EARTHQUAKES IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8898, 14 September 1894, Page 2

EARTHQUAKES IN THE EARLY DAYS.

" Weekly Press. , ! BrKoKlßi. Without looking for reference, I think it was in forty«eiguC—a month or two cannot make much difference—about midnight, a heavy earthquake occurred in Wellington. Although it had generally been considered the " heaviest yet," the undulating movement merely had the same effect upon mc as the rocking of the cradle, from which I had not so very long since graduated. My brothers soon shook mc into sensibility, when their ghastly and terrified faces immediately succeeded in impressing upon my -youthful mind the alarming nature of the phenomenon. As far as my memory serves mc, there were no more of any consequence that night. The following day happened to be the one selected for the oath's band's Weekly performance on Thorndon Flat; the elite of town and suburb, generally attended in force on these occasions. Oα the beautiful green award were placed chairs and campetools for the convenience of visitors. The magnificent band occupied the central position, their circular music stand, surrounded by the lithe forms of the musicians with their showy white, picked out with red, uniforms and glittering Instruments looking as epotiees as though just taken from glass cases. The officers in uiidroes here and there through the assemblage aoded considerably to ita eclat, and last, but by no means least, the ladies, tne wives, daughters, sisters, cousins and aunts of the military, commercial* professional, in fact nearly all invariably graced, toe soerie wtih\ £heiF smiling presence! The "Plat"affordedexceptional facilities for a promenade, and on this occasion was taken advantage of to the fullest extent. . As the groups of fashionably attired fair sex, with their stalwart gyrated over the plastic turf, the stnall fry with whom I was associated, also found ways and means of wbiling away the happy summer hour in that engrossing pastime co ornamentaL to footpaths of any softer material than concrete—marbles. As all were enjbying the harmonious strains of the band, and the tete-utete or other recreations -of the afternpod, a BOUtid as of distant thunder was Ward, "but differing In this respect that it seemed to occupy all' space, above, below and could almost feel it-, breathe ltr., ;ss* tftbouti twenty sesonds tbts continued;, by a sudden alfttklng, which iiaci the socialistic effect of bridging level. The promenading before gliding around ia ibeauty and stateliness, soon embracing Mother Biro> or in various and moat wndHgnffl*" l attitudes; musicians, musicstands, brass instruments and fluttering music leaves appeared one mass of confusion. This tremolo movement, which was not upon the programme, brought the performance v to a close. Although I was very young at tne tithe, I retain a distinct recollectioa of the fact that everyone left the gronnde Iα abything but a leisurely manner. My next experience, .was of, a more serious description. Any of the young fellows now Iα Wellington who went through, the ordeal must still have a lively .remembrance of . tße scene of. the 2?nd January, ?£d..<-It was on.t&fe hlffltt albe'r the Bnrnham Water races. The town was busy '^Jn^ ( j?oneequence n of the presence of nnmSroi» visitors from all paitsoC the province, who had the fifteenths anniversary sports, and regatta,, Shortly after bine o'clock I had noiselessly retired ,to rest, and found my companions all in the land of dreams, ' when the sickening rumble commenced; 1 the creaking of. timbers gradaally" itfereaeiog. I called loudly " Aα earthquake!" All hands were soon up, and staggering i about In the endeavour to don their i apparel, with one exception—he had been to the races and slept soundly.. Wβ went to see why he was not on the move With the rest, and fodod him in the dark, ftlckIng, and protesting in load tones against tbe of his bunk Which was taking place, when we discovered that numerous psckeeea—Juefclly soft ones—of Marions sizes had rolled off'Ajatack right on top of him.. t the eaqee of lne-/eenve <@ne Woily isa|d«a," Ledurolone, st& buy • nutbo,qfk,? Oar outeide staircase had been demolished by a t fatting chimney, and pur retreat oat iji we wer * cojopeiled to make our way as best we could oat of the windows, along roof ridge and omhousea, in order to reach.the ground, whioh (he whole time continual tremor* . - , liambfcon Quay then consisted of bat one street, which ran along the foot «f the plateau called the Terrace, - Oat we rusHed to see what damage was being oone, and to escape damage. k»\oa&< selves, when, oh horrors! tbe eea was slowly hnbaarely babbl|ug over the breastwork ah'd Into some of the estftbHshtßeati. Wpraea and children half, clad were raefaiojc to and fro, wrtagiag their hatidf, pmyingaDd cryina, ntraid toetjiywithln their houses, and terrified atjtbe sigltt of the encroaching i{<A wave. Many immeaiately fled to the Terrace for fear oi.lnttndation, bat soon returned upon finding ' that the sea had recedeg, The : the next moniiog would lead the observer Iα IcnagiQ* Jtliat j&'was ' beings drained by somn ; agency so far, had the tide eblpClvavifig boats high and dry, which had. previously 1 been anchored In deep water. '- - '■ •; j The latariora o% the tratf&eae places were' J Iα an awful plight, especially w>, \ eonfeetloncra and hoMe; the. odeor allsitfg from the sadden rnlxtnz* oi eaemietl* I

could be detected pervading the already slightly sulphurous* atmosphere long before reaching those places* As for the hotels, the destruction and loss of fermented and spirituous liquors therein was enough to satisfy the desire of the most ardent prohlbltionlet if there had been aay* or bring tears of sorrow from the otbera, as the stimulating: spirits and refreshing bitter of Hennes»y, Kinahan, Bass and AllsopV escaped from their chrystal bonua*re, and mingling ran o.'er floor and footpath; one could almost swim in them.

I "With the Insatiable cariosity of youth with my companions I visited nearly every part of the city, and in the com so of our tour of inspection met with an adventure which would have resulted in broken : limbs or necks, to any but boya on the trot. As we tamed up from the quay, leaving what little light there was behind we had put on a apart in order to visit) a distant part of Thorndon, and had just got abreast of the Government House when we suddenly found ourselves sprawling in a crevice of about three feet wide and two deep, which had opened right across the roadway. However, as there were no bones broken, we continued our journey rather elated than otherwise by the exciting iucident. Fortunately brick buildings were scarce in the Empire city at the time, and brick chimneys were equally so on the morning following this event. Whole families might be seen camping on the green outside their houses with their blan&qts and wraps around them. TMe, however, was only in the case of tbdbe.who were fortunate or unfortunate enough—l don't know which ! Way to put it—to have their smoke stacks left standing ac they would be in constant) dread of bearing, and perhaps feeling them coming about their ears at any moment while within. However, "Bα an inoko" (the nnborn God of earthquakes) confined in the womb of his mother earth had ceased to plunge; for the remainder of the night that parent behaved in a more rational manner, and with the exception of « few slight tremors, extending over the apace of two or three days, none of a violent nature occurred for many years after, "kai fee moe te Rα " (Rα had gone to sleep again). The earthquakes of more recent years have never equalled in violence those of the early days, always excluding eruptions. Now without in the least being desirous of taking the wind out of the naps of seismic scientists, I venture to predict that the narrow strip of land of which this country o£ our adoption is comprised, with Its numerous safety valves, in the form of volcanoes, boiling springs, apoufcirig geyeere, fumarolea, &c, always open, will never, to any serious extent, be affected by these unpleasant visitations. Kokiri.