ARDUOUS DAYS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19668, 11 July 1929, Page 9

ARDUOUS DAYS.

AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE. SEDDOXVILLE'S EXPERIENCE. A party of four men arc at jreaent investigating the stretches of the Mokihinui river, about SeJJom i.lc, to make .-':-<. that another tlocd will net dese'rd the township. It was feared t'i*t another slip might b.- acting as a dam. tru that bom liuoos were to be expu'ted. The result of this investigation wii! be known in a few day*, but rtt;:gees wi.l rot return within the n'Xt fortnight, on account of health dangers. After the big e.-irthir-ake strenuous efforts were ur.:Je to get the two ft tom Vied men out of the big landslip which overwhelmed them. The rest of the day was spent in trying to repair damage done by the morning's violent shock. Mr G. Tate, who is employed by the Carter Bridge Co operative party, gave a detailed account of the ensuing weeks. The inquest was held on thn Tuesday morning following the earthquake, and it was or. Tuesday that the report got abroad that the river was dammed by a slip. Mr Tate went to Westport to see if he could bo a passenger in the aeroplane which was to survey the Mokihinui river. The Buller had been surveyed, but on Wednesday morning it was foggy, and raining, and the Mokihinui survey had to be postponed. With the very bad weather on Wednesday it took Mr Tate from 10 a,m. till f> p.m. to go home from Westport to Scddoaville. He, with about 40 others, spent the night in his brother's largo house situated on the higher levels of the town. They returned to their houses in the morning. A party set out to look for the two Busselis, who had left on horseback up the valley. Horse tracks were found leading into a large slip, but did not reappear on the other side, so the party returned. On Friday Mr Tate and two others set off for ileBean 's place, some 17 miles up the valley. This was a most arduous journey, alips of all sizes being encountered on the way. Some of the ridges whieh they had to manoeuvre, took them three hours' hard climbing. After lunch they had been on the way only a short while when they met the largest slip. The wholt side of a hil! had fallen down, and the debris was 60 feet high. From this point on they saw nothing but a huge valley of mud, which stretched about one and a half miles before they came to the second slip, 40 feet high. The water at this slip was 20 feet deep. They were now neariug Mfßean's homestead and Mr Tate tired a shot. MeBean, who was on the other side, returned to the house, and prepared some food for them.

Mr Tate and a companion led the way on the retnrn journey, slashing a path through whatever they encountered. After having gone along in this fashion for about 8 hours, Mcßean, who is slightly disabled, found it impossible to continue carrying his pack- The party shouldered it for 5 hours more, and pitched camp for the night. It was raining continuously until 9 p.m., but then held off until 5 a.m. The fire was maintained all night hut was finallv drowned out an hour or two before daybreak. They breakfasted at 6 o'clock, and set out before sunrise. They tore up their blankets and made capes of them, as it was raining heavily. Owing, to the fact that they were still climbing, and were piearing the snowline on Mt. Glasgow, they decided to descend a little to avoid risk of going astray in fog. They reached Anderson's Flat, which was" still only six miles from their starting point. Tremors were felt all night, some of them being very severe. At this point they traversed the only half mile of rood on the whole trip, and continued on until they reached the county huts at about 3 p.m.. where they had lunch. They reached the slip which had entombed the Russells, and from there on made their way with the aid_ of a carbide lamp, reaching Seddonville at 7 p.m. Before they started they had left instructions to allow them five days for the trip before sending any search party. News of their return spread through the township in a flash as it had been proposed to set ont for them on the following morning. The next week was spent by the inhabitants in resting and clearing up the damage which 'had been done bv the continued shocks, and on the next Monday work was resumed, continuing for four davs before the flood swept the town. At 2.45 p.m. on the Thursday the river" was noticed to be swollen and muddy. They decided to stop work for the day, and Mr Tate was inside his house when a neighbour called out to him that the river was coming through a paddock nearby Valuables were quickly collected and a move was made to house* on a higher part of the town. Mr Tate went back to his house to put the carpets in a place of safety but the water had risen so high by this time that he had to be rescued on horseback. Some difficulty was experienced over provisioning and Mr Tate once more essayed to return to his house. The horse took fright and it was only with extreme care that he managed to prevent it from drowning them both. As it was ,the horse had to swim back. The water began to recede at about 9 p.m. It was between 3 p.m. on Thursday and 3 a.m. on Friday that most of the dramatic rescues took place. The whole population then rested in the dozen houses that were on higher leve's and in two or three days began to be taken by car to Westport, continuing on by train to Christcmirch last Tuesday. Captain S. Smith, of the Salvation Army, reached Seddonyille early on Friday morning and did _ wonderful work among the distressed inhabitants, all of whom are full of praise for him. BUSY SCENES. MAKING REFUGEES COMFORTABLE. There were busy scenes at the City Council Chambers yesterday, where arrangements were being made for the 120 Sedaonville refugees who arrived on Tuesday. By the end of the day nearly twothirds of them had been billeted in private homes, and the committee hopes that citizens will offer accommodation for the rest. Meantime they will s**y in private hotels. Manv ot the refugees came to Chriatchurch with no clothes other than those they stood in—and some of those were borrowed. Cr. A. Fraer, Mr H. SFeast, Mrs J. S. Neville, and helpers were kept hard at work yesterday attending to their various needs. Signed orders on City firms were issued so that each person might be provided with two changes of cHthing. Blankets were also issued to those who needed them. Those who have clothes and boots for which thev have no further use are asked to leave them at the Council Chambers, where they will be sorted out and given to refugees before thev return. There are also more babies than the number of perambulators offering, so more are needed. One refugee is also in need of a single bed or stretcher and a mattreaa. Two big parcels of clothing were received vest»rdav from the Remuera 'Auckland) Branch of the Mothers' Union.