the breaking out of new won ders, near Rotomahana, huge mud springs, fumaroles, and ngawhas. The extent and description are only approximate, as there was too much steam for a .proper sight at such a distance.