ORIGIN AT SEA?

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 11

ORIGIN AT SEA?

FURTHER SHOCKS FELT. GrndS ASSOCU.TJO* TXUCOBIKi WESTPOKT, July 11. Captain "Wahlstrom, of the s.s. Oreptiki. is firmly of opinion that the I i+; earthquakes hnd their origin out at sea to the westward of New Zealand, lio bases his opinion oo r.is enervations as the s.s. Orepuki was plugging hor way down the eoa*t. Although tho weather was heavy —south-westerly weather prevailed —as far as the eye could stc to westward the water was heavilv discoloured. This could not j have Wen brought about by discharge j from thu rivers on the West Const, i Further, a later report stated that a steamer in the Tastuan Sea h;:.i ». ... »ej through vast quantities of dead fish. | A number of earthquakes wei« felt to-day at irregular intervals, tHe biggest being at 1".30 p.m. The coal traJe is slawlv moving back to normal. The railway line suffered badly both from flood and earthquake, flood waters running through the .Mokihmui tunnel several feet high, , carrving away ballasting, and leaving : tlic line in a deploraC!" state. On j certain sections of the lino speed wa- ' limited to six miles per hour, onotinrs to 1-3 miles, ai d over the remainder j •„,> 20 miles, w.th limited speed ar.d j loads and light engines. The Ar.ihura is leaving to-nicht for Nelson and Wellington with a big list of passengers.

FROM SEDDONVILLE.

MORE REFUGEES ARRIVE. Thirly-st'Ten more refugees arrived in Christchurrh last night from Seddonville. Their township is not a pleasant place to be in, they say. Only on Tuesday thira were two more shocks of earthquake and these continued tremblings. added to the ravages of the flood, are unnerving them. Those staying in the township are struggling along as best they c-au under the trying conditions in which they find themselves. One of the most cheerful of who came yesterday was Mrs liain, aged 82. Slie did not seem to feel the strain of the journey and made the best of circumstances.

Yesterday's party was mostly women j and children. They left Seddonville at 4 o'clock on Wednesday, arriving at West port three hours later. Here they were billet ted out. Ihey started out yesterday morning at 5.30 o'clock in buses to connect with the e-press at Stillwater In some places in the Boiler Gorge slips partially blocked the route and they were forced to get out and walk. They joined the slow train at Reef ton tinder the care of Captain Smith, of tho Salvation Army. Lust night they were met by the Mavor (Mr J. K. Archer) and other members of the Earthquake Relief Committee. They were allotted to the various private hotels, and further arrangements will be made for them this morning. From Corbyv&le. Next Tuesday a party from Corbyvale will arrive. For a month they have been completely shut off from tne outeide world. A gang of Public Works men have at last cut a track throueh to them, bnt they will hare to undertake the toilsome jonrney of 12 miles on foot before they can get to road or rail. They will arrive ui Westport to-morrow night and stay there over the week-end. AFTER THE FLOOD.

SEDDOXVILLE'S DISCOMFORT.

"Yon can't imagine the smell ol tbe filth and muck left behind by tbe recoding flood-waters," said a Seddonvilie man last evening on his arrival in Christchurch. "Hundreds of eels and thousands of fish were left behind after the flood had subsided, and although every effort was m®de by the residents to remove the nuisance, the odour, as they began to putrefy, was horrible/' It would take a matter of three weeks, he said, to restore the slightest semblance of order from the chaos that the little town was reduced to by tbe flood. Som« houses would never be habitable again, and other® would require a thorough overhauling. An explanation of the real cause ot the flood was given by this resident. When tb« big slips broke, farther up the Mokihinui' River, a great deal of the debris, among it trees with trunks three or fcror feet in diameter, wraa carried down to tbe township. Here a eroup of islands arrested the floating matter, and a solid dam was very soon the result. Water, banking up behind the obstruction found its level in the township of Seddonville. Had not * ereat deal of the water escaped the railwav tunnel, the water wou d have reached a considerably higher level in the town. _ , « The islands which cawed the obstruction. said the refugee, had been responsible for similar floods m toe oaX bat the Public Works Department had not acceeded to the request of the residents that the islands should be removed. .

SLIPS IN THE HILLS. AS SEBN FROM THE Al*. Captain H. B. Burrell : of the Wigrain Aerodrome, arrived from Greymouth yesterday morning just before 11 o'clock, doing the journey ia 1 hoar 40 minutes. The weather oo the other side of the Alp® was bad, but it *- beautifully fine when he reached Otira. He hail much difficulty w taking off m tbe Moth aeroplane because of the tide on the Greymooth beach. iue wheels of tbe machine were m and he had to pick his opportunity to take off between one wave and the next. The beach will never be laoch use for a landing ground, be says. On Wednesday be inspected a possible landing crronnd at Ikamatua, midway between Greymouth and Reefton. The country is quite suitable, but a mist seems to hang over the aren for most of tbe day in winter. While flying between Westport aad Ksramea, more than a week ago, Captain Burrell was able to get a good view of the damage done by the earthquake. About halfway between Mofahmui and Little Wanganui the landslides begin, and from there northward PS far as Captain Burrell flew tbe landscape seems to have been changed. Tho bush had disappeared from tbe sharp ridgee, and he considers it fortunate that most of this region is uninhabited. In Karamca iteelf, much of the damage was not beyond repair. Big fissures six feet deep are to be seen right in tho township. Karamea's worst plicht was undoubtedly its isolation, for it would be months before communication with it by road can be restored.