(FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.)

Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 23, 14 June 1886, Page 3

(FROM OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.)

INQUEST ON THE HAZARD FAMILY. CONNECTED NARRATIVE of EVENTS. THEORY OF THE ERUPTION. AN ESTIMATE OF THE EXTENT OF THE DISASTER. THIS LOSS OF THE TERRACES FULLY COMPENSATED. PRESENT CONDITION OF ROTOMA- " HANA AND TARAWERA. A SETTLER'S WIFE AND SEVJON CHILDREN SUPPOSKD TO JJK BURIED ALIVE. THE EXPEDITION TO THE TERRACES. Rotobua, Thib Day. The inquest on tlio Hazard family waß liold at the Paloco Hott'l, Ohinemntu, before Mr. Brabant. Mr. Blyth deposed— l urn n. Govornmont road surveyor in llio ' fi-jld. I rcmcinhor the night of 9th inut. and morning of lOtli. I wan at Wairoa, Lake Tarawera, staying with tho Hazard family in was my otißtom. We went to bed at the miml hour, and I was awakened about t>n ininntns to 2 by Miss Hazard asking if I folt tho shook. Tho house waß th'^ shaking. I got up in ton minutos' tip 1 y • f.nmd Miss Hazard's two Hiators i, t^.<! G .f Mr. Hazard wob also dressed, *^r- . nfc ■ to tho*orandah and Bawan*- B » "V voliimo of «moko in an eastern d^S, VhSSd with what scorned to bQ o ,' { F II ™ g Th° O O r O <*$?* Wa ," ¥ mcd with luno There wftB tben a , oud rumb , in •vmon cont'.flhoa some timo. I thon saw on tho nortnorn end of Tarawora Lako some rod lights, which. I thought woro To Ariki nativos coming trom Rotomahana. Mr Hazard proposed to light a fire in tho drawwgroom and wo would all go in there. It was now about 3, and tho noiße ontsido was tremendous, and thero wan a great rattling on tho roof as of stones falling. Thoro woro shocks of carthquako every fo minnteB. Wo all kopt the centre of tho room, thinking that its ridge was the strongest part to resist the*stonos. Mr. Hazard and mysolf kept walking to tho windows to see if. wo <fluld make out what the trouble was, ft was very dark, and we could boo nothing but tho lightning. Wo r*lt thai; tho aot>r was boing pressod oit of Rhapo inwards, and we noticed agme dirt at tho bottom of it. About ■toe last thing ' I remember thcro was when thero was an earthquako nhock at half-past thrco. lam sure it was that time, as I looked at my watch. Withont any warning tho roof foil in. Tho last I Biw of Mr. Hazard and family thoy woro in tho middle of tho room. I have forgotten t) mention Mary To Mouti, Mrs. May's mrvant. Tho last I saw of lior sho was loaning against tho doorpost of Mr. Lumsden's bedroom. I was'betwecu tho organ and tho doer as shown in tho plan. I then heard Lumsden call out, "Who is thero? " Ho was in tho corner with myself and Mrs. Hazard. He kicked nut tho window with his foot., During thit sime I found Miss Hazard alongside of mo. Tho ceiling was pressing on my head and shoulders, so that 1 could not stand up for tho weight. Mr. Lumsdon then dropped Miss H&swrd out of tho broken sash, and I oftllod to him not to forgot me. Ho reached up and pulled me through tho sash, and asked if I was hurt. I said, " No ; . make for tho old house." A groat quantity of bluo clay was falling, and it was very dark. We got into tho old house and stood in tho doorway. [The remainder of Mr. Blyth's ovidenoo related to tho finding of tho "bodies, and Bimply corroborates accounts wo have already published.] Tho bodies re•overed wore— Charles Albort Hazard, aged *7( Adolphns Charles Edward Hazard, 10 years; Edna Winifrod Hazard, 6 years; Mona Ivia Horini Hazard, 5 years; the nephew, Chas. Sutherland Barford, 5 years. A vordiotwna returned in accordance with the factx< At tho inquost on Mr. Bainbridge tho Bvltlonco given by Mr. M'Rae waj identiorvl with his statement as already given. Deceased, he stated, was about 20 or 21 yoars of age, athlotia, about sft llin in hoight; hear he carao from Newcastle-on-U'yne. £lis''rolatives ■ are draper* there. Samuel Goodall, Inspector of Polico in oharga of the Tliames district, deposed as to tho finding of tho body. The jury expressed admiration of the horoio condrfafc of Mr. M'Rae during the disaster at Wairoa, ttnd believe that to his exertions many Europeans owo their lives. [The verdict appears above.] Tho discovories made by tho expedition /to Rotomahana on its south side enables us for tho first time to construct a connected account of iho eruption, and to form an idea tho extent and character of its influonce. As to tho phenomena connected with tho .first ontbroak thoro ia naturally somo discropanoy in tho various statements, owing to tho excitement under which the obsorvations were made, but a caroful comparison of tho descriptions given by tho most oompotont and careful obsorvors shows that tho first outbreak undoubtedly began in that peak of Tarawera mountain known, as Rnawahia. Not improbably Bomo shifting of thp earth's crust beneath, the mountain or some change within it producing the generation of great heat caused the prolonged earthquake and rumblings which •woro heard between 1 and 2 o'clock in the morning, forming the first of the series of phonomena whioh attendod the ernption. Soon atter 2 o'clock Ruawahia was observed to be aflame. Above it hung a canopy of • black smoke, produoing on the mountain tho appearance of a largo mushroom, and tho lightning played with such brillianoy round the peak that the glaro from the volcanic fires was hardly distinguishable. There is no donbt, however, that tho mountain did emit Homos, attended with the belching forth of red-hot stones, whie^ could be-distinctly seen as they wero eje o ted into the air and as thoy rolled dor m t ne mountain sides. This continued or ! £ Don t i»n hour beforo the vomiting o' thn t«.nnt mud cloud out of Lake Rot^^ «g£ fel so disastrously on the village o£ Wairoa . This oloud was observe ., ty t^ s0 wato 3^ the eruption of Tar8 >ml £ come som f 2±Z?*i ooff ftf th °' « mt mountain, and its «T«3 Jj^ M «*« to the belief now EStt?^! 0118 'that Mount Kakaramea ornnflo ' <#"«** Uco Okaro were in y°f The disturbances in Tarawera f n ". Violent earthquakes must, it may . *ell be Believed, have produced great fissures in tiie tender earth crust beneath Lake Botomaiana, letting the waters of the lake an large volumes down upon the central fires. The rapid generation of steam thus would be sufficient to account for the ejeotment of a vast body of mud, which, •driven by the foroo of tho cyclone which the ■violent atmospheric disturbances had pro>duoed, travelled across the south shores of Lako Tarawera in a track that is distinctly marked. This mud was deposited with marvellous rapidity. The survivors from the Hazard family state that tho first Bhowor which fell was exclusively stonos, »aa made an uproarious rattle on the Jroof. Within half an hour from the commenoement of the mud shower such an enormous quantity was deposited that the roof, without any prior warning, fell straight in. A similar experience occurred with the other houses at Wairoa. The steep angle of tho roof of Sophia's house, which caused the weight of mud deposited on it to rest on the ground, alono saved it. Why the dry dust and earthy matter produced by tho rupturo of tho earth mounds at Tarawera »nd around Rotomahana settled in vast quantities in a direction opposite to that takon by tho mud. shower can only be attributed to initial impulse and local air currents. The mud cloud was borne upon a current that was Bubjeot to local disturbances. This mforonoo is fully borne out by the deposit of S? (* he direction taken by the mud shower) being considerably smaller than at Tauranga, 40 miles distant. Portious who saw it from Ohinemutu speak" of tao mud cloud as working up against tho .goneral direction of the provailing wind. The heavy stones foil within the radius of ■about one mile from the point of eruption. We found ao stone of more than half a ■•pound woteht further away, although pieces ■ol scoria tof two or three ounces are picked up beyond Wairoa, nine miles from the nearest crater, and are plentiful along the -Ka«»reria track. Showers of light ash are *l«» reported as far as Galatea, 40 miles ?* W i* y - A .Tfce'kr&eat of the craters now in activity threw no stones beyond tho sido of tho hill, while a spectator, if the ground is not treacherous, might stand with safety on the brink of the smaller craters, the stones projected falling baok almost entirely within the crater. Now with regard to the area or Jand permanently desolated by the ornpturn. If we assume that the dtbrls is totally devoid of fertilizing properties, I estimate that the ruin by the showers of dry carUi, sand, and scoria will not extend beyond the' cirouit of four miles, having Botomahana as its centre. This was previously fern and tussocks land :?'P°° r By referring to the map >the bounaarvmay be traced along tho shore ?n? n round to a line passWB 7i. up ?«*»«">«» Mountain, and nnt Wsl^^V 1 ?! duBt deposits are 1^ migbtbeplonghodin. The ffiP J£? d was extensive, and embraces tho rfTll!^ 01 oOuntr * the shore a $ T ?*■ Tah eke at tho one end and about two miles beYond Wairoa road at irL^L 611 *- . A ll *> bnBh within this d 5« w-^ n * tn ?V«& of foliage and may wit « * *\° ."JwKWwft will probably break out into leaf again, and becomo lnxu%a^M^ ver ' Th? 1 0" from the destruction of the Terraces, if as we oannot but fear ~ they aro gone, is simply incalculable. A marvel which was without a parallel on tho eartU has been swept away, and even if over replaced by the same agencies working in the silioious strata, and this is improbable, a long geological period would be neoesßary for their reproduction. • The eruptions now in progress are attended by frequent earthqnakos. Three were felt while wo were in camp, and two during the four hours spent on the dust-hills around Botomahana, one of suoh violence that tho swaying of the hill we were standing on was visible to the eye. If these orators keep in aotivity they will form as great an attraction to tourists as the terraces, but when escape has been found for the forces recently sot into motion they may subside into quiescenoe or become intermittent. The Botorua district, -however, must always be a very wonderful one such as tourists through Now Zealand -will never willingly leave out of their routes. district now offers novelties which surpass everything seen here before, . as it furnishes the most extraordinary example of how geological changes in the earth s strata are sometimes effected in the course of a few hours. The half buried lionises 'and whores at Wairoa are perfectly unique, and the village ought to be left , standing just as .it is, except so far as excavations are\pecds«ary to recoyer bodies or.property. / Botomahana^syv *H exhibition of -Nature s forces, is infinik^ more marvellous than ever it wagbUore. To see

- this largo basin torn and lashed with a furj I that baffles description ; roaring, cannonad 1 ing, and screeching 1 ; driving into tho air al one spot columns of Rtoam, such as might bo generated in tho boilers of a levcatlian steamship ; and from another orifice in tho same crater, neniling oat block columns of smoke and showers of stones — is a spectacle that can only lose in magnificenco by any attempt to convoy an impression of it in words. " I fool that I dare not attempt to do it justice. Fortunately from the configuration of the ground a full view may be obtained of an area embracing at least fiftoon aetivo craters from tho break of the hill immediately above tho Lake. The i situation enables one to look right down into several craters, and sec the whole of the surrounding country, obtaining at tho samo timo a very fine view of Ruapehu and Tongariro. In wet weather this spot would be difficult of access, and the approach by way of Lako Tarawora ha« yet to be tried. In any caso, boing flat and not paisirifr near tho bont-defincd of these volcanic inountainf, it will, in my opinion, never bo the favourito route. A good home-t rack paH«ing by Whakarowaown now oxisth, and will donbtlecs bo improved now that there is a call | for it. Very little expenditure would widen it into a road for vehicles. Some people hero, on loarning of the probable destruction of tho terraces, woro inclined to take a f 1 pondont view of tho futuro of the d ; f 'f*'" as a resort for tourists, but I -a'ri'et vinced that when the wonders t' , * ft *. con ' placed those which are gone " - I * t M *' v<s ICsuch a stream will sot iv " - known the world an is withf . nr ' JJ ' A 4" P lll ™ of history of this fa- ?* Precedent in the of tho globo tr' ,;" nrit S Cruising ground danger has - "* tort -, lh <> »dea thai the at once, tl-- ™5 v WMiC^ mttT »'9 sdouted Kasos r -" ?P<i n *& of new rents from the icti- -* n6 **)*"i ty Iho silbtoi'rarteilii fires o-«»"i r*? h h y i.?* sa M y valves ft)r ftn y /*»I>UW of that trememlous enijrgy which Wa« always the predominating feature of tills district, Joe Warbrii-k and C. Humphreys approached Rotomahana yesterday by difforont routes from that which we took. Thoy struck straight acro«B to the Lake from Wairoa near tho shore at Tarawera; where there wcro heavy dopo3its of mud, but further inland along the track taken by them the deposit was dry earth, quite firm, until approaching tho Lako, when it became no soft that thoy sank in it up to thoir thighs. From the hill overlooking Rotomahana, thoy got a look further into the ccntro, of tho lake, which was throwin" volume^ of mud to a height of hundreds of feet. To Taruta was invimble for tho steam, but a good sight of Tarawora Mount was obtained. The southern portion of the mountain appeared rout from top to bottom, and flames woro still visible. There was another crater to tho east, and thoy counted sovon active craters on Tarawora peak and three on Ruawahia. Dr. Hector and party left Wairoa in boats to-day, intending to approach tho bcoiio from tho lako, and ascertain tho fate of the settlements of To Ariki and Morca. Captain Way telegraphed to Government and obtained an authority to omploy labour in oxcavating his goods from his nouso at tho old mission station. He was one of our party who visited Rotomahana, and kindly rode in with my despatches. I|Mr. Warbrick, when making for Rotomalana, passed the sito of Thompson's house, four miles from Wairoa. Hin nephews were engaged digging it out, and had got down fonr foot without finding tho roof. Thompson's wife and seven children aro supposed to bo buried underneath. Tho springs near Oxford nro increasing iv volumo artil toinporatnre. EOTORUA, This Day, 11.30 a.m. Stewart's expedition to tho Terracos loft Ohinemutu about 9 o'clock on Saturday morning in a buggy with four horses. The party reachod Rotomahana by tho Wairoa road. The deposits of volcanic mud which cover tho whole of this road aud the adjacent country for miles, commenoos about 2 miles from Ohinemutu, and averages four inches thick to its extromo boundary on this sido. Tho tra% on tho Wairoa-road has ploughed it up into adhesive clay, which makos Wairoa a very hard road to travol. Leaving the trap at Rotokukahi Dridgo, where tho Kaiterua track breaks round tho hill saddle, wo placed our tent and heavy baggage on the back of a horse and our guide proceeded to guess his way along the hill-side. This was ticklish work, tho track being complotoly obliterated with mud several inches doop ; tho hill, too, descends abruptly, and to take a slip would have sent the horso and its burden headlong into tho lake, a hundred feet bolow. We followed in single filo along this ticklish way, stopping into tho tracks niado by the horses, and leaning up towards the hill-side to presorvo our balanco while drawing each foot out of tho suction hole. Two miles of this sort of travelling bronght us to Kaiteriria, a native settlement, where tho fall had boon lighter. Tho track now becamo comparatively easy, mid as we noarod tho vicinity of tho lako tho mud garo way to dry pebbles of the sizo of marbles of tho samo material as tho mud, and mtorminglod with ground ash. Several doop earthquako cracks also crossed the path. As Lake Okaro came in sight betweon tho hulßj a wonderful scone broke upon our view. Where before has been g*roon fern, now rose hill upon hill of gliatoning white beneath the setting sun. Soon tho track entered into the region of dust, and every footstep we aafak ovor our boot tops. It being now too dark to proceed further, it was decided to camp on tho margin of a little patch of bush. Horo tho tonts were pitched, nnd a roaring nro was lit, and wo made ourselvos as comfortable as possible. Tho night passed with no further excitement than throe slight oarthqnake Bhocks, and tho disturbing sounds of distant concussions, the rattling of musketry, and roar of escaping steam. To discover whence these weird noises proceeded was to bo our mission on the morrow. Wo wore up with the sun, and after a hasty breakfast we set out upon our uncertain and adventurous expedition. It was at onco seen that Lako Okaro and Kakaramea Moun» tain at its head, were in their normal condition, and tho steam jets of Paeroa, further south, towards. Taupo, showed no increase of activity. Tho white line which marked tho dust deposit also stopped half-way up Kakaramoa Mountain, and the fern was groon b< "jyond. From that mountain to Rotomahana and Tarawera is an unbroken line of •whito hills. Jots of steam and black smoke marked a nnmber of points of ernption between Okaro and Rotomahana. We were soon plunging across the hills of grey dust which in appearance and texture rosettibled hydra? lie lime. At every step our boots went anklo deep, and sometimes we sank to the knees. The depth of the deposit varied from a foot to unknown dopths, After travelling for two miles ovor hill and gully we oame in view of a prominent cono in the crater fully 4jJ||, yards long in active eruption, throwing up showers of Bcoria which fell back into the crater or down the hillside. The. character of the hill deposits also changed — showers of stones covered the dust deposits, and in some parts tho deposit was pnro ash. It now became apparent that along the bed of the creek carrying tho overflow of Okaro Lake into Rotomahana, four new orators similar in character to tho one first noticed had broken into eruption. This country-before had been covered With fern and tussock*' Tho largest of thoso volcanoes displayedgreat energy. Its side was torn out, and from soveral points of aotivity within the crater and the sidos oxplosions occurred in every few minutes, driving stones high into the air with tho rattling noise already described. Heavy masses of steam and black smoke directed tho way unmistakeably to the high hill overlooking Botomahana, and pushing forward wo soon surmounted the last peak and stood looking down upon the most extraordinary spectacle imagination can conceive. Whore tho lake formerly existed thero was nothing now visible but a series of craters in full activity, and belching out stones every few minutes. I counted eleven of theso craters on the side of the lake immediately below our feet, and heavy masses of smoke and steam hindered further view of tho lake, but there is no doubt that other orators were in play further towards the centre, and that if the water was not entirely driven out of the lake, it had become a great boiling cauldron. Where the beautiful Pink Terraco stood one oi the largest of theso craters was 111 full play, but the fate of tho terrace itsolf could only be conjectured. From the forces at work within and around it the nature of that fate can hardly lte in doubt. The wonder of the world and the delight of tourists has beyond all reasonable doubt been driven into dust and fine ashes. Te Tarata, the White Terrace, wo oould not Bee, but battered at on every side, its fato cannot bo different from that of its beautiful sister. After watching with feelings of sorrow this spectacle of destructivo iorcos engaged in Bonding into fragments the artistic work built up in Nature's laboratory operating through centuries, we turned our faceß onco more towards tho camp. The prospoct obtained from this hill was most extensive and varied. Far away beyond Taupo was seen the snow-clad cone of Buapehu and her sister^Tongariro with a light column of steam issuing from Ng&rnhoe, tho active point of Tongariro. Nearer, the steam jots and the green fern hills around Wairoa, then Kakaramea and Okaro Lake immedately beneath out feet, so that a slip on the hillside might roll us into one of the roaring craters, the violent turmoil of Botomahana, and along tho bed of the old creek the other fonr aotive craters already dosoribed. All the way towards the Wairoa were hills clothed in mud, and beneath them Tarawera Lake, ,calmandpoaoeful, with the dark outline of tho great mountain itself visible through the steam and smoke. The dividing line between the mud, ernption, and the showers of dry dust, was singularly marked From Botomahana towards Lake Okaro and baok to Rcrewhakaitu the hills of duet and ashes were visible in unbroken continuity, oovering an area of not less than seven square mUos in the other direction towards the illfated Wairoa villago was the deposit of wet mud, which was undoubtedly projected out of tho bed of Lako Botomahana. This mud deposit covors a larger area than the dnst, or, properly speaking, whito earth. From itotomohana to Wairoa is at least sevenmilos in a direct line, and to the limit of the mud deposit towards Ohinemutu is at least 14. Its line extends also over to Kaiteriria, and also m the opposite direction along the shore* of Botorua Lake to Takohe. The extent of country thus ovorUid being 15 or 80 milps in length with an average S«H* ° f 1? •? Ax. depth vaZ and the drift of wind, but it must represent a towroge which one hesitates to placo in figures. The mud is very heavy, and to its great weight the catastrophe of Wairoa ablo. Whether this wide area ol land will be i mado a desert by the eruption, or whether vegetation will re-appear, is a question for the future to decide, but meanwhile it is rendered totally incapable of sustaining animal life.^d the dead bodies of rats whioh are seen everywhere on its surface show that even the rodent finds it impossible to gain & subsistence in the vast wilderness whioh has been created in & single night. -