THE CRATERS STILL ACTIVE. ATTEMPTS TO REACH ROTOMAHANA.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2174, 15 June 1886, Page 2

THE CRATERS STILL ACTIVE. ATTEMPTS TO REACH ROTOMAHANA.

The terrible eruption at Tarawera, by which so many people lost their lives and so many other* have been rendered destitute, is still the allftbsorbing topic of conversation, and additional particulars are anxiously enquired for. -Above all the surrounding, .circumstances pf, this disastrous outbreak, the personal bravery* of Mr Mcßae and those who were at Te Wairoa on that terrible and never-to-be-forgotten night, stands out in high relief. In our leading columns we refer more particularly to this matter, but we cannot refrain from reiteratin this place our conviction that the conspicuous heroism of the gallant Mcßae should ,meet with suitable recognition at the hands of the people of this colony. A public testimonial, to which all classes should be asked to subscribe, should be presented to him. To say that he did his duty is not enough, though before now the performance ■of one's duty has procured honours and, rewards. He exceeded his duty. At the risk of, though not reckless of his own life, which he carried in bis > hand throughout that awful night, he was tb,e-nieans of saving many human $eings from' destruction. The 'wbmen of. the party assured our Special reporter, that but for Mr cßae's courage and self possession they would not have survived. The sad story of the Hazard family has been partly told before, and some further particulars will be found below. In the school-house, that night, the same cool courage and manly and womanly endurauce which characterised the conduct of the party afc Mcßae's was visible. Mr Blythe and his assistant Mr Harry Lundins played the part of men under circumstances where, cowardice would have been pardonable, and so the roll might be increased. The beautiful Wairoa settlement is now a desolate waste, and it is doubtful whether it will ever resume its wonted appearance again. The lovely mission station at the Mu, overlooking the settlement, with its old church, through the'stained window of which cotuit%jjk numbers of tourists have gazed in'rajJt wonder at the moonlit lake, /^orchards and gardens, its j^Sujalish trees, and its memories of /mippy. missionary labours, has fallen iufider the Hand of the destroyer, and is now almost obliterated. Other settlements have suffered equally, but Wairoa is best known, and its loss will be most keenly felt. The cbjef misfortune, however, which has befallen the colony through the agency of the eruption has been the destruction of the magnificent White and Pink Terraces, for there seems now ( to be little room to hope that they hare survived the general Wreck. Exploring parties 'have been organised for several days past, but they have experienced the greatest difficulty in getting to Rotomahana; indeed this fact in itself supplies the best or the worst evidence concerning the Terraces. The most contradictory accounts hare been published, but our special reporter at Rotorua wired last • night that Mr Stewarts party, . just returned, confirm the report that' the Pink Terrace frad gone. No mention is 'made l of the White Terrace, but the worst may be anticipated. No particulars are given, and it may be that a loophole is still left for hope, but it is a forlorn hope at the best. With the Terraces the glory of the Lake district has departed. They formed another wonder of the world, and no art can restore them. We might replace the Pyramids, but we cannot reconstruct the exquisite gems, turned out by the cunning hand of nature, which adorned the margin of Rotomahana. It is a pity that the disaster of Thursday morning should have provided so excellent an opportunity for the inventive genius of unscrupulous humanity to exercise itself upon. The mass of exaggerations, to use no harder terra, which have found their way into print from the pens and lips of all sorts and conditions of men, devoid either of the power of observation or the sense of honesty, ought to be sufficient to choke the volcano itself. During Sunday the white cloud hanging over the region of Tarawera was plainly observable at Hamilton. During the afternoon the column grew in height, and was a prominent object in the sky. It is said that explosions were heard, but this has not been confirmed.